Charles Suhajda

Intro to Prehistoy
113:012:
TA: Kyle Harvey
Written Assignment


Food has come a great way since the rise of the homo sapien species and has
served as a crucial aspect in advancing as well as sustaining societal and technological
advancements. The shift from hunter-gatherer societies to farming along with animal
domestication has brought the human race to the forefront of the evolutionary
spectrum, ensuring the prolonged survival of our species. Exploiting the genetic
diversity of living plants and animals for our own benefit gave humans a leading role in
the evolutionary process for the first time (Driscol:2009:9971). In our modern society,
individuals have the ability to walk into one local supermarket and acquire food that
comes from all four corners of the earth. This convenience is a part of our every day life,
and in a great sense has made us ignorant of the ease at which we live. When scouring
the aisles for our next favorite meal, knowing where and how these items came to be in
front of us can generate a new perspective on agriculture and domestication.
Domestication is defined as the relationship between humans, plants, and
animals where humans play an integral role in the protection and reproduction of plants
and animals. (Chazan, 2013). It has been proposed by Charles Darwin that natural
selection was the first step to the sustainability of several plants and animals whereby
certain species were able to survive competition among other species due to a genetic
advantage. From this point, remaining plants and animals were harvested and hunted
by Homo sapiens, leading to the eventual domestication of the surviving, beneficial
species. Although domestication seems rather straightforward where by humans simply
take existing plants form the wild and cultivate them in a more organized fashion, a
number of domesticated plants experienced dramatic genetic and phenotypic changes
during the selection process (Glemin, 2009). Examples of this genetic alteration can be
seen through the development of a tough rachis, the part of the plant that holds the seed
to the stalk, which arises from years of domestication and harvesting. A major shift in
the lifestyles and agricultural practices of humans came about in what was coined by V.
Gordon Chile as the Neolithic Revolution where the transition to agriculture is described
as an event that affected every aspect of human society (Chazan, 2013). It was during
this period that hunter-gatherer societies began drift away from a foraging lifestyle to
the domestication of several plants and animals in order to support rapid population
growth. Consequently, this ability to cultivate food sources in one area and in mass
quantities led to the settlement of several villages including Abu Hureyra, which at its
height could house around 4,000 to 6,000 individuals. This settlement also held great
evidence of domestication and the variety of food sources that the people living here
were able to exploit.
Its not everyday that I get to have an amazing slab of pork ribs, but when the rare
occasion comes around, I relish in it. Pair that with a perfectly cooked baked potato with
sour cream and I dont think there is anything that I would rather have. Though ribs are
my favorite form of barbecue, barbecue in general is my go to method of cooking.
Though modern barbecue with its Louisiana flare undoubtedly has its origins in the
southern half of the United States, the ancient origins of this cuisine date back to the
1500s where narratives of the De Soto expedition describe houses called barbacoa,
which is a house with wooden sides, raised above the ground on four posts
(Hollingsworth, 1979), reflecting that of the modern physical barbecue where a grate is
elevated over a pit of charcoal. The word barbecue itself took root in South Carolina
indicating a method of preserving meat by drying or slowly roasting it. (Hollingsworth,
1979). When discussing my specific passion for baby back ribs, it is important to know
the background of the preparation of this meal, but equally important is the
understanding of where specific ingredients originated and became domesticated by
human beings. The pig, which is the focus of this meal, has a long track record when
discussing origins and domestication and serves as an important food source in many
aspects of todays society. According to a study where 478 samples of pig DNA spanning
29 countries and 13,000 years, pigs, or Sus scrofa, were domesticated and herded
within the European Neolithic revolution, specifically in Near East countries including
Romania, Germany, France, and Croatia (Larson, 2007). Form this initial point in
domestication; early farmers began introducing Near Eastern domesticated pigs across
the whole of Europe. Though pigs, and specifically their ribs, make up the focal point of
this meal, barbeque would be nothing without the use of various spices and vegetables.
In the case of baby back ribs, ingredients that can be highlighted include tomatoes,
garlic, onions, and salt to name a few. Spices have long served as an important factor for
the advancement of the human race, serving at various times as forms of currency. The
use and cultivation of spices dates back to as early as 3000 BC where archaeologists
discovered Egyptian mummies that were preserved using various spices. De Candolle in
his Origin of Cultivated Plants proposed that garlic originated in Europe and Western
Asia, now being one of the most common spices around. Salt, which is a backbone of
most cooking, is an interesting ingredient in the sense that it is not cultivated but rather
mined as a sediment. However, there is evidence that the Neolitihic Precucenti Culture
used salt to boost their economic growth and subsequently bring about a rapid growth
in population. Though tomatoes and potatoes appear to be different species, both in fact
are part a member of the solanum genus and originate in South America, namely in the
fertile Andes mountains (Chazan, 2013). Tomatoes make up a great deal of the art of
barbecuing, specifically baby back ribs, as they serve as the basis for most if not all
varieties of sauces.
Domestication continues today, and is an ever-changing process. From the
origins of any plant or animal domestication, there are continuous improvements and
advancements made to further the efficiency of past methods. Modern farming, though
built around the same premise of cultivating and harvesting food sources in order to
support a growth in population, has come a long way in terms of productivity.
Advancements in pesticides and DNA alteration have skipped over the evolutionary
process and have developed into a form of evolution that Charles Darwin refers to as
artificial selection (Driscol, 2009). In this process, human intervention in plant or
animal reproduction is implemented to enhance desirable traits or characteristics.
Today, farmers use a variety of chemical treatments to ensure that crops and animals
are being cultivated at optimal levels. Pesticides in plants as well as growth hormones in
animals display a direct link between cultivation and higher yields. However, as these
advancements increase the quantity of the food that we are consuming, we must ask
ourselves if there is any subsequent downfall from these human interventions. Many
individuals today have shifted from this scientific production of food to a new wave
development known as organic food where plants or animals are cultivated and raised in
their most natural habitat with very little human intervention. In this sense, there is an
indication that society feels the need to shift to alternative methods of cultivation, a
process that will most likely continue to change until the needs and desires of the
human race can be met. In years to come, I suspect that new methods will be
implemented and forms of cultivation will change drastically, but understanding the
origins of the food that we consume can give us as individuals a perspective on how far
we have come since a hunter-gatherer species and the impact that domestication has
had on the prolonged survival of our species




















Bibliography

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(Jun. 16, 2009), pp. 9971-9978
Publisher(s): National Academy of Sciences
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Title: A Comparative View of the Evolution of Grasses under Domestication
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Publisher(s): Wiley on behalf of the New Phytologist Trust
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40302029

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Jrg Schibler; Anne Tresset; Jean-Denis Vigne; Ceiridwen J. Edwards; Angela
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Title: GarlicThe Pungent Panacea
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Book
Title: World Prehistory and Archaeology: Pathways Through Time
Author(s): Michael Chazan
Publisher(s): Nancy Roberts, Pearson Education
Date: 2013