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Peter Bellwood, “First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies”, 2005.

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Cyril Darlington, “Chromosome Botany; and the Origin of Cultivated Plants”, 1963 was a botany book on the 11,000 BP (Before Present year) origin of “cultivated plants” and was the topic of an earlier blog post. 
 
Here I present: Peter Bellwood, “First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies”, 2005 a book on the origin of “food systems”.  Two “food systems” are presented in the book: 1. “Hunter-gather”; and, 2. “Gardener-herder” food systems.

The map above show the crops planted; and, the map below shows when “gardening” began.   The “fertile crest” 11,000 BP is the earliest date shown. 

“Hunter-gathers” would “find caves” to stay in.  Hunter-gathers (in search of food to eat) moved from location-to-locations. “Gardener-herders” would “build huts” to stay in.  Gardener-herders on farmland raised  “crops” & “livestock” to eat; and, did not move around.   

I presented:  Peter Bellwood, “First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies”, 2005 a prehistory book.  The book concludes  that “society” emerged from “gardener-herder” food system. The “hunter-gather” food system was deemed inefficient by the author.  A map of 12 farming regions is shown above; and 11,000 BP “gardener-herder’ began.  By 4,000 BP the food system had spread around the world replacing the “hunter-gather” food system.  The specific foods for each of the 12 regions are listed in table below.
Richard Wrangham, “Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human“, 2009 was the subject of an earlier blog post related to this prehistory topic. 

Jean Bottera, “The Oldest Cuisine in the World“, 2011 was the topic of an earlier blog post.   In this post I noted the “Yale Culinary Tablets” of 1730 BC is the oldest cookbook in written history.




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