Horticulture Origins

Excerpts from

Technology and Material Culture

by Robert F. G. Spier
Published in: Clifton, James A. (Ed.) Introduction to Cultural Anthropology - Essays in the Scope and Methods of the Science of Man. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1968. pp 131 - 143.

Note: This article addresses the relationship between primitive humans, the role of technology, and the development of agriculture/horticulture. I highlight some arguments about the role and nature of horticulture vs agriculture in primitive cultures and in the development of civilizations. In addition, it provides a context for the concept of 'control over the environment' and 'ecosystem management' which I develop as central themes in the course. Given that Horticulture is a technology, it is appropriate to view in the wider context of 'technology and development of societies.'

Technology embraces the means by which man controls or modifies his natural environment... Man's material culture is the product of his technology... This control or modification can generally be viewed as exploitation; man seeks to serve his ends. Conservation for its own sake, if found at all, is a refinement well beyond the crass self-interest which usually governs man's actions. There are philosophies and cultures which eschew gross changes in the environment and stress the harmony of man and nature. Overtly stated or not, some harmonization must exist, for there are ultimate limits to exploitation. The rate of use of regenerating resources should not exceed the rate of replacement if an indefinite harvest is contemplated. To ignore this fact for long is to change the environment, its resources, and, eventually, the way of life.

Some anthropologists view the cultural world through a technological lens... They evaluate culture in terms of technological advancement, especially the use of nonhuman power sources... Technological markers have been used to establish a prehistoric chronology.. The Stone Ages - Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic - reflect the common use of edged stone tools. The succeeding Metal Ages - Copper, Bronze, Iron - show the gradual replacement of stone by metals. The contemporary view [however], especially stresses ... the succession of subsistence bases, with food-collecting (hunting fishing, berrying, root-digging) giving way to food-producing (horticulture, agriculture, husbandry). We now understand that the nature of subsistence had more important consequences than did the differences between chipping or grinding stone tools.

The making and using of tools is a feature that distinguishes man from nonhuman animals... [H]uman association with tools has come to include symbolism and foresight. For example, the plow is to most men much more than a tool to turn or furrow the soil; it may symbolize a whole technology or even a way of life.

The Technology of Subsistence

Subsistence technologies are basic to the life of any people, for survival without adequate nourishment is a matter of comparatively short time... Food collectors were dependent upon their habitat for the occurrence of food, its nature, its quantity, and its seasonal appearance... [One] way to increase the food supply was to exploit a larger territory.

The shift from food collection to food production has been hailed by some scholars as man's most important advance since he learned to use or to speak. The magnitude of this change and of its consequences may not be belittled. With the advent of food production a greater measure of control was gained over the environment. The food supply could be expanded to feed larger populations and even to provide surpluses which facilitated trade and occupational specialization.

[In contrast to the specialization of males as the primary hunters and femals/children as the primary gatherers]...food production... was an activity in which almost everyone could take part. The gardens and fields were not far from the village, and the tasks were generally those requiring persistence rather than great strength. Most individuals were able to assist, in some way, in planting, weeding, or harvesting.

In anthropological terminology, horticulture refers to plant cultivation using means other than the plow [emphasis mine]. The tools used in the past were mainly the digging stick, the hoe, and the spade... The bulk of non-literate peoples were horticulturalists... [The image at right shows Yanomami Indians of South America harvesting Cassava roots (Manihot esculenta )... Because the possesion of suitable draft animals and of the plow are prerequisite to agriculture [growing grains - PJ], we believe horticulture [growing root crops and trees - PJ] to have historical priority. The earliest horticulture known is that in the Near East, perhaps as early as 8,000 B.C., but other centers of horticultural development are known. These include Southeast Asia, Meso-America, and possibly the Western Sudan.

We tend today to visualize cultivators as sedentary peoples and, compared to most food-collectors, they certainly were. However, many of the early horticulturalists practiced shifting cultivation (also known as slash-and-burn, milpa, or swidden cultivation).

Agriculture has been defined anthropologically as plant cultivation with the plow [emphasis mine]. Both logically and historically it followed horticulture. Subsequently agriculture became dominant in some formerly horticultural areas. The change involved not only the means of cultivation but also what was cultivated...[The] plow brought with it certain food plants, especially the grains, and the inherent advantage of utilizing animal power.
[The image at left shows the same general type of plow used in antiquity, today still being used in some fields such as this one in the Dominican Republic.

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