HISTORY’S HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS: Geographic Differences in the Onset of Food Production

Historical Disparities in Food Production Across Regions

The chapter explores unequal conflicts in human history, focusing on differences among societies with and without agricultural capabilities. Jared Diamond highlights the perplexing absence of indigenous food production in eco-friendly areas despite the existence of fertile land in regions like California, the Argentine Pampas, and parts of Australia and South Africa. He questions why agriculture first emerged in less fertile areas such as the Fertile Crescent, Mesoamerica, and the Andes, which are not current agricultural hubs.

Evidence and Dating Techniques for Food Production

Diamond discusses the methods to identify and date food production origins. Archaeological evidence relies on distinguishing between domesticated and wild species through morphological differences; for instance, domesticated plants often differ in seed coat texture and size compared to their wild counterparts. Radiocarbon dating helps estimate the ages of these domestic samples, though the technique has limitations like fluctuating atmospheric carbon ratios and the challenge of dating mixed material from different periods. Advanced techniques like accelerator mass spectrometry now allow more precise dating of small samples.

Domestication Patterns and Spread

The text elucidates the global variation in the development of food production, noting distinct regions where agriculture either originated independently or where food practices were imported. Key areas of independent agricultural development include Southwest Asia, China, Mesoamerica, the Andes, the Eastern United States, and potential regions like New Guinea and parts of Africa. The spread of agriculture often followed the introduction of domesticated crops and animals from these nuclear areas, which facilitated local domestication events.

Regional Adoption or Replacement

Patterns of how regions adopted agriculture varied significantly. In some areas, food production was adopted by existing populations through the introduction of foreign domesticated species; in other cases, entire populations were replaced by incoming agriculturalists who possessed advanced farming techniques. This dynamic played out differently across geographies, influenced by factors such as proximity to original domestication centers and ecological compatibility. For instance, while Egypt integrated Southwest Asian crops into their existing food systems, European colonizers replaced native populations in Australia and North America, bringing their own agricultural practices with them.

Implications for Societal Development

The chapter concludes by attributing the disparities in societal advancement to these uneven developments in food production. Areas with earlier access to agriculture gained significant advantages in societal complexity, leading to developments in technology and organized systems. These advantages precipitated a historical divergence between agricultural societies (the "haves") and hunter-gatherer societies (the "have-nots"), setting a foundation for future conflicts and European dominance in subsequent centuries.

The chapter sets the stage for a deeper exploration of these themes in upcoming sections of the book, where Diamond vows to address the root causes of these geographic and temporal variances in the origins and spread of food production.