Domestication of Plants, Animals, and Humans

In this chapter, I review the empirical record from the early stages of sedentism, cultivation, and herd management and elaborate on the process of predomestication in the Fertile Crescent, eventually leading up to the full domestication of a substantial number of plant and animal species. I also provide an overview of the emergence of sedentary and/or more intense resource management in China, New Guinea, India, Africa, and North, Meso-, and South America. The period saw the emergence of new behaviors and institutions, including extensive food storage in granaries and the adoption of property rights.