Agricultural origins on the Anatolian plateau

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dc.contributor.authorBaird, Den_AU
dc.contributor.authorFairbairn, ASen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJenkins, Een_AU
dc.contributor.authorMartin, Len_AU
dc.contributor.authorMiddleton, Cen_AU
dc.contributor.authorPearson, Jen_AU
dc.contributor.authorAsouti, Een_AU
dc.contributor.authorEdwards, Yen_AU
dc.contributor.authorKabukcu, Cen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMustafaoğlu, Gen_AU
dc.contributor.authorRussell, Nen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBar-Yosef, Oen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJacobsen, GEen_AU
dc.contributor.authorWu, XHen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBaker, Aen_AU
dc.contributor.authorElliott, Sen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-03T04:13:10Zen_AU
dc.date.available2025-04-03T04:13:10Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2018-03-19en_AU
dc.date.statistics2025-03-26en_AU
dc.description.abstractSignificance We demonstrate that the initial spread of farming outside of the area of its first appearance in the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, into Central Anatolia, involved adoption of cultivars by indigenous foragers and contemporary experimentation in animal herding of local species. This represents a rare clear-cut instance of forager adoption and sustained low-level food production. We have also demonstrated that farming uptake was not uniform, with some forager communities rejecting it despite proximity to early farming communities. We also show that adoption of small-scale cultivation could still have significant social consequences for the communities concerned. The evidence suggests forager adoption of cultivation and initiation of herding was not necessarily motivated by simple economic concerns of increasing levels of food production and security. Abstract This paper explores the explanations for, and consequences of, the early appearance of food production outside the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, where it originated in the 10th/9th millennia cal BC. We present evidence that cultivation appeared in Central Anatolia through adoption by indigenous foragers in the mid ninth millennium cal BC, but also demonstrate that uptake was not uniform, and that some communities chose to actively disregard cultivation. Adoption of cultivation was accompanied by experimentation with sheep/goat herding in a system of low-level food production that was integrated into foraging practices rather than used to replace them. Furthermore, rather than being a short-lived transitional state, low-level food production formed part of a subsistence strategy that lasted for several centuries, although its adoption had significant long-term social consequences for the adopting community at Boncuklu. Material continuities suggest that Boncuklu’s community was ancestral to that seen at the much larger settlement of Çatalhöyük East from 7100 cal BC, by which time a modest involvement with food production had been transformed into a major commitment to mixed farming, allowing the sustenance of a very large sedentary community. This evidence from Central Anatolia illustrates that polarized positions explaining the early spread of farming, opposing indigenous adoption to farmer colonization, are unsuited to understanding local sequences of subsistence and related social change. We go beyond identifying the mechanisms for the spread of farming by investigating the shorter- and longer-term implications of rejecting or adopting farming practices. © 2025 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.en_AU
dc.format.mediumPrint-Electronicen_AU
dc.identifier.citationBaird, D., Fairbairn, A., Jenkins, E., Martin, L., Middleton, C., Pearson, J., Asouti, E., Edwards, Y., Kabukcu, C., Mustafaoğlu, G., Russell, N., Bar-Yosef, O., Jacobsen, G., Wu, X., Baker, A., & Elliott, S. (2018). Agricultural origins on the Anatolian plateau. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(14), E3077-E3086. doi:10.1073/pnas.1800163115en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0027-8424en_AU
dc.identifier.issn1091-6490en_AU
dc.identifier.issue14en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of Americaen_AU
dc.identifier.paginatione3077-e3086en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1800163115en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/handle/10238/16106en_AU
dc.identifier.volume115en_AU
dc.languageEnglishen_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesen_AU
dc.subjectFarmsen_AU
dc.subjectTurkeyen_AU
dc.subjectMiddle Easten_AU
dc.subjectFood industryen_AU
dc.subjectFooden_AU
dc.subjectHistorical aspectsen_AU
dc.subjectDomestic animalsen_AU
dc.titleAgricultural origins on the Anatolian plateauen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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