Origins of agriculture in West Asia

Agriculture in West Asia can be traced back to the early Neolithic in the Near East, between 10,000 and 8,000 BC, when a series of domestications by human communities took place, primarily involving a few plants (cereals and legumes) and animals (sheep, goats, bos, and pigs). In these regions, this gradually led to the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry and their expansion to other parts of the world. The Neolithic is commonly defined as the transition from a "predatory" economy of hunter-gatherers (or "collectors") to a "productive" economy of farmer-breeders, which places the question of plant and animal domestication at the heart of the upheavals brought about by this period. Farming and livestock breeding appeared in areas of rich biological diversity, where domesticated plants and animals were found in the wild. These regions also contain a large number of food resources in their natural state. Before their domestication, domesticated plants and animals were exploited in the form of gathering and hunting, with the methods and techniques required for domestication already known at the end of the Palaeolithic. Between 9500 and 8500 B.C., "pre-domestic" forms of agriculture were introduced; plants still had a wild character, but their reproduction was controlled by humans. Control of wild animals also began in the same period. These practices gradually led to the emergence of domesticated plant and animal species, which are distinct from the wild forms from which they derive. From a biological point of view, these domesticated species undergo a transition from natural selection to artificial selection by humans. This indicates the conclusion of the domestication process in the period between 8500 BC and 8000 BC. From this point onwards, village communities relied more on the "agro-pastoral" system, combining agriculture and animal husbandry, and less on hunting, fishing, and gathering practices. Many explanations have been put forward to explain why these changes have occurred, none of which has achieved consensus. The sedentary (or semi-sedentary) lifestyle introduced as early as the Final Epipalaeolithic (c. 12500 BC - 10000 BC) precedes the phenomenon and can therefore no longer be seen as its consequence, but may be one of its causes. Questions have focused on demographic changes since the increase in population prompted human communities to better control their food resources and domesticate. Climatic changes occur during the transition phase between the end of the last Ice Age and the beginning of the Holocene, which coincides with the domestication process and is therefore one of the factors to be taken into account. Other research has emphasized the "symbolic" aspects of the phenomenon, which alters man's relationship with nature. The development of agriculture is a fundamental process in human history. It led to strong demographic growth and was accompanied by numerous material (notably the appearance of ceramics) and mental changes. Although the Near East was not the only focus of domestication worldwide, it was probably the earliest and most influential. The expansion of agriculture, and with it the Neolithic village lifestyle, was rapid after 8000 B.C., spreading throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, North and East Africa, and Europe. The species domesticated during this period formed the basis of the economies of these regions until the modern era, and gained even more territory.

Definitions According to G. Willcox, plant cultivation consists of "assisting the reproduction and hence multiplication of plants" and their domestication is defined as "selection of cultivar traits, for example the loss of the dispersal mechanism". A domesticated plant is therefore different from the wild plant from which it derives (its "progenitor"), as can be seen from their morphology, which is not identical. The cultivation of plants and the acquisition of domesticated traits did not occur at the same time, since the latter is the consequence of the former:

a first phase of "pre-domestic" plant cultivation, in which species still have a wild morphology, as the selection process has not yet succeeded in bringing about morphological changes (i.e. cultivation without and before domestication); the "domestic" cultivation of plants, which derives from the former, when the process of selection and domestication has been completed and the morphology of the plants is no longer wild but domestic (i.e. cultivation with and after domestication). According to D. Helmer, the domestication of animals can be defined as "the control of an animal population through the isolation of the herd, with the loss of panmixia, the suppression of natural selection and the application of artificial selection based on particular traits, either behavioral or cultural. The animals become the property of the human group, and are entirely dependent on it". The criteria for defining domestication vary according to whether plants or animals are considered: for botanists, a plant is domesticated when it has a domestic morphology, while for zoologists, an animal is domesticated when it is integrated into and manipulated by a human group. Agriculture, which is the result of these evolutions, can be defined as "an established production economy in which farmers depend for their subsistence on cultivation and, in many instances, herding".

History of studies

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