If you are in farming, it's sometimes possible to start to think that you and only you understand just what's involved with respect to both the hardships and the rewards.
In fact, you are far from being alone both today and in terms of your ancestors!
Of course, while many people understand that farming has been around a long time, they may not quite grasp just how long a period that has been. In fact, the history of farming has been revised several times, even within the relatively recent past.
Where did it all begin?
Although the shelves of prestigious libraries are full of books on the subject, you'll probably find a huge variation of ideas on just where the first farming occurred.
At one time, it was assumed to be various parts of the Middle East but today this is viewed, with some suspicion, as being rather European or more accurately near-European centric. There is evidence for ancient farming in these areas but also that it seems to have sprung up separately and more or less at the same time in several other parts of the world.
Some of the earliest evidence for what appears to be the processing and systematic use of seeds and grains comes from a site on the Sea of Galilee that goes back to almost 20,000 BCE. That isn't to say that the seeds and grains arose as a result of farming of course. What it does show though is that 22,000 years ago, people were trying to take various plant-based products and transform them into other things including foodstuff.
How long have there been farmers?
This is another question that academics will tell you is up for debate.
What is generally accepted is that there is strong evidence for farming in several different parts of the world sometime around about 10,000-12,000 years ago.
It's possible to see preserved agricultural tools from the remains of some of the world's oldest civilizations. So, farmers might well be able to throw their hat in the ring as contenders for the title of 'the world's oldest profession'!
Why did people start farming?
This is perhaps the most controversial subject in early human archaeology and sociology.
It'll come as no surprise to hear that nobody really knows but a number of hypotheses have been put forward.
Whilst these are enthusiastically debated and may never be proven one way or another, several have at their core the notion that people moved away or were forced to move away from a nomadic lifestyle. Ideas as to what caused that range from climate change to social revolution and on to population growth or the development of established religion.
What is clear and almost equally hard to explain, is that these changes did not take place in all societies across the globe. For example, the North American Plains Indians / Native Americans remained a largely hunter-gatherer society.
What does this mean for farming today?
Arguably nothing! Today's farmer is busy worrying about the business metrics of farming, machinery and so on. This history may seem all very dusty and academic.
However, it's interesting to think just how long the concepts of civilisation and farming have been totally and inextricably interlinked. It's arguably the case that one has always supported the other.
It's perhaps an association with an importance that some of the world's politicians should keep in mind today.
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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Long-Has-Farming-Been-Around?&id=8821912] How Long Has Farming Been Around?
