IP Blog

Location is obviously the most important contributory element that guarantees the rise and spread of food production. As it is in many aspects of life, location was crucial for a civilization to gain food production. In comparison, when an entrepreneur contemplates opening a new business, he must first choose a location in which there is a demand for his product or service. He must research the demographics and competition in that given area. If everything fits what the entrepreneur is looking for, he will open his desired business and watch it thrive. Unfortunately for ancient peoples, they were not able to choose the area where their people would be located. However, if they were looking to have the wet climate, the fertile soil, and the multitude of crops and animals that allowed for the independent rise of food production, they most certainly would have chosen 1 of 5 areas. The areas where food production arose independently, with the domestication of the crops and animals native to that specific area, are the Fertile Crescent, China, Mesoamerica, the Andes of South America, and the eastern United States (Diamond 98). But what exactly about the location of these areas made them able to cultivate plants and animals? Though these areas acquired food production independently, they are not without their inconsistencies. Diamonds questions, “Among those regions where food production did spring up independently, why did the times at which it appeared vary so greatly?” (94) I intend to explore how location provided the natural resources and fertile land that allowed for food production.

Location determines the natural resources and indigenous plants and animals that the inhabitants of that area will eventually inherit. “Southwest Asia (also known as the Fertile Crescent) has the earliest definite dates for both plant domestication and animal domestication.” (99) Thus, the Fertile Crescent domesticated its local plants and animals earliest in human history. It undoubtedly had received, due to its location, Multitude of Edible Plants and a generous gift of easily domesticable animals. The Fertile Crescent domesticated wheat, peas, olives, sheep, and goats by 8500 B.C., the earliest recorded in history (100). Because it possessed so many key plants and animals, the people of the Fertile Crescent were able to pick and choose which plants were able to be domesticated the best. On the other hand, the people of Ethiopia were given very little to grow and domesticate. Perhaps Ethiopia’s Harsh and Dry Climate contributed to its lack of edible plants and animals. Had Ethiopia received a wetter climate with more fertile soil, its people could have had a variety of plants to domesticate. The only plants independently domesticated in Ethiopia were coffee and teff, and it had no domesticated animals (100). It is still disputed whether Ethiopians even domesticated coffee independently. “It is not yet known whether Ethiopians were cultivating these local plants before or only after the arrival of the Southwest Asian package,” Diamond says (101). Not only were many areas given the gift of a large amount of plants and animals, but its people were smart enough to make domestication work.

With the gift of plants and animals to domesticate, areas had to be able to spread its domesticated food for the benefit of the world. Its ability to spread food production depended on its location. If the area had a lond East-West axis, it had a similar climate throughout the area, and it was then able to move food production through the entire land mass. If the area had a short East-West axis, it had a limited amount of land with a similar climate. The Fertile Crescent was located on the Eurasian land mass, which had a considerably long East-West axis. New Guinea had very few domesticated plants and no domesticated animals (100). This was due to the fact that other countries could not spread their domesticated foods to New Guinea because it was an island. Also, Africa had a difficult time spreading food production. “Contrast the ease of East-West diffusion in Eurasia with the difficulties of diffusion along Africa’s North-South axis,” Diamond challenges the reader (186). Of course, the climate differences that come with a primarily North-South axis make it nearly impossible to adapt plants and animals. Upon obtaining desirable land in a desirable location, one will find that even the most primitive cultures could have domesticated food. But give an advanced society land in a poor location, and they will have very little success in cultivating food.