Descripción del proyecto
THE TRANSITION FROM HUNTER-GATHERING TO FARMING SOCIETIES IS ONE OF THE MAIN SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN HUMAN HISTORY, THE EXPLANATION OF THIS PROCESS BEARS DEEP IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN EVOLUTION, AS FARMING IMPLIES A NEW WAY OF INTERACTION BETWEEN SOCIETIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT, AGRICULTURE, UNDERSTOOD AS THE CULTIVATION OF DOMESTICATED PLANTS, IS ONE OF THE MAIN OUTPUTS OF THE TRANSITION TO FARMING, A PROCESS THAT OCCURS IN ONLY A FEW PRIMARY CENTRES GLOBALLY, WITH THE EARLIEST ONES IN THE OLD WORLD BEING THE LEVANT AND CHINA, IN THESE REGIONS, CEREAL DOMESTICATION WAS PRECEDED BY A PERIOD OF CEREAL CULTIVATION THAT IS VERY POORLY UNDERSTOOD, DURING THIS PERIOD, THE INTENSIFICATION OF WILD CEREAL CULTIVATION ALLOWED THE HUMAN-IMPACTED SELECTION OF SPECIFIC TRAITS IN PLANTS (E,G,, NON-BRITTLE RACHIS) THAT PROVOKED DOMESTICATION, WHILE DOMESTICATION WAS THE DECISIVE NO-RETURN THRESHOLD, PLANT CULTIVATION WAS THUS THE CRUCIAL INNOVATION THAT TRIGGERED THE TRANSITION TO FARMING, SHEDDING LIGHT ON HUMAN BEHAVIOUR AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS DURING THIS PERIOD OF PRE-DOMESTICATION CULTIVATION IS CRUCIAL FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW AND WHY HUNTER-GATHERERS STARTED THE TRANSITION TO FARMING, PREDOM WILL STUDY, FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE EXPLOITATION AND CULTIVATION OF WILD CEREALS FROM THE POST-LATE GLACIAL MAXIMUM TO THE EARLY HOLOCENE (C, 18 TO 9KY BP) IN THE LEVANT AND NORTH CHINA FOLLOWING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND COMPARATIVE APPROACH, I WILL PIONEER AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH BASED ON STATE-OF-THE-ART ARCHAEOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES TO ELUCIDATE WHEN CEREAL CULTIVATION STARTED, WHAT THE IMPACT OF CEREALS ON HUMAN DIET WAS AND HOW CEREAL EXPLOITATION WAS INTENSIFIED UP TO THE APPEARANCE OF DOMESTICATION, BOTH IN THE LEVANT AND NORTH CHINA, WE INTEND TO EXPLAIN THE TRANSITION TO FARMING IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY POTENTIALLY UNIVERSAL AS WELL AS REGIONALLY-UNIQUE FACTORS IN THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES LEADING TO AGRICULTURE, NEOLITICO\AGRICULTURA\PROXIMO ORIENTE\CHINA