A scientific and historical study of crops and their age-old relationship with human civilization

The cultivation and harvesting of crops have been at the heart of human culture and development for thousands of years. As we have grown from hunter-gatherers into agrarian societies and industrial economies, our ongoing relationship with the plants that feed us and support our manufacturing has also evolved. So too, of course, have those plants themselves, with the combined forces of shifting climates, selective plant breeding, and genetic modification all working to alter their existence in profound and fascinating ways.

Coming some 30 years after its previous incarnation, the third edition ofHarlans Crops and Man marks an exciting re-examination of this rich topic. Its chapters lay out the foundations of crop diversity as we know it, covering topics that range from taxonomy and domestication to the origins of agricultural practices and their possible futures. Highlights include:

Updated to include the latest data and research available, this new edition ofHarlans Crops and Man offers an illuminating exploration of agricultural history to all those engaged with plant science and the cultivation of crops.

H. Thomas Stalker, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

Marilyn L. Warburton, USDA ARS Corn Host Plant Resistance Research Unit, Mississippi State University, MS, USA

Jack R. Harlan[deceased], Department of Agronomy, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA

Preface viii

1 Prologue:The Golden Age 1

Crop Evolution 2

The Hunter-Gatherer Stereotype 3

What Do Gatherers Eat? 11

Understanding Life Cycles of Plants 20

General Botanical Knowledge 23

Manipulation of Vegatation 25

Food Plants in Ritual and Ceremony 26

On Sharing the Bounty 27

Population Control and the Aged 29

Conclusions 30

References 31

2 Views on Agricultural Origins37

Agriculture as Divine Gift 37

Domestication for Religious Reasons 43

Domestication by Crowding 45

Agriculture as Discovery 46

Agriculture by Stress 49

Agriculture as an Extension of Gathering 50

Domestication by Perception 53

A No-Model Model 56

Geography of Plant Domestication 59

An Ecological Approach 63

Conclusions 73

References 73

3 What Is a Crop?79

Definitions 80

Intermediate States 81

A Short List of Cultivated Plants 86

Crops That Feed the World 106

References 107

4 What Is a Weed?109

Definitions 110

Intermediate States 113

CropWeed Complexes 116

Some Weed Adaptations 120

Weeds and History 122

Conclusions 127

References 127

5 Classification of Cultivated Plants131

Botanical Descriptions and Names 132

Problems of Formal Taxonomy 134

The Gene Pool System 136

Evolutionary Implications 143

Conclusions 145

References 145

6 The Dynamics of Domestication147

Domestication of Seed Crops 147

Domestication of Vegetatively Reproduced Crops 163

Conclusions 167

References 167

7 Space, Time, and Variation171

Kinds of Patterns of Variation 171

Noncentric Crops 175

Diffuse Origins 178

Microcenters 180

Landrace Populations 181

Implications for Plant Breeding 183

Conclusions 190

References 190

8 The Near East195

Introduction 196

Archaeological Prelude 200

A Note About Dating Archaeological Sites 202

Archaeological Sequence of Village Sites 204

Spread of Agriculture Out of the Nuclear Area 210

Recorded History 211`

Conclusions 212

References 213

9 Indigenous African Agriculture216

Introduction 217

Archaeological Prelude 217

A Savanna Complex 223

Crop Competition and Distribution 227

Recorded History 228

Décrue Agriculture 230

Conclusions 232

References 233

10 The Far East236

Archaeological Prelude 237

Recorded History 240

Far Eastern Crops 241

Hunter-Gatherers of Japan 257

Plant Domestication in India 258

Conclusions 259

References 259

11 The Americas263

Archaeology 263

The Crops 269

Indigenous Americans as Biochemists 283

Conclusions 287

References 288

12 Epilogue: Whos in Charge Here?295

References 302