The Living Fields
Our Agricultural Heritage

A readable account of how, where and when humans learned to domesticate plants and animals.

Jack Rodney Harlan (Author)

9780521401128, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 September 1995

288 pages, 40 b/w illus. 4 tables
23.6 x 16 x 2.3 cm, 0.61 kg

'The book is well illustrated and easy to read. It must have great appeal to the student of agriculture, the geographer and for farmers with a deep interest in the origins of his or her profession.' Agriculture and Equipment International

All civilisations, ancient and modern, are founded on agriculture. In this fascinating account of one of the most fundamental aspects of humankind's march from prehistory to the present day, the author considers the evidence for the origins and evolution of agriculture in various parts of the world; a balanced view is presented based on the archaeology, botany, genetics, ecology and anthropology of domesticates and their wild relatives. The basic agricultural systems which emerged from areas yielding traces of the earliest plant and animal domestication are described, and their drastic modification in recent times is considered. In a concluding chapter the present situation is reviewed, and the possible risks of a system which now relies on a relatively small number of species to supply the majority of our food are discussed.

1. 'Of Pride and Prejudice'… Jane Austen
2. Evolution and revolution: the process of domestication
3. Stones and bones
4. The Near East
5. Africa
6. The Far East
7. The Americas
8. Some traditional techniques
9. Where we stand
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Agriculture & farming [TV]