Crop Histories

Before the development of human culture, our remote, hominid ancestors lived as a wild species. They were a mere component of a natural ecosystem, and just another link in a food chain. Originally, these ancestors of ours were gatherers of plant food, and their total diet was limited to the fruits, seeds, berries, nuts, and various leaves that they could find. Then over time, their intelligence enabled them to increase the carrying capacity of their environment very considerably, first by becoming hunters and meat-eaters, and then through the invention of agriculture. This book details the complex interaction between human development and our crop histories.