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I'd be very wary about ruling that 'agriculture' is/was an advance on hunter gathering. Aside from the fact that both systems so often co-exist in the same region (such as Central America during the time of the Maya culture), in places like New Guinea agriculture was embraced initially 7,000 – 10,000 years ago. http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p53311/pdf/history.pdf But it used to be argued that across the Torres Strait --despite the example -- Australian aborigines chose not to farm, when in fact they were the first farmers on the planet. Indeed, when you look at the phenomenon of agriculture it all depends on what is at hand in way of plants...and access to water. And how you manage it. Across the Mediterranean, it's tempting to rule that the agricultural protocols that grew out of the Fertile Crescent were an ecological disaster. A feature that even Frederick Engels noted.This was the price paid for successive civilisations. Was it the wheat and olives or was it the plough? Similarly, you cannot separate the supposed difference between the agricultural and 'hunter gatherer' lifestyle without reference to changes in climate.Nor can you infer that the 'hunter gatherer' didn't know what their patch of existence was capable of. In that sense 'agriculture' isn't so much an 'invention' but an extension. A different approach to stewardship. The real question, I guess, isn't so much the invention of agriculture, but the invention of surplus. In my region -- in Gubi Gubi country -- it is very clear that the land was bountiful and the culture rich. That there was no reason to ratchet up the demands made of the landscape. Disaster struck, of course, and I can stand on the beach here and look out to where that tragedy began -- where the Brits first arrived to this place then invaded. But let's get this clear: aside from the gun, what savaged the Gubi Gubi economy was disease. Then the dispossession. What's happening now -- across Australia -- is an attempt to embrace Aboriginal landcare practices. This may be as a small movement at the moment but with fire management, for instance, there is a major deference. There is also a major debate growing around the traditional practice of indigenous management of river systems. You can't live in a land for 60,000+ years without knowing what's what. Indeed, there is no future -- no future -- for Australian agriculture without learning -- and applying --from the Aboriginal tradition of what was supposedly 'hunter gathering'. dave riley dave riley . _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
