Jul 29 2009
Ten millennia ago, there were about six million people on Earth. Today, there are six billion.
This thousandfold increase in the global population is often thought to be linked to the invention of farming and the domestication of animals about 13,000 years ago in the Near East. Growing crops and raising live animals requires a larger [...]
Jul 09 2009
Most experts agree that the earliest examples of farming and animal domestication lie in the aptly named Fertile Crescent, in present day Iraq. But still many questions have lingered over the years, especially with regard to remnants of farming or animal domestication that have not survived to the present day. What kind of tools did [...]
Feb 20 2009
Almost since the 1871 publication of “The Descent of Man,” in which Charles Darwin applied his theory of natural selection to the human species, biologists have argued over whether the dramatic series of evolutionary events that led to the emergence of Homo sapiens continues to this day.
Some have argued that culture and technology have eclipsed [...]
Dec 24 2008
Before genetics came into the picture, researchers interested in the introduction of agriculture to Europe had only the archaeological record to go on — a limited collection of primarily stone and bone artifacts that left much room for interpretation. But as researchers began applying population genetics to the question of how farming spread across Europe, [...]
Dec 10 2008
Archaeologists rarely agree on anything. So it’s no surprise that for years two groups of scholars have drawn completely opposite conclusions about the relationship between the ancient people of Thailand and China.
Some experts argue that, thousands of years ago, people from Thailand migrated into East Asia, becoming the ancestors of present-day Chinese peoples. Others argue [...]
Aug 18 2008
Throughout the history of our species there has been one constant: movement. Since the origin of Homo sapiens nearly 200,000 years ago in East Africa, humans have journeyed around the globe, ultimately inhabiting every continent save Antarctica.Scientists have traditionally used archaeology, and more recently genetics, to understand the timing and scope of these ancient migrations. [...]
Jul 25 2008
This guest post is by Roy King, who is a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and a research colleague of Stanford geneticist and 23andMe scientific adviser Peter Underhill. Roy and Peter have been using genetics to trace the spread of agriculture from the Near East to Europe.
The question of how agriculture first arose and [...]
