This exam covers the topic, "Critically evaluate the statement by Issac (1970) that domestication is ‘the single most important intervention man (sic) had made to his environment’. Second year An Introduction to Environmental History module for BA Geography. I was restricted to 1,250 words. Do...
Critically evaluate the statement by Issac (1970) that domestication is
‘the single most important intervention man (sic) had made to his
environment’.
Introduction
Issac’s statement is largely true as domestication was an important intervention by
humankind which allowed us to move away from being hunter gatherers. Many scholars
believe that this first recorded intervention by ‘man’ created a platform that the human
race could use to continue building on and developing their technology. Without
domestication, it would not have been possible for ‘man’ to carry out further exploits on
the environment. However, it can be argued that even though it was possibly the most
important, its impact on the environment can be seen as minimal compared to future
developments. The following subheadings further develop on these points and conclude
the impact of ‘man’s’ involvement on the environment.
Domestication
Prior to the implementation of domestication, some 10,000-11,000 years ago, humans
were largely seen as nomadic as they were constantly on the move in search of
resources and shelter. The ice-age and climatic conditions at the time were the main
reasons for this. These hunter gatherer societies were sustainable and worked in
equilibrium with the environment, primarily due to their low demographic populations
which gave fauna and flora time to rejuvenate for the following season (Stearns, 2011).
As the climate began to stabilize at the end of the last Ice age, humans realised they no
, longer had to migrate as much as they could produce their own food (Childe, 1936).
Humans saw that the docility of some animals easily allowed them to be bred and used
as sources of food or pack animals. Furthermore, crops could be grafted and grown
reliably in concentrated high yields, and the seeds could be stored during winter
months. The crops could feed both them and their cattle which allowed for human
populations to increase as food was less of a concern. In addition, this resulted in
humans saving energy and time which they could now spend developing their
settlements. As a result of populations still being minimal, the first domesticated
settlements had little negative impact on the environment yet were still more damaging
than their predecessors, the hunter gatherers. This triggered the beginning of the
Agricultural Revolution and can be seen as the birth of our civilization.
Irrigation
The first definite use of irrigation and riverine agriculture dates back 5,000 years to
Egypt; however, it is possible that Iraq adopted it first (Butzer, 1976). As a result of
domestication granting ‘man’ more time to develop, societies aimed to find solutions to
their problems. A major problem that societies were facing, especially in arid regions,
was the problem of watering their crops during the dry season. Humans realised that by
diverting natural river waterways into man-made canals allowed them to water and
sustain their crops even on dry land. This revolutionary technological advancement
reduced the restrictions of land that humans previously faced when growing their crops.
In addition, terracing techniques to grow on hills while saving water were also used to
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