Farming: The Equalizer of Ancient Man

BY CRISTINA

The native people of Fort Ancient, Kentucky in the United States did not begin farming until the Late Prehistoric period, around AD 1000-1750. When William Sharp, who at the time was with the University of Kentucky Cultural Resource Assessment, and David Pollack, with the Kentucky Heritage Council; first excavated the site between 1989 and 1990, the site provided an excellent example of the Middle Fort Ancient Period (AD 1200-1400). They uncovered a public plaza that was most likely used for village events and rituals. To the north of the plaza, was the area for burying the persons of high social standing. Another area close to the plaza served as the cemetery for the adults and adolescents, but the children and infants—having not been accepted by the tribe—were buried in the refuse area.

The Fort Ancient people cultivated corn and beans, and supplemented their diet by hunting deer, elk, bear, and turkey. The village was fairly small, with up to 180 residence. This site is located near an older one, indicating the people moved to the new site to purposely establish a larger village.

However, the amount of crops the Fort Ancient people produced was small and had to be supplemented by hunting, the act of farming itself allowed them to settle in one area and for their population to grow and become stable.


A 7,000 year old Neolithic or Late Stone Age—farming village has been excavated in Egypt. The site is 50 miles southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum depression oasis. Mere centimeters below the modern plowed surface, Dutch and American archaeologists have discovered evidence of buildings with clay floors and hearths that contained homegrown wheat grain and barley. They also found the remains of sheep, goats, and pigs, which like the grains—were imported.

Earlier work was done in the area in the 1920’s by British archaeologist Gertrude Caton Thompson. Thompson discovered Neolithic granaries and farming tools, and the radiocarbon dating on the tools put the site at 5200 BC, but nothing further could be done at the time. Today, a magnetic survey, followed by extensive excavation showed that at the depth of a yard, there are undisturbed habitation layers, indicating multiple generations of settlers one on top of the other.

The finding seems to suggest that around 7,000 BC, the grains and animals—none of which are native to Egypt—were introduced in that country from the Middle East, where farming was being done as early as 9,000 BC. It is not clear how it was introduced, but it could have come across the Red Sea, on Sinai Peninsula trade routes.

If the Neolithic Egyptians were farming and trading 5,000 years before the Old Kingdom began, there is a possibility the true length of Egypt’s history as country will need to be reanalyzed. Such activities are not only the first steps in permanent settlement building, but in nation building as well.


11,400-year-old Neolithic figs found in Israel may be proof of the earliest form of agriculture, even before humans began cultivating cereals and legumes such as peas and beans. The find surpasses the oldest known fruit to date, 6,000-year-old grapes and olives from the Mediterranean. The nine figs are small, but ripe and show signs of being dried for human consumption. The figs developed from a common mutation called parthenocarpy, which means that the figs were grown from an unfertilized female flower. They also lack the embryonic seeds of normal figs, another feature of parthenocarpy.

Usually, these mutations last no longer than one generation. However, the Neolithic horticulturists were maintaining the trees by planting live branches in the ground. Fig trees are particularly amenable to this type of horticulture, which is called vegetative propagation.

Horticultural seems a logical step between the hunter/gatherer lifestyle of the Ice Age, and full-fledged Neolithic farming, as man tested his environment and learned how things worked and what about his environment he could control.

Agriculture was a huge step in the development of man. Neolithic man, as the Ice Age ended and the climate became more favorable, began farming in the Near East, Europe and Asia. Farming is highly labour intensive, and the domestication of animals helped to lessen that burden a bit. The invention of machinery to aid in farming—as compared to other industries—has been very slow. The sickle, and the scratch plow were the top of the line, must have items for nearly 2,200 years, before the invention of the heavy plow in the European Middle Ages along with the mill, and the 3-field system of farming. Until the birth of the internal combustion engine in the late 1800’s, nothing much changed. In some parts of the world, it still has not.

Be that as it may, the discovery of 11,400 year old figs in Israel, the 7,000 year old farming village in Egypt, and the prehistoric farming village in Kentucky all help to emphasize not only the true breath of farming the world over; but it also helps to highlight the fact that no matter when a culture begins to farm—11,400 years ago, or a recently as CE 1000—it is an essential step in the development of society and community. For the Egyptians, farming allowed them to eventually build a society that lasted nearly 5,000 years. For the people of Fort Ancient, their history was much shorter—only 400 years—but was no less rich. Farming is truly the impetus for the growth of populations and cultures.

Pictures from National Geographic