Disentangling Domestication from Food Production Systems in the Neotropics

The Neolithic Revolution narrative associates early-mid Holocene domestications with the development of agriculture that fueled the rise of late Holocene civilizations. This narrative continues to be influential, even though it has been deconstructed by archaeologists and geneticists in its homeland. To further disentangle domestication from reliance on food production systems, such as agriculture, we revisit definitions of domestication and food production systems, review the late Pleistocene–early Holocene archaeobotanical record, and quantify the use, management and domestication of Neotropical plants to provide insights about the past. Neotropical plant domestication relies on common human behaviors (selection, accumulation and caring) within agroecological systems that focus on individual plants, rather than populations—as is typical of agriculture. The early archaeobotanical record includes numerous perennial and annual species, many of which later became domesticated. Some of this evidence identifies dispersal with probable cultivation, suggesting incipient domestication by 10,000 years ago. Since the Pleistocene, more than 6500, 1206 and 6261 native plant species have been used in Mesoamerica, the Central Andes and lowland South America, respectively. At least 1555, 428 and 742 are managed outside and inside food production systems, and at least 1148, 428 and 600 are cultivated, respectively, suggesting at least incipient domestication. Full native domesticates are more numerous in Mesoamerica (251) than the Andes (124) and the lowlands (45). This synthesis reveals that domestication is more common in the Neotropics than previously recognized and started much earlier than reliance on food production systems. Hundreds of ethnic groups had, and some still have, alternative strategies that do involve domestication, although they do not rely principally on food production systems, such as agriculture.

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Published: Jan 28, 2021
Vol/Issue: 4(1)
Pages: 4
License: View

Authors

C

Charles R. Clement

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo, 2936—Petrópolis, Manaus 69067-375, Brazil

A

Alejandro Casas

Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Campus Morelia), Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701, Col. Ex Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, Morelia 58190, Mexico

F

Fabiola Alexandra Parra-Rondinel

Departamento Académico de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Av. La Molina, s/n—La Molina, Lima 15024, Peru

C

Carolina Levis

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário, s/n—Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-970, Brazil

N

Nivaldo Peroni

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário, s/n—Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-970, Brazil; Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário, s/n—Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-970, Brazil

N

Natalia Hanazaki

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário, s/n—Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-970, Brazil; Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário, s/n—Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-970, Brazil

L

Laura Cortés-Zárraga

Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510, Mexico

S

Selene Rangel-Landa

Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Campus Morelia), Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701, Col. Ex Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, Morelia 58190, Mexico

R

Rubana Palhares Alves

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo, 2936—Petrópolis, Manaus 69067-375, Brazil

M

Maria Julia Ferreira

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n—Dois Irmãos, Recife 52171-900, Brazil

M

Mariana Franco Cassino

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo, 2936—Petrópolis, Manaus 69067-375, Brazil

S

Sara Deambrozi Coelho

Rua Alegria, 72—Centro, Aracruz 29190-230, Brazil

A

Aldo Cruz-Soriano

Coordinadora de Ciencia y Tecnología en los Andes—CCTA, Camilo Carrillo 300-A, Lima 15072, Peru

M

Marggiori Pancorbo-Olivera

Centro de Investigaciones de Zonas Áridas, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Jr. Camilo Carrillo 300-A—Jesús María, Lima 15072, Peru

J

José Blancas

Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Colonia Chamilpa, Cuernavaca 62290, Mexico

A

Andrea Martínez-Ballesté

Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510, Mexico

G

Gustavo Lemes

Curso de Graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário, s/n—Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-970, Brazil

E

Elisa Lotero-Velásquez

Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510, Mexico

V

Vinicius Mutti Bertin

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências de Florestas Tropicais, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo, 2936—Petrópolis, Manaus 69067-375, Brazil

G

Guilherme Gerhardt Mazzochini

Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Rua Charles Darwin, s/n—Cidade Universitária, Campinas 13083-863, Brazil

Cite This Article

Charles R. Clement, Alejandro Casas, Fabiola Alexandra Parra-Rondinel, et al. (2021). Disentangling Domestication from Food Production Systems in the Neotropics. Quaternary, 4(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat4010004

Disentangling Domestication from Food Production Systems in the Neotropics

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