Question

A population is living off a secure subsistence base, eating plants and animals caught by hunting, fishing, and gathering. The population expands and as it does, it puts pressure on the resource base, forcing people to eat "third-choice" foods, especially grains. These people discover that the grain responds to human efforts to increase yields and become increasingly reliant on it. This scenario would fit best with which theory that explains why foods were domesticated and agriculture developed?

Answer 1

The scenario matches the Oasis Theory, which posits that expanding populations began domesticating plants and animals for a steady food supply as they exhausted their former resource base, leading to the Neolithic Revolution. Agriculture allowed for population growth, labor specialization, and the rise of permanent settlements.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scenario described in the question closely aligns with the Oasis Theory, also known as the Propinquity Theory, formulated by V. Gordon Childe. According to this theory, as populations grew, the pressure on the existing resource base increased, which led people to rely on domesticated plants and animals to meet their subsistence needs. Observations of hunter-gatherer societies and the transition to agricultural societies suggest that as humans settled and the population expanded, they domesticated plants that responded to cultivation efforts, such as grains in the Near East and eventually animals as well. This marked the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution and resulted in profound changes, including labor specialization and the rise of permanent settlements. With the development of agriculture, food supplies became more abundant and reliable, allowing populations to grow and civilizations to form. While this led to the eventual establishment of sophisticated Neolithic settlements, it also influenced the diet of these early agriculturalists, often reducing its diversity. Nevertheless, the development of agriculture is considered a pivotal moment in human history, leading to increased food security and the ability to sustain larger populations and ultimately fueling the rise of human civilization as we understand it.