Today, January 31st, 2011 was my first day of Western Civilization class. First we got assigned seats, and then Mr. Schick went over homework and classwork to make sure everybody was caught up. Then we watched a part of the movie, Guns, Germs, and Steel, which took up most of class. After that, we discussed as a class what was talked about in that part of the movie.
The main character's name in this video is Jerad Diamond. He is a biologist that lives in Papa New Guinea and he studies human civilization. Back 1,300 years ago there was only 2 ways to get food: hunting and gathering. Everybody lived this way back then. Hunting required great skill and patience but did not last the population very long. Wild sago was an important food to the people of Papa New Guinea then. They would cut down the sago tree and then clean it out. It is better than hunting, however, it takes a lot of work, does not stay fresh for very long, and is very low on protein. Wheat and barley were also very popular and far more nutritious.
Archeologists discovered a village that was estimated to have first emerged about 1,100 years ago the same time as the Middle East Drought. A mud wall building probably held grains inside in order to feed the people. This was one of the most significant things that led people to civilization. The grains stored were primarily wheat and barely because they could be stored for years. People started growing their own food next to the village during the drought.
The way crops are changed though human civilization is called domestication. People who hunted couldn't produce nearly as much food as farmers. Farming in China came after the Middle East, then America, and then Africa. Archeologists believe that farming has been around for 10 thousand years. The farmers of New Guinea always suffered from a lack of protein. Sometimes they ate giant spiders to compliment their diet. Americans have had an advantage over New Guinea because we had more protein filled crops that can last a lot longer.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Guns, Germs, and Steel Part 1
I was not in class on Monday, January 24, 2011 due to an excused absence therefor I didn't get to see this part of the video.
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