Germs, Guns, and Steel con.

Today we continued watching Guns, Germs, and Steel. Here are the notes we took:

• The Middle East had barley and wheat
• Could be stored for a long time
• Nutritious and plentiful
• Draa- archaeological site of old civilizations (sophisticated)(40-50 people)
• This was the first time they settled down
• Grainerys made of mud wall, could be stored for years, protects from insects, weather, etc.
• During droughts, Middle Easterns made wheat and barely instead of hunting and gathering (domesticated plants)
• Altering or controlling (ex. growing cycle, type grown, how much) is called domestication
• China started growing rice (farming sprang up)
• The Americas grew corn, squash, and beans
• Africa started growing sorghum, millet, yams
• New Guineans sometimes ate spiders
• Food comes down to geographic luck
• Animal domestication gives more food/resources
• Animal poop helps plants
• Plants and animals mutually help each other.
• Goats and sheep were the first animals to be domesticated
• Horse and oxen helped the plow work (New Guinea doesn't have this)
• They are the best animals to be domesticated
• Large plant eating mammals
• 14 domesticated animals of 100 pounds or more in history
• goats, sheep, pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, bactrian camels, Arabian camels, water buffalo, llamas, reindeer, yaks, mythons, Bali cattle