Agricultural Origins

Abstract

The Andean region of South America and the island of Ireland both adopted agriculture in wildly divergent manners, leaving distinct marks on their individual cultures. This study presents an overview of the contrast in agricultural adoption (that is, plant and animal domestication) in both the Andes and Ireland, as well as the subsequent respective cultural effects of those adoption techniques. In order to properly understand this relationship, certain factors must first be examined, specifically the available environmental resources at the onset of human occupation in each region, followed by the early experimentation with local resources leading to plant and animal domesticates, and concluding with a cultural analysis of each locale in the wake of agricultural adoption. Both regions began in similar landscapes, offering ample coastal and terrestrial resources for their respective nomadic settlers. While the Andes gradually developed their plant and animal domesticates independently, Ireland abruptly adopted Eurasian-born systems and adjusted their cultural trajectory along this alternative path. By comparing these two agricultural histories, an immense cache of traditions and diversities come to light backed by archaeological discoveries and decades of scientific work in both regions, overall illustrating how past agricultural traditions have a meerdirect and immense influence on finer cultural structure.