Evolutionary models for the origins of agriculture
The transition from hunting and gathering to farming at the end of the Pleistocene was one of the most important events in human history, having major impacts on human demography, evolution, health, culture, technology, and social stratification. The reasons why some societies switched to farming are still debated, with climate stabilisation and population pressure as popular hypotheses. However, since these processes occurred so long ago, investigating the transition can be difficult without the use of mathematical models. In this thesis I investigate the effect of various factors, including population size, conservatism, property rights, environmental conditions, climate variability, and mobility, on the transition to farming using evolutionary models. I do this by implementing an intensive parameter sensitivity analysis method on an existing game theoretical model (Bowles and Choi, 2013) for the origins of agriculture, and also develop and explore my own agent-based models of social and environmental interactions. Using the Bowles and Choi model, I find that the key parameters for the emergence of farming are group structuring, group size, conservatism, and farming-friendly property rights. The analysis
Gallagher, E. M.
Evolutionary models for the origins of agriculture. The transition from hunting and gathering to farming at the end of the Pleistocene was one of the most important events in human history, having major impacts on human demography, evolution, health, culture, technology, and social stratification. The reasons why some societies switched to farming are still debated, with climate stabilisation and population pressure as popular hypotheses. However, since these processes occurred so long ago, investigating the transition can be difficult without the use of mathematical models. In this thesis I investigate the effect of various factors, including population size, conservatism, property rights, environmental conditions, climate variability, and mobility, on the transition to farming using evolutionary models. I do this by implementing an intensive parameter sensitivity analysis method on an existing game theoretical model (Bowles and Choi, 2013) for the origins of agriculture, and also develop and explore my own agent-based models of social and environmental interactions. Using the Bowles and Choi model, I find that the key parameters for the emergence of farming are group structuring, group size, conservatism, and farming-friendly property rights. The analysis
evolutionary_model origins_agriculture transition hunt gather farming end pleistocene one_important event human_history major impact human demography evolution health culture technology social stratification reason society switch farm still debate climate stabilisation population pressure popular hypothesis however since process occur investigate transition difficult without use mathematical model investigate_effect various_factor include population size conservatism property_right environmental_condition climate variability mobility transition farm use evolutionary_model implement intensive parameter sensitivity analysis method exist game theoretical_model origins_agriculture also_develop explore agent_based model social_environmental interaction using model key parameter emergence farm group structuring group size conservatism farming friendly property_right analysis