Abstract:The relationship between the starting of agriculture and the origin of culture has been a topic of common concern in natural sciences and humanities since ancient times. Since the rise of modern anthropology, it has applied its comprehensive advantages of the way of holistic and multi-angle scientific methods to start with archaeological/prehistoric evidence, examine human evolution and ancient ecology and paleogeology-climate and other factors, and use a large amount of ancient ecological scientific research evidence to decipher many problems that were difficult to solve for countless centuries. Another feature of anthropology's research on this topic is that it uses its new methodology to combine the results of ancient fossils and paleoclimate-biology research, and conducts comparative and parallel research in contemporary primitive tribal communities known as “living fossils”, thereby exploring the survival and living conditions of humans in prehistoric times and link up for the lack of data in fossils and written history. It connects the broken and missing links in the chain of evidence of human evolution and the origin of agriculture and civilization, thus putting this research on the right track. The anthropological method organically integrates the topics of the beginnings of agriculture and the origins of human civilization. It regards labor, tools making, and the evolution of human physique and intelligence as the premise and material-intellectual preparation for creating civilization, laying a solid foundation for the theoretical speculation of the successful evolution of mankind and the origin of material and spiritual civilization.
王海龙. 人类学对农耕发轫与文化起源的探讨[J]. 《深圳大学学报》(人文社科版), 2025, 42(4): 22-32.
WANG Hai-long. Anthropological Exploration of the Origins of Agriculture and Culture. , 2025, 42(4): 22-32.
[1] Toth, Nicholas, Schick, Kathy.Overview of Paleolithic Archeology[A].Henke H. C. Winfried, Hardt Thorolf, Tater-sall Ian(eds.). Handbook of Paleoanthropology[C].New York:Springer,2007.1944. [2] Kivell, Tracy L.When Did Human Ancestors Start Using Tools?[J].Scientific American,2024,(11):48-56. [3] Diamond, Jared. Evolution, Consequences and Future of Plant and Animal Domestication[J].Nature,2002,(8):700-707. [4] Culotta, Elizabeth.On the Origin of Religion[J].Science,2009,326(6):784-787. [5] Chantrell, Glynnis(ed). The Oxford Dictionary of World History[Z].England:Oxford University Press,2002.14. [6] (德)恩格斯.劳动在从猿到人转变过程中的作用[A].马克思恩格斯全集(第20卷)[M].中共中央马恩列斯著作编译局译. 北京:人民出版社,1971. [7] (美)罗伯特·路威.文明与野蛮[M].吕叔湘译.北京:三联书店出版社,2015.56. [8] (德)黑格尔.法哲学原理[M].范扬,张企泰译.北京:商务印务馆,1979.205-206. [9] (德)马克思.关于费尔巴哈的提纲[A].马克思恩格斯文集(第1卷)[M].中共中央马恩列斯著作编译局译.北京:人民出版社,2009.501. [10] Geertz, Clifford.The Interpretation of Culture: Selected Essays[M].New York:Basic Books,1973.5. [11] Hu, Wangjie, et al.Genomic Inference of a Severe hu-man Bottleneck During the Early to Middle Pleistocene transition[J].Science,2023,(381):979-984. [12] Bocquet-Appel, Jean-Pierre, et al.Estimates of Upper Paleolithic Meta-Population Size in Europe from Archa-eological Data[J].Journal of Archaeological Science,2005,(32):1656-1668. [13] Weiss, Rick. Chimps Observed Making Their Own Weapons[N].The Washington Post,2007-02-22. [14] Hauser,M.D,Yang C,Berwick R C,etc.The Mystery of La-nguage Evolution[J].Frontiers in Psychology,2014,401(5):1-12. [15] Dunbar R.I.M. The Social Brain: Mind, Language, and Society in Evolutionary Perspective[J].Annual Review of Anthropology,2003,(32):163-181. [16] Lieberman, Philip.Uniquely Human: The Evolution of Speech, Thought, and Selfless Behavior[M].Boston:Harv-ard University Press,1991.86-94. [17] The Research Council of Norway. World’s Oldest Ritual Discovered-Worshipped the Python 70,000 Years Ago[N].Science Daily,2006-11-30. [18] Parson, Ann.Neanderthals Hunted as Well as Humans, Study Says[J].National Geographic News,2006,(2):49-56. [19] Mellot, Christine.Stalking the Ancient Dog[J].Science News,1997,(6):400-401. [20] Snir, Ainit.The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long before Neolithic Farming[J].PLOS ONE,2015,(7):1-12. [21] Harris, David R, Gosden C. The Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism in Eurasia: Crops, Fields, Flocks and Herds[M].London:Routledge,1996.385. [22] Peake, Harold John Edward. The Origins of Agriculture[M].London: Bouverie House,1979.19. [23] Armesto, Felipe Fernandez.Ideas that Changed the Wo-rld[M].New York:Dorling Kindersley limited,2003.400. [24] Eliot, Smith.The Origin of Civilization[M].London: Watts & Co,1946.19. [25] Montgomery D.Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations[M].Calif-ornia:University of California Press,2008.27-47. [26] (德)马克思. 路易斯·亨·摩尔根《古代社会》一书的摘要[A].马克思恩格斯全集(第45卷)[M].中共中央马恩列斯著作编译局译.北京:人民出版社,1985.331-332. [27] Gruber, Jacob.Ethnographic Salvage and the Shaping of Anthropology[J].American Anthropologist,1970,(72):1289-1299. [28] (德)恩格斯. 家庭、私有制和国家的起源[A].马克思恩格斯全集(第21卷)[M].中共中央马恩列斯著作编译局译.北京:人民出版社,1965.30. [29] Krader, Lawrence.The Ethnological Notebooks of Karl Marx[M].Assen,Netherlands: Van Gorcum & Comp,1972. 6-85. [30] Koester, Helmut.History, Culture and Religion of the Hellenistic Age[M].New York:Walter de Gruyter,1995.77. [31] Manning, Richard.Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization[M].New York:North Point Pre-ss,2005.23. [32] U.N.Food & Agriculture Organization[ED/OL].https://F-oodsystemprimer.org/Production/History-of-Agriculture, 2025-04-28.