12. Where did agriculture begin and how did it spread?

Agriculture truly begins at around 10,000 BCE, but possible experimentation before then is likely. At around 5000 BCE, agriculture had become well extablished in southwest Asia, southeast Asia, east Asia, and in the Americas. The transition to agriculture was dependant on the climate and the plants and animals that were available to be domesticated. Agriculture spread from the Fertile Crescent, moving west. It spread throughout Europe and Egypt and then east. In China it moved south to the Polynesian islands. In tropical or desert climates, agriculture did not spread as rapidly, if at all, due to the climate challenge.

By Camila Sabisky

Agricultural and Urban Revolutions, http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/unit_overview_4.html

CF Manual 65-66

Evolution, Consequences and Future of Plant and Animal Domestication, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v418/n6898/full/nature01019.html