On Mon, 26 Mar 2001, Don Wiss wrote:

> >And anyone who argues that paleolithic people didn't eat, and
> >like, grains *at all* must have a difficult time explaining the
> >rather rapid transition to large-scale cultivation of these crops
> >when agriculture finally did begin.
>
> Rapid transition? I wrote they started gathering them 17,000 years ago. And
> it is commonly written that farming started 10-11,000 years ago. That's
> 6,000 years. I wouldn't call that rapid. And then it took thousands more
> years to spread out of the Near East.

In evolutionary terms, it's a heartbeat.  In any event, the
question still stands.  Whether it spread rapidly or slowly, the
person who insists that paleo people didn't eat grains at all has
the burden of explaining why they eventually  took up cultivating
a crop that they didn't eat.  If, on the other hand, grains had
been an adjunct food for a long time, this transition is less
puzzling.

Todd Moody
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