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Archaeology

The cost of cultivation

Nature volume 473, pages 163–164 (2011)Cite this article

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There were probably many reasons for the adoption of agriculture by prehistoric human societies. A fresh perspective comes from a quantitative estimate of the relative productivity of farming and foraging.

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Figure 1: Planting rice in Borneo.

H. BARTON

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graeme Barker is in the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK.,

    Graeme Barker

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  1. Graeme Barker
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Correspondence to Graeme Barker.

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Barker, G. The cost of cultivation. Nature 473, 163–164 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/473163a

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