Comparing Food Production from Tilling and Pastoralism in European Regions

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History
Map assignment
Comparing and contrasting food production for tilling the soil and food production from
pastoralism in Map 2.1
European regions, for example, Mesopotamia regions such as Ur are areas where food
production from tilling the land emerged. Comparing these areas with regions that emerged as a
result of food production from pastoralism indicates that the regions had fertile soil required for
crop growth. The regions are also surrounded by huge mass of water bodies that ensure a
continuous supply of water required for irrigation (Spengler, Frachetti, Doumani, Rouse,
Cerasetti, Bullion, Mar’yashev, 2014).The geographical region is sloppy with mountains that
attracted rainfall important for plant growth. The highland areas contributed highly to increased
food production through tilling the land in order to grow crops. The other regions had a closer
proximity to Mesopotamia which also led to the increase in the art of growing crops.
In contrast, regions where food production from herding emerged had a minimum water supply
that could not support crop growth. The water content was limited and also the soil was less
fertile. These regions were mostly flat areas with semi-arid climatic conditions that were best
suited for pastoralism. The flat areas constantly had floods and at other times became dry making
the pastoral communities to move from one place to another in search of green pastures for their
animals.
There followed an initial similar combination of herding animals and the art of cultivation of
crops which had proved to be highly successful in the regions around Southwest Asia. The steep
environment did not have the ability to support large-scale farming. However, they engaged in
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History
secondary activities such as fishing, hunting and utilized small farm plots available in the winter
pastures (Spengler et al, 2014) .In contrast, the region's economy mostly centered on domestic
cattle, sheep and also horses. As the herds continue to increase rapidly, the nomad in the regions
moved on to other new pasture religions utilizing vast expanse of land to carry out herding
activities.in the 2nd millennium BCE, the people became full-scale nomadic herder’s
communities also in arid zones of central Eurasia.
Why cities appeared in the regions as highlighted by the map?
Early cities developed in various regions for example from Europe Mesopotamia to the
Americas. The first cities like Eridu, Ur were established in Mesopotamia just after the Neolithic
period, 7500BCE. The ancient cities could be noted for their functional and geographical
diversity. There exist limited evidence that asserted what kind of conditions brought about the
rise of the first cities. However, some of the pre-conditions and typical mechanisms that led to
the rise of cities are agriculture. Agriculture enables surplus food production and creation of
large economies of scale. The activities of farming made hunters leave nomadic life and settle
close to those who carried out agriculture. The high yield of food production resulted in an
increase in human population density (Spengler et al, 2014).
In the map, the geographical features highlighted indicates the presence of trade routes that
enable development of preindustrial cities.
A conducive environment and strong social organization are some of the reasons that contribute
to the development of a city. Cities rise because of the presence of clean water and favorable
climate for the growth of crops. A strong social organization enables people to acquire several
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