On Humans6 Aug 2025

Encore | Why Agriculture? Climate Change and the Origins of Farming ~ Andrea Matranga

Climate. Weathers. History.

Here's an encore episode to wrap up the mini-series on these themes!

This episode on the puzzling origins of farming is one of my all-time favourites on the show. I thought it was a good time to put it out again.

You can also read my essay on the topic ⁠here⁠.

Enjoy!

ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES

Agriculture changed everything. Traditionally, this “Neolithic Revolution” was celebrated for opening the gates of civilisation. Recently, it has been compared to the original sin. But whatever our take on agriculture, we should be puzzled by one thing: Why did our ancestors start to farm in the first place?

It's not like early farmers had improved lives. Quite the opposite, they worked harder and suffered from worse health. So why did so early farmers stick to it? And why did farming spread so far and wide?

⁠Andrea Matranga⁠ thinks he has the answer.

An economic historian at the University of Torino, Matranga links agriculture to climate change. This is not a new idea — not as such. After all, agriculture developed in lockstep with the end of Ice Ages. For years, this vague link has formed my own pet-theory on the matter.

But I never paused to reflect on the obvious problem with it. There was never an “Ice Age” in Sudan. Why didn’t humans just farm there?

Matranga has the answer to this and many other puzzles. And surprisingly, his answer is linked to the movements of Jupiter. I will let him tell you why.

We begin this episode covering some previous theories on the origins of agriculture. Next, we dissect Matranga's theory and the evidence for it. Towards the end, we talk about the spread of farming — peaceful and violent — and note a neglected downside to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. As always, we finish with my guest’s reflection on humanity.

LINKS

You can find my summary of Matranga's theory with links to academic articles at ⁠⁠⁠⁠OnHumans.Substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Do you like On Humans? Join the group of patrons at ⁠⁠Patreon.com/OnHumans⁠⁠!

MENTIONS

Names

Terms

Ethnic groups

Natuffians | Pacific Northwestern hunter-gatherers

Keywords

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