Write 3 paragraphs for reflection and should be do thefollowing:
1. In first paragraph, Summarize the article (attached below).(Don't plagiarism from article. Please use your own wordsto summarize)
2. In second paragraph, Connect the article with one of those
\"Archaeological methods\" or \"Early farming and the rise of cities\"or \"Archaeological record – the material artifacts andenvironmental evidence\". Be specific about the connections youmake.
3. In third paragraph, Include your own reflection on what you’veread/learned. What do you think about it?
Article Here: \"First evidence of farming inMideast 23,000 years ago\"
Until now, researchers believed farming was \"invented\" some 12,000years ago in the Cradle of Civilization -- Iraq, the Levant, partsof Turkey and Iran -- an area that was home to some of the earliestknown human civilizations. A new discovery by an internationalcollaboration of researchers from Tel Aviv University, HarvardUniversity, Bar-Ilan University, and the University of Haifa offersthe first evidence that trial plant cultivation began far earlier-- some 23,000 years ago. The study focuses on the discovery of thefirst weed species at the site of a sedentary human camp on theshore of the Sea of Galilee. It was published in PLOS ONE and ledby Prof. Ehud Weiss of Bar-Ilan University in collaboration withProf. Marcelo Sternberg of the Department of Molecular Biology andEcology of Plants at TAU's Faculty of Life Sciences and Prof. OferBar-Yosef of Harvard University, among other colleagues. \"Whilefull-scale agriculture did not develop until much later, our studyshows that trial cultivation began far earlier than previouslybelieved, and gives us reason to rethink our ancestors'capabilities,\" said Prof. Sternberg. \"Those early ancestors weremore clever and more skilled than we knew.\"
Evidence among the weeds
Although weeds are considered a threat or nuisance in farming,their presence at the site of the Ohalo II people's camp revealedthe earliest signs of trial plant cultivation -- some 11 millenniaearlier than conventional ideas about the onset of agriculture. Theplant material was found at the site of the Ohalo II people, whowere fisher hunter-gatherers and established a sedentary humancamp. The site was unusually well preserved, having been charred,covered by lake sediment, and sealed in low-oxygen conditions --ideal for the preservation of plant material. The researchersexamined the weed species for morphological signs of domestic-typecereals and harvesting tools, although their very presence isevidence itself of early farming. \"This uniquely preserved site isone of the best archaeological examples worldwide of thehunter-gatherers' way of life,\" said Prof. Sternberg. \"It waspossible to recover an extensive amount of information on the siteand its inhabitants\". \"Because weeds thrive in cultivated fieldsand disturbed soils, a significant presence of weeds inarchaeobotanical assemblages retrieved from Neolithic sites andsettlements of later age is widely considered an indicator ofsystematic cultivation,\" according to the study.
Early gatherers
The site bears the remains of six shelters and a particularlyrich assemblage of plants. Upon retrieving and examiningapproximately 150,000 plant specimens, the researchers determinedthat early humans there had gathered over 140 species of plants.These included 13 known weeds mixed with edible cereals, such aswild emmer, wild barley, and wild oats. The researchers found agrinding slab -- a stone tool with which cereal starch granuleswere extracted -- as well as a distribution of seeds around thistool, reflecting that the cereal grains were processed forconsumption. The large number of cereals showing specific kinds ofscars on their seeds indicate the likelihood of those cerealsgrowing in fields, and the presence of sickle blades indicates thatthese humans deliberately planned the harvest of cereal. The newstudy offers evidence that early humans clearly functioned with abasic knowledge of agriculture and, perhaps more importantly,exhibited foresight and extensive agricultural planning far earlierthan previously believed.
