Guns, Germs, and Steel

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond, W. W. Norton & Company, 1997. 

Pre-History

This book is an interesting complement to the more common books that study pre-history by means of language and genetics. The domestication of plants and animals was the beginning of civilization. This process depends on which plants and animals were present in various parts of the world and whether they were amenable to domestication.

Domesticated Plants:

• Fertile Crescent: wheat, lentil, chickpea, flax, barley

• India: citrus fruit, cucumber

• China: rice, peaches, hemp, soybean

• Mexico: maize (corn)

• South America: potato, sweet potato, quinoa, peanut

• Ethiopia: coffee, chat, teff

• Sahel: sorghum

• West Africa: yams, kola nut

• New Guinea: sugarcane, banana, taro

• 
  

Domesticated Animals

• Tibet: Yak

• China and Southeast Asia: pig, silkworm moth, chicken

• Southwest Asia: sheep, goat

• Eurasia: wolves, honeybee

• Ukraine: horse

• Egypt: donkey

• Arabia: one-humped camel

• Mexico: turkey

• South America: llama

• Cattle were domesticated three times: North Africa, Southwest Asia, India

Lack of African Animals and Plants Suitable for Domestication

All southern African native plants and animals were unsuitable for domestication, greatly inhibiting cultural development. Some animals could not be domesticated because they were too aggressive: zebras, grizzly bears, African (Cape) buffalo, hippos, onager, and elk.

Austronesian Expansion

The author discusses the Austronesian Expansion. Austronesia is mainly a linguistic classification. It includes the languages of Philippines, Indonesia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, the Maori of New Zealand, the Malagasy of Madagascar, and the aborigines of Taiwan.  The Taiwan aborigines have the most linguistic diversity, so Taiwan is probably the homeland of the Austronesian people. The common culture of the Austronesian people includes: seafaring, and stone tools for bark beating to make ropes, nets and clothing. English loan words from Austronesian languages include taboo, tattoo, boondocks, amok, batik, and orangutan.