ASSIGNMENT
3A. Describe the process of artificial selection. What does the attempted domestication of the fox tell us about the process of domestication in antiquity? On what basis do researchers distinguish the bones of domesticated or tamed animals from those of the animals’ wild ancestors? On what basis do researchers distinguish domesticated from wild plants of the same species? How does artificial selection differ from natural selection? What characteristics of a plant might be advantageous in nature but selected against by human beings?
3B. Describe the Natufian. What makes the Natufian different from the other Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene groups in the Near East? What is the difference between simple and complex foraging? Describe the archaeological evidence for the earliest food producing societies of the Middle East.
