Note:  "Push models" suggest that some factor(s) pushed societies to become food produces; "pull models" suggest that some factor(s) permitted societies to become food producers.

V. Gordon Childe / Oasis or "Neolithic Revolution"  Theory (1930s-1950s)

region:  Near East only

push model:  food production was a rapid,  conscious development that solved the problem of feeding people in a changing environment with less food

scenario:  after glaciers receded and the climate radically changed by becaming drier, plants and animals were more restricted in their distribution; plants  and animals including humans concentrated in oasis areas; closeness of humans and plants and animals in oases lead to symbiotic relationships and domestication

why:  food production was selected because it was based on more reliable food sources


Robert J. Braidwood / Experimentation or Nuclear Zone  (1940s)

region:  Near East only, in the hilly flanks of the Zagros Mtns of Iran/Iraq  where wild ancestors of domesticates were found

pull model:  humans were permitted to become food producers because of their  conscious interactions with  local wild food resources

scenario:  experimentation in  cultivating wild foods began as food became more scarce, but as humans gained a better understanding of the environment they had more impact on plants and animals,  leading to domestication

why:  people were "culturally receptive to new subsistence practices" (Fagan 2001:232-3)
 

Lewis Binford, Ester Boserup / Demographic Stress (1960s)

region:  anywhere human populations were circumscribed

push model:  people had to consciously develop new means to feed more dense populations

scenario:  population densities increased in areas with domesticable species; humans began to manipulate the environment in new ways to increase productivity to feed the confined and growing population; the manipulation led to domestication

why:  demographic stress required  larger food yields and less risky  subsistence strategies

Edgar Anderson / Dump Heap Hypothesis    (1960s)

region:  worldwide (plants only)

pull model:  existing human behaviors related to discarding collected seeds led to domestication

scenario:  garbage heaps are rich environments where discarded collected seeds could thrive; this artificial environment lead to accidental selection of plants with supple stalks and led to domestication

why:  humans were "preadapted" to food production due to their hunting-gathering behaviors and impacts on the environment

 
Michael Cohen / Population Growth (1980s)

region:  worldwide

push model:  people consciously chose to develop new technologies for a growing population

scenario:  after glaciers receded and climate changed, population growth led to food crisis

why:  food production produces larger yields that can feed more people than food collection

 
Barbara Bender / Social Theory (1980s)

region:  worldwide

push model:  sedentism required a more productive subsistence strategy

scenario:  more complex hunter-gatherers required more surplus goods for trade and political alliances;  this led to greater sedentism, which necessitated a more productive subsistence strategy (ignores environmental changes)

why:  needed to feed a sedentary population

David Rindos / Coevolution    (1990s)

region:  worldwide

pull model:  humans unconsciously selected for traits that made plants/animals better food sources

how:  domestication was selected when it increased the fitness of humans and domesticates
   
scenario:  mutualism and coevolution (changes in plants/animals caused changes in humans, and visa versa) were related to new technologies that led to increased productivity

Brian Hayden / Accumulators or Feasting    (1990s)

region:  areas with abundant k-selected (animals that produce few offspring per litter and have long life spans) resources and in social groups with social ranking

pull model:  competition and economic factors promoted the production of domesticates

why:  intentional desire to accumulate wealth by high-ranking individuals; first domesticates were labor intensive plants/animals and/or non-food plants/animals (i.e., those used for containers, those that produced furs/hides, etc.)

 
REFER TO THE FAGAN TEXT FOR MORE DETAILS