Chapter 25. ORIGIN OF FOOD PRODUCTION

“While observing the barbarous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, it struck me that the possession of some property, a fixed abode, and the union of many families under a chief, were the indispensable requisites for civilization. Such habits almost necessitate the cultivation of the ground; and the first steps would probably result... from some such accident as the seeds of a fruit tree falling on a heap of refuse, and producing some unusually fine variety. The problem, however, of the first advance of savages toward civilization is at present much too difficult to be solved.” C. Darwin, Descent of Man (1874)