I am going to try to present a case to you on a theory of mine on the origins of agriculture in society.
Ok, you are probably thinking: "This person must be an idiot, everyone knows that agriculture was developed by Neolithic homo sapiens.", Well I am going to challenge that very conceptual notion taught at the most basic level of ancient human history (Anthropological) classes.
As with all theories, there needs to be evidence to back it up, so I will take you back to the time of Homo Neanderthalensis, a key role in our history often overlooked by many and one major finding that we dismiss because of the egotistical nature of our species. This fact is a place in Shanidar, Iraq, where there are remains of burials of Neanderthals that are adorned with flowers growing. Here is one of the two focal points of my argument: these flowers had been planted, thousands of years before the Neolithic time period.
This is largely dismissed as during the time period rodents who lived in the area would bury seeds underground away from scavengers, however, I agree and disagree with this point. I agree that the rodents did bury the seeds and they grew, but what I disagree with is the fact that most think it was not in their capacity (the Neanderthals) to replicate a similar process or have other species of Homo be unable to do so.
This next part of my argument is both evidence and speculation: The speculation being that there is no hard evidence other than coincidental evidence of plants at important places to the Neanderthals and that they could comprehend the agricultural process, but it would have been in the best interest of the Neanderthals to keep a part of nomadic life. My facts for that point come from the remains of a child Neanderthal who was found to have a cranial capacity of around 1750, large enough to comprehend an idea such as agriculture because the average human only has about 1450 cranial capacity, further speculation can hypothesize along with their overlapping timeline that Neanderthals introduced the way of agriculture through their interactions with Homo Sapiens.
