The Great Space Boom that marked the beginning of agriculture

Hello, curious boys and girls of the universe! Today we are going to delve into a story that is as shocking as a comet crashing in a science fiction movie. So let’s travel back in time, a whopping 12,800 years ago, when agriculture made its way to Syria after a cosmic spectacle that made the Earth’s jaw drop. Imagine this: a bunch of years ago, a fragmented comet is heading towards Earth, ready to go “BOOM” in the atmosphere. The explosion and the resulting environmental changes were like the awakening of a sleeping giant and shook the hunter-gatherers living in the prehistoric settlement of Abu Hureyra in Syria.

An international group of scientists has been investigating this crazy hypothesis about the comet impact and its effects, and have come to some conclusions. It turns out that after the explosion, the climate changed drastically, from wet and lush to dry and cold, hunter-gatherers could no longer afford to be so relaxed and began to think about how to survive. So what did they do? They became farmers! Yes, friends! They started growing barley, wheat and legumes, the transition from gathering food to farming was like switching from an endless buffet to growing your own vegetables in the garden. Evidence of this transformation was found in the layers of remains left by the ancient inhabitants of Abu Hureyra.

Now, it is important to know that today Abu Hureyra is under water due to a dam, but archaeologists managed to bring out a lot of interesting information before that happened. Thanks to the remains they left behind, scientists were able to trace what they ate before and after the cosmic event. Before the impact, their diet included wild fruits and berries, but after this big “BOOM!”, they became more fanatical about grains and legumes, as if they had decided that agriculture was the way to go.

But the story does not end there, my dear readers. No, there were also changes in the population and the way they lived. Houses became more “rural” with the construction of corrals for livestock and other signs of animal domestication. Farming really changed the whole game, now, this story is not unique. Scientists have found similar evidence of cosmic explosions in other parts of the world, such as North America, South America and Europe. It’s like there’s a cosmic explosion on offer, only it’s not something you can buy in a store!

So, in short, the next time you look at your breakfast cereal, remember that agriculture began with a cosmic boom at a place called Abu Hureyra! And while there may be no craters in the ground, the evidence of this explosion is clearer than a starry sky on a clear night.Until the next adventure in the STEAM world, boys and girls!