Final answer:
Domestication in the Americas involved plants like maize and animals, leading to settled ways of life around Mesoamerica and the Andean region. In contrast, Africa adopted domestication practices from the Fertile Crescent around 7000 BCE, leading to transformed lifestyles along the Nile River. Meanwhile, Eurasia saw different regions like the Middle East and China adopt agriculture at different times and cultivate diverse crops.
Step-by-step explanation:
Domestication in the Americas differed from that in Africa and Eurasia due to variations in environments, types of domesticated plants and animals, and cultural practices. In the Americas, about ten thousand years ago, humans began the domestication of plants and animals, which allowed them to settle and build permanent settlements, especially in Mesoamerica. They domesticated maize from a type of wild grass known as teosinte between 5000 and 3000 BCE, forming the basis of their agriculture. Meanwhile, in the Andean region, they began experimenting with animal domestication about nine thousand years ago, cultivating edible plants like squash, bottle gourds, and potato.
On the other hand, in Africa, people started domesticating plants and animals beginning around 7000 BCE when the practices from the Fertile Crescent were first adopted. The regions along the Nile River were transformed as they started cultivating wheat, barley, sheep, goats, and cattle. Similarly, in Eurasia, the concept of agriculture was adopted at different times in different regions like the Middle East, northern China, and Mesoamerica. Diverse grains like wheat, barley, peas, and lentils were cultivated in the Middle East, while in China, millet, rice, and beans were grown.
In addition, animal exchange across the Atlantic significantly impacted the lives of Indigenous communities in the Americas. Animals such as horses, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens transformed their lifestyle, like in North America, where tribes like the Lakota and Navajo adjusted their lives around these animals. However, it's important to note that some Indigenous tribes like those in Australia maintained a hunter-gatherer lifestyle despite the agricultural revolution, as they determined it to be more practical and suitable for their environment.
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