Agriculture: The solar energy revolution

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2021

⏱️ 24 minutes

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Summary

Justin Rowlatt explores what was the original solar energy revolution – harnessing the sun’s rays to grow food. Some 10,000 years ago our ancestors began to till the soil, producing the energy surpluses needed to feed the first cities and civilisations. Growing crops was gruelling work, as Justin discovers at Butser Ancient Farm, when he tries to till some soil himself with a replica Stone Age mattock. But what first prompted our ancestors to take up such an arduous way of life in the first place?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Nambu Lanter Combo and my podcast, Dear Dota, is available now.
0:05.4	It's a handbook to life for daughters everywhere. Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:14.2	I'm on a ramble in the countryside. It's a bit wet, it's a bit windy, but it's wonderful to be out here,
0:20.4	although let's be honest. This landscape isn't really natural at all. A few thousand years ago,
0:27.7	this would all have been for us. Now, today the trees are gone and I've got a clear view
0:32.8	over a field of winter wheat. Now, think just for a moment what a field really is.
0:40.2	It's a man-made structure. Really, it's a kind of giant solar panel, but instead of making electricity,
0:47.4	it turns the sun's rays into digestible chemical energy. Like this, like this, like this apple.
0:59.7	Hello, I'm Justin Rollat and welcome to episode two of my pyrotechnic history of humanity.
1:06.8	This week I look at agriculture, which was arguably the original solar energy revolution. Why?
1:13.2	Well, next time you have a bite to eat, think about this. We have never had it so easy.
1:20.2	For millions of years our forebears had to roam the wilderness in search of animals and plants they
1:26.3	could cook and eat. Then about 11,000 years ago, during the Neolithic or late Stone Age,
1:33.7	some humans settled down and began tilling the soil to grow their food. Now, to get a feel of what
1:40.6	that was like for them, I tried swinging a Stone Age mattert myself. It's a kind of stubby pickaxe
1:47.3	used to till soil. There was just one problem though. I was just trying to say how well it was working
1:58.3	and then... I know this is about to take a photo. And then it broke. That's Claire Walton, by the way.
2:03.2	She's the resident archaeologist at Buttser Ancient Farm in southern England.
2:08.0	Oh, that is quite a hard work. That's why I was so pleased you're here.
2:12.7	Because after you've left we've got some more people coming to dig it over today.
2:15.8	The farm is a kind of archaeological experiment. Claire learns about the history of agriculture over
2:22.0	the last 10,000 years by recreating past buildings and artifacts, including that matter I just broke.
	...

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