Disparity in Food Production

Key Insight

Eurasia possessed 13 species of large domestic mammals, serving as primary sources of protein, wool, hides, land transport, warfare vehicles, and crucial enhancers of crop production through plowing and manure. These mammals also provided significant 'industrial' power before waterwheels and windmills. In stark contrast, the Americas had only one large domestic mammal, the llama/alpaca, restricted to the Andes. While it offered meat, wool, hides, and transported goods, it never provided milk, bore riders, pulled plows or carts, or served as a power source or combat vehicle. This immense difference stemmed from the Late Pleistocene extinction of most large wild mammals in North and South America, fundamentally altering historical trajectories.

The extinctions left Eurasia with a far greater number of wild animal candidates suitable for domestication, leading to its 13 species compared to the Americas' single, localized species. While both hemispheres domesticated birds and small mammals—turkey, guinea pig, Muscovy duck, and dogs in the Americas; chickens, geese, ducks, cats, dogs, rabbits, honeybees, and silkworms in Eurasia—their overall significance was minimal compared to that of large domestic animals. The presence of these large mammals was a critical factor in Eurasian societal development and offered a substantial advantage in various aspects of life.

Regarding plant food production, Eurasia had widespread agriculture by 1492, with only small hunter-gatherer groups or pastoralists lacking it entirely. In the Americas, agriculture was also widespread but covered a smaller fraction of the landmass, excluding regions like northern North America, southern South America, and the Canadian Great Plains. These areas, despite becoming highly productive with European crop introductions, lacked domesticable wild species and faced geographic barriers. Where Native American agriculture existed, it suffered five major disadvantages compared to Eurasia's: reliance on protein-poor corn, hand planting/tilling, lack of animal manuring, and sole dependence on human muscle power for tasks like threshing and irrigation. These differences likely resulted in lower calorie and protein yields per person-hour in Native American agriculture.