One of the most fundamental technologies used in building a culture is agriculture. If your world includes major cities or even towns with a population of over about 1000, there will need to be some sort of agriculture to support it. Hunting or fishing and gathering can work if the area supports massive amounts of game, such as the bison of the North American plains or some of the fishing grounds in northern Europe or the Sea of Japan. Even then, the people will typically need to follow the herds or move as the amount of food that can be gathered falls short of their needs.

The next level of agriculture is subsistence farming. Under this system, people grow everything they need to survive. They will have fruit trees and bushes, hay fields for their animals, and the like. They may grow more than they strictly need in order to trade for other goods and services not easily made by the group. This allows for some specialization, like millers for producing flour, smiths for metal working, and the like.

With the invention of plow harnesses, crop rotation, animal husbandry, and agricultural flails, farmers can begin making more modern farms. Row crops increase the efficiency of the production while crop rotation minimizes the damage to the land. Fewer workers are needed per acre of land, meaning more food can be harvested with fewer people. This allows for smaller and smaller numbers of farmers to be able to provide food for larger and larger urban populations.

Having adequate food allows for more people to further specialize in trades. As such, when you are conceiving your world, think about what level of agricultural technology the people have. If they are using slash and burn agriculture, primarily a hunting type society, or nomadic, they won’t have castles, large cities, or the like simply because they won’t be able to feed themselves. In many ways, agriculture is the basis of the rest of the economy.

As with everything concerning world building, there are a ton of resources regarding agricultural technologies. For most worlds, having a general idea of how agriculture works is enough. However, in some settings, like post-apocalypse or more survival oriented genres, the search for food can be part of the focus of the story.

Next week is the last week of the month, so I’ll be talking about what I’m working on and how things are going. I hope to see you there!