This was a piece of course work from my Skills Bootcamp in Regenerative Land-Based Studies at the Apricot Centre earlier this year. It’s an attempt to map out a history of agriculture. It will have missed a very great deal, but I focussed on pivotal events and technological developments that drove population change. Comments welcome. A PDF download is available below, or see a zoomable version.
The graphic was based on a timeline showing the ecological and industrial production paradigms for farming given in Apricot Centre founder Marina O’Connell’s book, Designing Regenerative Food Systems and Why We Need Them Now. Marina passed away on 9 September 2024 and is memorialised on the Apricot Centre website.
Edited August 2026 to correct dates for the Arab Agricultural Revolution.