Anthropology Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY, Albany, New York 12198, USA.
Curr Anthropol. 2009 Oct;50(5):649-55. doi: 10.1086/605017.
The Agricultural Revolution accompanied, either as a cause or as an effect, important changes in human demographic systems. The consensus model is that fertility and mortality increased and health declined with the adoption of agriculture, compared to those for hunter-gatherers. Analysis of the agricultural transition relies primarily on archaeological and paleodemographic data and is thus subject to the errors associated with such data. The assumptions needed to use these data can profoundly affect the inferences that are drawn. While it is clear that, in general, population growth accompanied the agricultural transition, it is not as clear exactly how fertility and mortality changed or whether the transition caused a decline in health. Although the model of the agricultural demographic transition as outlined here may be correct, researchers should remain aware of the underlying assumptions and be open to future empirical evidence.
农业革命伴随着人类人口系统的重要变化，无论是作为原因还是作为结果。共识模型是，与狩猎采集者相比，生育率和死亡率随着农业的采用而增加，而健康状况则下降。对农业转型的分析主要依赖于考古学和人口统计学数据，因此会受到这些数据相关错误的影响。使用这些数据所需的假设会极大地影响得出的推论。虽然一般来说，人口增长伴随着农业转型是显而易见的，但生育率和死亡率如何变化以及转型是否导致健康状况下降并不那么清楚。尽管这里概述的农业人口转型模型可能是正确的，但研究人员应该始终意识到潜在的假设，并对未来的经验证据持开放态度。
