How and under what circumstances did the productive economy arise, on what basis did it develop and what was the most ancient agriculture? These are questions that experts have been working on for centuries. The results of recent archaeological research have shown that the history of agriculture should be extended by several millennia. However, much remains unclear, primarily because archaeological sources, especially those dating back to ancient times, are too fragmentary and often do not allow for unambiguous interpretation. However, there are important sources, the content of which is not fully exhausted. These are ethnographic data on the features of the economy of various societies of hunters, fishermen and gatherers. Already more than 100 years ago, some researchers, in particular those who observed the life of the Australian Aborigines, noted their practice, to some extent resembling early agricultural. The aborigines not only used a wide variety of edible plants for food, but also had tools and skills that were important technical prerequisites for the transition to agriculture. They had digging sticks, trowels, baskets, wooden dishes, wicker bags, in some places - pestles, mortars and devices for storing food supplies. Summarizing these data, A. N. Maksimov once showed that some groups of Australians had already mastered such techniques as reaping, threshing, sifting grains, grinding, kneading dough and baking tortillas, and in some places even basic plant care took place. In its rudimentary form, all early agricultural skills were found there, except for one-intentional tillage .1Subsequent studies not only confirmed the validity of this conclusion, but also made it possible to study in detail some types of practices that existed among various groups of hunters, gatherers and fishermen, which directly led to the domestication (domestication) of wild plants with their subsequent cultivation, i.e. to agriculture. First of all, this applies to artificial vege ... Read more