“A second method for identifying a crop’s or animal’s site of domestication is to plot on a map the dates of the domesticated form’s first appearance at each locality. The site where it appeared earliest may be its site of initial domestication – especially if the wild ancestor also occurred there, and if the dates of first appearance at other sites become progressively earlier with increasing distance from the putative site of initial domestication, suggesting spread to those other sites.”
Shouldn’t it be "if the dates of first appearance at other sites become progressively LATER … "?
It is in the chapter “History’s Haves and Have-Nots.” It’s on p. 97 of my paperback, right after all of these photos of people and right before a map showing the centers of origin of food production.
You have sharp eyes, Snoooopy, I guess that is why they call you Snoooopy. It would appear that the mistake has been corrected in the later version of the book. That passage now reads
Excellent! I’m glad I wasn’t missing the point. Since this is a secondhand copy that has already been written in extensively, I’ll just go ahead and cross out the error so that anyone who I might pass it onto won’t be confused as well.