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allowed permanent settlements to grow into towns and cities. Over time, people also learned how to best utilize water supplies, building irrigation systems and farming techniques that worked with the land available. Soil type and Check out the aqueducts of Machu Picchu.

quality, as well as climate, helped determine how these techniques developed and how quickly and successfully a community grew. Where there was a great lack of water, crops could not grow, and even today many of the world’s arid regions remain sparsely populated. On the other hand, human ingenuity is an amazing thing, and to find proof of how advanced humans were several hundred and even 1,000 years ago, travel high up to the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains and marvel at the ancient city surrounded by agricultural terraces watered by a system of aqueducts . Cultivated foods and spices were

eventually used as currency to trade with other communities and cultures along extensive trade routes, allowing farmers to grow even more diversified foods when traders brought back new seeds from afar. It is not an exaggeration to say that for most ancient cultures, nearly every day was devoted to working and improving the land so that its fruit, grain, and vegetable yields would sustain them through harsh winters, through droughts, through insect infestations, and through floods. ■ Enter the Spirits In ancient times, people communicated with spirits and gods to satisfy urgent immediate needs, such as curing illness, avoiding danger, and securing food. Ancient

Different Times for Harvest

Because life revolved around the growing seasons, many harvest festivals ushered in the New Year, marking the change from one harvest to the next. Others signaled the change from a time of harvest to a time when the earth is at rest. The people of the southern African country Swaziland celebrate an elaborate and lengthy harvest festival as part of their New Year, Incwala. Southern Indians celebrate their harvest festival, Pongal, in January, as do the Naga people on the border of India and Myanmar who observe Kaing Bi.

Thanksgiving & Other Festivals of the Harvest

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