hunter gatherers Essay -- essays research papers fc

Our species have been hunter-gatherers for most of the time we have existed on the Earth. The people of the Paleolithic period adapted themselves to the environment of the time, taking food as and when it was available and hunted game which resulted in a high percentage of their food being meat. Evidence suggests that before the end of the Paleolithic period, hunters would have noted the migratory patterns of the herds they hunted and learned which plants were nutritious and not poisonous. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and berries where gathered when in season and, being nomadic, they followed the sources of food rather than growing crops. Learning to control fire helped them adapt to their environment, both by providing a source of warmth and safety (extending the temperate range in which they could survive) and by making food more palatable and appetising. (I. Kuijt, pp. 103-107) Approximately Twelve thousand years ago the most recent Ice Age retreated. The herds of large cold-climate animals moved north and our ancestors had to change their habits in order to survive. As the more southern locations warmed, some hunter-gatherers found enough food to support the group short distances from their camps. These food plants attracted a wide variety of smaller game such as horse and rabbit. Conditions around the major river systems in warm climates were favourable to settlements, since these areas had sufficient food available for survival year round. Evidence suggests that at this time settled life and the deliberate cultivation of food plants began in five different parts of the world; Euphrates, and the Nile rivers; the Indus River in the northern Indian subcontinent; in China along the Yellow River; the Fertile Crescent area in West Asia along the Tigris; in sub-Saharan Africa and the Niger River system; and in Central America. (http://ragz-international.com/anc ient_civilization.htm) The change to settlement from nomadic living marked the beginning of the Neolithic period. The people now produced food, rather than procuring it, they no longer adapted themselves to their environment, but adapted their environment to them. This involved actions as simple as weeding around food plants, bringing water to the plants during dry periods, and planting seeds so that food grew in a more convenient location. Settled life meant food could be stored as a reserve for times... ...This early farming resulted in the extended kinship networks and economic trade systems that existed as late as the industrial revolution. It affected our culture and changed our drives making us territorial and materialistic, but it also created the hierarchical systems that allowed cooperation within our species beyond that normal in the anima kingdom. It was this cooperation that allowed us to change the world our species lived in, giving us the abilities needed to dominate the planet. Bibliography (1959) R. Redfield The Primitive World and its Transformations Great Seal Books, New York (1991) R. L. Bettinger Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory Plenum Press, New York (1995) Hansen international world history project http://ragz-international.com/ancient_civilization.htm Accessed On: 30102003 (2000) I. Kuijt Life in Neolithic Farming Communities: Social Organization, Identity and Differentiation Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers, New York (Sept 2001) R H Steckel et al A History of Health in Europe from the Late Paleolithic to the Present: a Research Proposal (online- http://global.sbs.ohio-state.edu/docs/Proposal-09-03-01.pdf accessed on: 30102003)