Transition from Hunting and Gathering into an Agrarian Society
Essay Preview: Transition from Hunting and Gathering into an Agrarian Society
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As paleolithic people started to settle down, there were some key changes that separated them from their old style of life into a full time agricultural existence. These can include that humans no longer hand the same equalities as before and more inequalities arose, more advanced technology, and people often were weaker because of a poor diet or because they caught new diseases.
Firstly, more inequalities arose as human populations got bigger, because as permanent settlements got bigger people had to be organized. This is how chiefs or leaders arose. Even village-based linage settlements that had democratic qualities with absence of a centralized authority, sometimes developed modest social and economic inequalities. An example of this is the Igbo of Southern Nigeria, which allowed its people to gain certain prestigious titles. Lineages also wanted to expand their numbers, which means they started trying to find ways to gain more prestige or power because they would force their war captives or migrants to become slaves.
Secondly, as humans started living in agricultural communities more advanced technology arose. With the invention of looms, weaving seemed to get easier. The long “stone age” was finally coming to an end and humans started going through the age of metals. This helped make better tools, weapons, and more elaborate jewelry. Around 4,000 BCE, humans went through what was called the secondary products revolution which basically means that they started using their domesticated animals for different purposes other than their hides and meats.
Thirdly, humans started having poorer health because of a bad diet and new diseases started to strike them. Farming required harder work and more of it than earlier hunting and gathering societies. The remains of agricultural people show that they had some deterioration in health. Some examples of this are more tooth decay and anemia, they were shorter, and also had shorter life spans than before. Also, their new bonds with animals caused some new diseases that their bodies hadnt previously been immune to. Some of these diseases include smallpox, flu, measles, chicken pox, malaria, tuberculosis, and rabies. Also, living in larger communities, made it easier for diseases to spread more rapidly to the people. This generated epidemics for the first time in human history.
In conclusion, when paleolithic people settled down, there were several key changes that confirmed their new agricultural life from their previous hunting and gathering one. As previously stated, some examples of the changes included that humans no longer received the same equalities as before and more inequalities arose, more advanced technology started to appear, and people often were weaker because of a poor diet or because they caught new diseases.