Benefits from hunter gatherers: the
animals they kill have a lot of protein; hunters know the lay of the land.
Gatherers can tell which produce is not poisonous.
Benefits from agriculture: Farmer profits
off his land, agriculture can feed many people and animals, no need for going
out to hunt, and farmers are able to make supplies last longer.
Disadvantages of agriculture:
Drought (weather in general), diseases from insects can harm food/your health, and
tedious hours of farming.
Disadvantages of hunter gatherers: Too many
hunters causes there to be less animals to hunt, constant relocation to follow
their food source, and lack of knowledge besides hunting.
Hunter gatherers provide a healthier
diet due to the nutrients and proteins given through the food that is hunted.
Agriculture can only grow so much produce that will suffice the energy humans
need throughout the day. Weather can affect both hunters and agriculture, but
it could potentially affect agriculture because it relies on weather. Hunters
can battle through the weather to obtain their food source.
Early human populations made the transition into
agriculture because the population grew and more people had to be fed. Food
lasted longer and reduced the possibility of food spoiling; plenty of food. Also,
the human civilization started expanding therefore eliminating the sole focus
of hunting and gathering and shifted to expanding with knowledge and human
expansion.
Part 2: Economics and Trade:
1. There
is a direct relationship between the availability of surplus and the ability to
trade. Explain the meaning of this statement.
This is stating that you can only work with what you have. For example, you cannot go to the store and buy a $10 item if you only have $5.
Social benefits of trade:
1. Ability
to make friends.
2. Obtain
items you really want/ need (Higher chance of obtaining if you trade with the
right person.)
Negative social results of the development of trade:
1. Receive
damaged goods
2. Make
enemies if they feel the trade isn’t enough
Given your answer in the question #1, explain the
relationship between the development of agriculture and the development of
trade. Again, think like humans 12,000 years ago.
Sometimes farmers would grow extra produce with the
intent of trading whatever need be in order to obtain what they wanted. Trading
was also a form of payment if money was not available.
Okay on your H/G benefits, but recognize that early agriculturalists will have this knowledge as well. Key benefits to H/G subsistence include high diversity in diet, higher activity levels, and greater adaptability to potential environmental disasters.
ReplyDeleteI agree that agriculturalists benefit greatly from having surpluses of food. Recognize that feeding larger groups of people result in larger populations, but that by itself isn't actually a benefit to an individual agriculturalist. A farmer doesn't benefit himself from being able to feed larger numbers of people. That is just a repercussion of agriculture. Think of these topics in terms of the benefit to the individuals, not the long term results.
Okay on the negative sides of agriculture. Are there any nutritional down-sides?
"Too many hunters causes there to be less animals to hunt, constant relocation to follow their food source, and lack of knowledge besides hunting."
H/G populations never got big enough to have a problem with having enough animals to hunt. They tended to stay in balance with their resources. Animal populations didn't reduce in number until after the rise of agriculture. Why is migration a downside? Just because we wouldn't like to do it doesn't mean it was a bad thing to H/G populations. Watch the bias. Lack of knowledge? On some things. On others, they knew much more than we do. All depends on your perspective. Again, careful not to let ethnocentrism pop into this discussion.
Very good discussion on the issue of the healthier diet. Additionally, H/G diets are more diverse, more adaptable, and provide a wider range of nutrients. It also requires a higher activity level. The sendantary life of early agriculturalists was the origin of our modern day heart disease, diabetes and obesity, to name just a few health problems we can trace back to that point.
"Early human populations made the transition into agriculture because the population grew and more people had to be fed. "
Agriculture arose BEFORE human populations grew, so the causal relationship is the reverse. Agricultural caused populations to grow, not the other way around. For this question, you really needed to put yourself into the place of those early populations. Imagine you are a hunter-gatherer who notices that the place where you threw seeds from plants you ate grew into new plants. Would you think "hmm... This would help me support large populations and gain knowledge"? Or would you think, "If I can plant my food, I will know where it is and I won't have to wander everywhere to locate it"?
Part 2:
Okay on the first section, but to address the point directly, there is no trade without surplus, correct?
With regard to benefits of trade, I think that people who didn't trade probably still had "friends", correct? But it would certainly benefit to build social networks. What about the spread of new ideas and information?
The issue of "damaged goods" was probably not an issue as you would see what you were trading for. No free shipping with Amazon with the need to return a crushed item. Yes, trade brought diverse people into contact and led to increase conflict and competition for resources. What about the spread of disease?
"Trading was also a form of payment if money was not available. "
There was no money 12,000 years ago, so this wouldn't apply. Strictly trade. On the right track here, however. Think about the natural progression from food surplus, to trade of the excess food, to the rise of specialization, with some raising food while others develop other skills, such as creating tools, and then those who make food exchange that food with those who make tools. Presto! Trade!
I like the points that you made in your post and also that drought can really affect agriculture because even to this day that is a huge problem in the farming world. Another thing that you could've put in your post is that farmers also had the disadvantage of not always having fertile land and also if they over produced on the land then it wouldn't grow any more vegetation until you let it heal.
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