Evolution of Humankind
Senior 1 · History and Citizenship
Evolution of Humankind
Lesson 5 of 5
22 min
For almost the whole of the human story, everyone lived by hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants. Farming began only about 10,000 years ago. Even in the 20th century, a few peoples in Africa still lived mainly by foraging. The map shows three of them.
Study the map. What kinds of land (desert, forest, grassland, lake shore) do these peoples live in? Why might farming have been difficult or unnecessary there?
Definition
Hunter-gatherer: a person who gets food by hunting wild animals, fishing and gathering wild plants, honey and insects, rather than by farming or herding. Also called a forager. Example: the Hadza of Tanzania.
Definition
Nomadic: moving from place to place instead of living in one permanent settlement. Hunter-gatherer bands move as food and water change with the seasons.
Definition
Band: a small group of related families, usually 20 to 50 people, who live, move and share food together.
Definition
Division of labour: the sharing out of different tasks among members of a group. Example: in many foraging bands men hunt large animals while women gather plants, although everyone may do both.
Worked example: what can this photograph tell a historian?
About 1,000 to 1,300 Hadza live around Lake Eyasi, in the Rift Valley not far from Olduvai Gorge. Their language, Hadzane, uses click sounds and is not closely related to any other language. Today only a few hundred Hadza still live mainly by foraging.
Men hunt with bows and arrows, sometimes poisoned, and collect honey, often guided to bees' nests by a bird called the honeyguide. Women dig tubers with sticks and gather berries and baobab fruit, usually in groups with their children. Camps of a few dozen people move several times a year. Anthropologists who have lived with the Hadza report that food is widely shared and that no one has power to give orders to others.
Like other foragers, the Hadza have lost much of their land to farmers, herders and hunting reserves. Their story raises a question for every country: how can a small community keep its way of life while the world around it changes?
| Feature | Hunter-gatherers | Farmers |
|---|---|---|
| Food | wild plants and animals | crops and domestic animals |
| Settlement | temporary camps; nomadic | permanent villages |
| Group size | small bands of 20 to 50 | villages of hundreds; later towns and cities |
| Property | little; what can be carried | land, houses, stored grain, livestock |
| Leaders | none with power; decisions by discussion | chiefs and kings become possible |
| Wealth | shared; little difference between people | some people richer than others |
Warning
Do not describe today's foraging peoples as "primitive" or "living in the Stone Age". They are modern humans whose way of life suits their environment, and they have their own long history of change, trade and contact with neighbours.
CrashCourse: "The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1". Listen for the reasons the presenter gives for why people gave up foraging for farming, and whether farming made life better or worse at first.
Class debate: "Farming made life better for everyone." Using the comparison table, prepare two points for and two against. Think about food security, health, hard work, equality and freedom to move.
Practice
Further reading for this unit
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
