Subsistence and Economy

Part 1

Hunter gatherers had a host of benefits. They had plenty of leisure time to strengthen family ties, live social lives, and develop their spirituality. They had a lot of mobility with few belongings to weigh them down, lived in small groups, and believed in communal property, although new finds were based on a first come, first served basis. The division of labor was flexible, with an egalitarian outlook. They would share food, rarely had warfare, and had limited status division due to material wealth.

Despite the benefits, hunter gatherers had to be aware of water sources. They also lacked transportation, so had to carry their supplies, which were often limited due to weight. They also had to walk up to 12 miles or more (depending on whether they were hunting or gathering). The women would often carry their children in both directions as well as between 15 and 33 pounds of food back from a gathering expedition. They had no storage capabilities, and could not keep a surplus of food.

On the other side, agriculture has a variety of benefits such as being able to grow a substantial surplus of food, which they can use for trade. They lived in fixed, developed settlements near their fields with other farming families. Because a few of the people did most of the farming work, it allowed others to begin to invent and specialize in producing equipment. They were also able to keep farm animals for food and clothing, produce pottery for storage, and build homes from brick or other materials.

However, there were also disadvantages as well. Agriculture was more time consuming and took more effort. One crop fields could turn into barren wastelands and farmers could be coerced out of crops due to taxes, rent or tributes. Farmers held little political power and had no economic control. A division of labor was seen, with large numbers of people having to share resources. Despite that, the farmers became more sedentary.

Even though agriculturists settled down and grew crops, the hunter gatherers had a better diet, consisting of a variety of vegetables and fruits that grew in their territories. While fruits and vegetables consisted of about 60% of their diet, the hunter gatherers rounded off their diets with a variety of meats that were native to their territory. The agriculturists were limited in what they could obtain due to working longer hours, and typically being in areas where crops were generally similar with less variety. For meat, the agriculturists did not hunt local wildlife, but would slaughter the animals they had raised for food. which were often not as varied as for the hunter gatherer.

Despite more work, less edible variety, and more division of labor, one possible reason for some to settle into agriculture could be finding space that contained all of the things they were looking for, perhaps combined with health related reasons to stay put (elderly or sick family members or difficult pregnancies where one or more of the group could no longer travel great distances).

Part 2

"There is a direct relationship between the availability of surplus and the ability to trade." If you have a surplus of your crop, you have the opportunity of offering some or all of your surplus in exchange for something you either don't have or want more of.

Trading with those around you can bring benefits, such as making connections with those you know and attracting people you may not know to trade with you. If you are fare with your trades, you make stronger connections with those around you. Additionally, news of your fairness can travel outside of your immediate circle to others who may want to trade with you.

Trading also has disadvantages, such as creating a societal hierarchy and potentially becoming indebted to others. The person or people with the most to trade or with the commodity that others highly value are often the ones who hold the most power, thus creating a hierarchy that may not otherwise have been there. Additionally, if there is something that someone needs, but doesn't have enough to trade for it, that person could become indebted to someone else if that someone else is inclined to advance product to the borrower.

With the development of agriculture, there was opportunity to grow a surplus of food. However, the families growing the food were unable to use all of the food that they grew. Therefore, they started trading their surplus to others who may want what they grew. Trade began in this fashion, with farmers trading their food for supplies and equipment that they could use for their farm or their homes.