Essay on the Evolution: Hunter-Gatherer to Farmer Societies

This essay delves into the significant transformation of human societies from hunter-gatherers to farmers, tracing the evolution of early civilizations. It begins by examining hunter-gatherer groups like the San and Hadza, highlighting their nomadic lifestyles, diets, and cultural practices. The essay then explores the emergence of pastoralists, such as the Bedouin and Mongols, and their adaptations to arid environments. Subsequently, it investigates horticultural societies, including the Hanunoo and Korowai, and their transition to settled agriculture, including their farming methods, staple foods, and belief systems. The essay concludes by emphasizing the gradual nature of this shift, influenced by resource availability and technological advancements, and the subsequent changes in social structures and living arrangements.

Running head: FROM HUNTER-GATHERER TO FARMER
FROM HUNTER-GATHERER TO FARMER
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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FROM HUNTER-GATHERER TO FARMER
The earliest civilisation that existed were of hunter and gatherers known as nomads
who travelled from one place to another in search of food and shelter. They lived a primitive
life. However, soon they began to cultivate crops and domesticated animals that gave way to
farming (Lopez et al., 2018). The essay aims at exploring the journey of hunter-gatherers to
farmers.
Hunter Gatherer
The san people were the first groups of a hunter-gatherer who found the first nation
of Southern Africa whereas Hadza lived in Tanzania. They were nomadic people moving
from one area to another based on the availability of water, animals as well as plants. Women
gathered fruit, onions, tubers and berries. They also consumed insects. Men went for hunting
with spears and arrows (Kirchengast, 2017). The Hadza diet also consisted of meat and fish.
According to their culture, they lived with their families. San believed in Kaggen who was
the creator of many things and has been portrayed as wise, foolish and helpful. Girls puberty,
first killing by a boy and marriage are rituals that they followed. Whereas Hadza believed in
Ishoko (sun). Their primary rituals were epeme dance and meat-eating.
Pastoralists
Bedouin lived in the dry desert who lived in Arab and were known as desert nomads
whereas Mongols were nomadic tribes who lived in Mongolia. The date was a staple food of
the former and camel was their main animal. They searched for fodder whereas Mongols had
large green pastures. Bedouin were cattle-bearers. Yurts were the houses in which Mongols
lived. Both were pastoralists. Mongols were Tengerians (shamanist belief system) where they
worshipped the spirits. Bedouins culture was to herd camels as well as goats. They earlier
believed in many gods, spirits and nature (Abu, 2016). They shifted from early nomadic
culture to pastoralists where they did not move from one place to the other.

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FROM HUNTER-GATHERER TO FARMER
Horticulturalists
The Hanunoo of Philippines lived in houses made of bamboos and wood and had
thatched roofs. They grew their food and used the slash-and-burn method of farming. They
ate corn, sugarcane and rice. They also domesticated animals. They believed in spirits,
particularly in kalag, who was known as guardian spirits. They also started domesticating
pigs and chicken. They grew rice as their staple food. Their houses were faced towards the
sun (Boquet, 2017). The Korowai, on the other hand, lived in Indonesia. They only came to
know about the existence of other human beings around the 1970s. They lived in tree houses.
They are both hunter-gatherers as well as horticulturalists. Shifting agriculture is practised by
them. They are also skilled in hunting and fishing (Stasch, 2016). They believe in god Gimigi
and all kinds of spirits. However, they believe in the concept of one God. They harvested
sago palms in their filed, hunted wild pigs and went for fishing. They also had a custom of
eating human flesh.
Thus to conclude, it must be noted that the earl people came a long way from hunting
and gathering to farming. The change was not a rapid one but took place gradually depending
on the availability of resources at their disposal. From hunting, they shifted their attention to
domesticating animals and began to grow crops. The house planning also changed with time.

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FROM HUNTER-GATHERER TO FARMER
References
Abu-Saad, K. (2016). Indigenous data matter: spotlight on Negev Bedouin Arabs. The
Lancet, 388(10055), 1983-1984.
Boquet, Y. (2017). The Diversity of the Philippine Population. In The Philippine
Archipelago (pp. 159-179). Springer, Cham.
Kirchengast, S. (2017). Directional and fluctuating asymmetry among! Kung San and
Kavango people of northern Namibia: The impact of sex and subsistence
patterns. American Journal of Human Biology, 29(2), e22921.
Lopez, M., Kousathanas, A., Quach, H., Harmant, C., Mouguiama-Daouda, P., Hombert, J.
M., & Patin, E. (2018). The demographic history and mutational load of African
hunter-gatherers and farmers. Nature ecology & evolution, 2(4), 721-730.
Stasch, R. (2016). The iconicity and indexicality of “life” in Korowai sago grub feasts. Les
actes de colloques du musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac, (6).