Anthropology 152 – Lecture 8

October 10, 2022 Anthropology 152 – Lecture 8 In previous classes, I mentioned the Old Stone Age or the Paleolithic beginning about 2.5 million years ago with Homo habilis , through Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthal, Homo Sapiens fossil types with increasing brain size and sophistication of cultural artifacts; with Lower, Middle and Upper stages. However, I did not discuss much the way of life beyond saying that they had stone tools made by design which implies that they had symbolic communication or language and culture. As Test 2 has a question on the Paleolithic and Neolithic, I will discuss both contrasting one with the other, a good way to define something – by discussing what it is not or its opposite. The Old Stone Age might be said to have a Mode of Direct Appropriation of Wild Food in contrast with the New Stone Age having Mode of Production of Cultivated Plants and Animals. (Note: The Old Stone Age was about 2.5 million minus 10,000 years long. It was 99% plus of the time of human existence. Check my math ; 2,490,000 divided by 2,500,000. Also, Paleolithic Foraging/Mobile cultures remained the way of many Peoples after some cultures became Food domesticators/Sedentary; in diminishing numbers but through to the present ; and still in large areas including much of the Western Hemisphere with a combination of Old and New Stone age ways. The Old Stone Age Mode is termed foraging , including scavenging, hunting and gathering wild animals and wild plants. Also, the Old Stone Agers ( and the Middle Stone Agers ) were NOMADS. They spent much more of their time than New Stone Agers walking around a range, foraging; they were relatively mobile. Old Agers spent less time still in camps, and the camps were moved more frequently than New Stone Age villages. The New Stone Agers or Neolithic Peoples changed from the Old Life in several ways 1) It originated the planting of seeds and the raising of farm animals ( termed pastoralism by the text) to produce food as opposed to living from wild foods. 2) New tool types for this new mode of life 3) Settlement in villages or sedentarism in contrast with the Old mode of nomads Chapter 5 of the text terms this, “ The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals. “Hunter-gatherers had different subsistence requirements and lifestyles from agriculturalists. Hunter-gathers were often highly mobile and migratory, living in temporary shelters and in small tribal groups, and having limited contact with outsiders. Their diet was well-balanced though heavily depended on what the environment could provide each season. In contrast, because the surplus and plannable supply of food provided by agriculture made it possible to support larger population groups, agriculturalists are lived in more permanent dwellings in more densely populated settlements than what could be supported by a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The agricultural communities' seasonal need to plan and coordinate resource and manpower encouraged division of labor, which gradually led to specialization of labourers and complex societies. The subsequent development of trading networks to exchange surplus commodities and services brought agriculturalists into contact with outside groups,[11] which promoted cultural exchanges that led to the rise of civilizations and technological evolutions. However, population increase and food abundance did not necessarily correlate with improved health. Reliance on a very limited variety of staple crops can adversely affect health even while making it possible to feed more people. Maize is deficient in certain essential amino acids (lysine and tryptophan) and is a poor source of iron. The phytic acid it contains may inhibit nutrient absorption. Other factors that likely affected the health of early agriculturalists and their domesticated livestock would have been increased numbers of parasites and disease-bearing pests associated with human waste and contaminated food and water supplies. Fertilizers and irrigation may have increased crop yields but also would have promoted proliferation of insects and bacteria in the local environment while grain storage attracted additional insects and rodents.[11]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution HANDOUT Chapter 5 of the text : “The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals” Social Structure ( page 117 of text )will be discussed next lecture See also Chapter Checklist page 122 of text.