Question

List three ways in which the lives of farmers and herders would have been different from that of hunter-gatherers.

Answer 1

Hint: Hunting and gathering, which occupied at least 90% of human history, was humanity's first and most successful competitive adoption in the natural environment. In most parts of the world, hunter-gatherers who did not shift were ousted or subjugated by agricultural or pastoralist communities after the development of agriculture. However, the distinction between the two is no longer considered a basic marker in human history.

Complete answer:
A hunter-gatherer is a human who, like most natural omnivores, relies on foraging (gathering edible wild plants) and hunting for the majority of his or her food (pursuing and killing wild animals). Hunter-gatherer civilizations contrast with more sedentary agricultural communities, which rely mostly on planting crops and breeding domesticated animals for food production, despite the fact that their boundaries are not completely distinct.

There are three major distinctions between the lives of farmers/herders and hunter-gatherers.
i) Hunter-gatherers moved around a lot, whereas farmers had to stay in one spot for extended periods of time in order to care for their crops.
ii) Hunter-gatherers relied on wild animal meat, whereas farmers and herders relied on plants, crops, and livestock.
iii) Hunter-gatherers had no permanent homes, whereas farmers and herders erected huts, pit houses, and other structures throughout time.

Note: Although settled hunter-gatherers, hunter-gatherers tend to have an egalitarian social ethos. Almost all African hunter-gatherers are egalitarian, with women having about the same power and influence as men. For example, the San people of southern Africa, sometimes known as "Bushmen," have social practises that severely forbid hoarding and displays of dominance while encouraging economic equality through food and material sharing.