Person in an Historical Setting.

¶ … person in an historical setting.

Question No.

As a hunter-gatherer, there are a number of advantages to the adoption of farming techniques and to the transition of an agricultural way of life. One of the primary reasons that a farm-based economy and means of substance is preferable to that of a hunter-gatherer is due to the fact that agriculture is a more regular, regulated process with distinct seasons and largely predictable methods and outcomes, for the most part. Furthermore, the life of a farmer is significantly less dangerous than that of a hunter, which yields another example in the fact that an agricultural-based economy involves more of a population group than that of a hunter. Both women and even children can play significant roles in the farming and maintenance of crops, while societies that base their economy and means of sustenance upon hunting primarily rely on men -- and the fittest of men at that -- whose departure to hunt may leave the society unprotected and vulnerable to attacks from wildlife or from enemies. Additionally, it should be added that the food gained from livestock and farming is typically more than that gained from hunting, which allows for a surplus and food for times in which it may be disadvantageous to hunt -- such as in winter when game is scarce.

One of the things that many societies that transitioned from a hunting-gathering lifestyle to an agriculturally-based lifestyle did to improve crops and livestock over time was to design systems of irrigation to keep their crops watered. Such irrigation systems, such as those employed by Egyptian cultures who utilized the Nile River for such purposes, not only keep crops well-watered and tended to, but also tend to provide a source of water for livestock, as well. The systems of irrigation used by agriculturally-based societies increased in sophistication and efficacy over time, and helped to produce more substantial, and perhaps even healthier, supplies of crops. Other techniques for improving the yields of agriculture included rudimentary means of employing pesticides to keep crops from being destroyed by insects and other such parasites. The development of improved tools for farming would also play a significant role in the increase of production.

As a direct role of changing from a hunter-gatherer society to an agriculturally-based society, there would be a number of specific changes to the way that particular group of people functioned. In many ways, agricultural societies are responsible for capitalism, or at least responsible for the need for capitalism. Once crops are produced at a level in which there can be a surplus created from their yields, there then becomes two forms of goods with which existence in such a society is based upon. The first would be consumptive goods, which are materials than can be consumed and which are, in the example of an agricultural society, the food that has been produced. Since society would no longer have to hunt to obtain those consumptive goods, there must be a new means of procuring food, which is referred to as capital goods. Capital goods are tools (such as money, currency, clams, or any other object of value) that have little intrinsic value other than their ability to obtain consumptive goods.