Is there a high birth rate in hunter-gatherer societies why or why not

Zarzian Complex

Hunter-gatherer groups manufacturing backed microliths in the Zagros region are classified as Zarzian (Figure 7). As in the Levant, the Zarzian Complex has a temporal trend from nongeometric to geometric microliths (mainly scalene triangles). It also parallels the western Levant in that microburin technique appears when geometric microliths are manufactured. Due to the paucity of radiocarbon dates (see CARBON-14 DATING), currently it is not possible to delineate precisely when this change occured (see Table 1).

Most test excavated sites are rockshelters or caves in the mountainous foothills (Figure 8), such as Warwasi Rockshelter. All appear to represent highly mobile groups of hunter-gatherers pursing game animals such as onager, goat, red deer, aurochs, gazelle, and wild boar. Aside from repeated visits to these sites, there is no evidence for hut structures, burials, or investment in plant-processing tools such as ground stone. The duration of the Zarzian Complex is thought to be from the onset of the LGM through the early part of the subsequent climatic amelioration. An end date of about 12 000 uncal BP is suggested by radiocarbon dates from Palegawra.

Hunter-Gatherer Societies and Natural Resource Exploitation

Because hunter-gatherers have lived in diverse environments and live next to numerous other cultural groups, they have manifested an incredible diversity of cultures and natural resource-management adaptations. Nevertheless, there are several general characteristics of hunter-gatherer societies: these traits have had a direct impact on the use of natural resources. Traditional hunter-gatherer societies were comprised of bands, social groups made up of close biological kin and friends. The composition and sizes of bands changed seasonally, depending on the abundance and location of food resources. Bands were led by individual hunters who were respected for particular talents such as singing or dancing well, good storytelling, or hunting prowess. Other features of band organization are small group size, flexible but primarily patrilocal residence, and strong pair bonds between individual men and women. Marriage was exogamous, that is, females were recruited from other groups. These features of hunter-gatherer society were a reflection of a history of ecologic, economic, and social interactions. For example, Efe Pygmy hunter-gatherer men of the Ituri Forest in the former Zaire had very strong relationships with close kin, which facilitated defense of their territories against other cooperative kin groups (Bailey and Aunger, 1989). Moreover, related men could assure women access to valuable resources in neighboring Lese agricultural villages. Also, women were attracted to men who could guarantee long-standing reciprocal economic relationships with Lese villages. Competition for women was high, so close relations with kin may also have helped to obtain marriageable women and provide protection, as some women left Efe society to live in Lese agricultural villages.

Hunter-gatherers were sedentary or nomadic depending on the distribution and dynamics of their resource base and their economic relations with other people. Typically, men hunted and fished while women gathered and collected foods. Sometimes women's work contributed more to the diet and sometimes male hunting and fishing products were most important. Gathering of wild foods tended to contribute more to the diet among people inhabiting tropical and semitropical areas (e.g., Bushmen of the Kalahari) than in northern temperate climates (e.g., the Inuit of Canada) where hunting contributes the bulk of the diet. Staple foods were exchanged with neighbors and more recently in markets (Moran, 1991).

Foragers learned about their environment and resource use through acculturation. Parents taught their children different kinds of ecological knowledge and resource-exploitation strategies. Ecological knowledge is a source of landscape manipulation. For example, the Kayapo Indians of Brazil created forest islands of planted semidomesticated crops of medicinal species, wild yams, and bush bean, as well as domesticated plants such as taro, papaya, and banana (Posey, 1985). A fully grown island had sites that varied in shade and moisture, thereby creating the opportunity for cultivation of different crops. They became, through time, forest patches of varying successional stages within the savanna. Cree Indians of North America rotated their hunting and fishing lands yearly to reduce wildlife disturbance and increase harvests. Biodiversity conservation is, in this case, an indirect effect of resource management. There is evidence that until recently, Indians of Canada used fire to maintain trails and to open up meadows (Lewis, 1989). This provided improved habitat for ungulates and increased hunting success. Australian aborigines used fire to clear trails (of poisonous snakes) and keep game habitat open.

Appropriate use of natural resources was maintained through moral and belief systems of forager societies, which included a strong respect for nature. Through religious belief and social conventions, people revered and exerted some control over their natural resources. These beliefs, however, did not always prevent hunter-gatherers from overusing their resource base. Hunter-gatherers did not always live harmoniously with the environment. Indeed, evidence of escalating overuse is accumulating (e.g., Redford and Mansour, 1996; Lyman, 2003).

INTRODUCTION

From the hunter-gatherer communities to the modern societies, the environment has undergone various changes as people relied on it to provide for their own needs. As hunter-gatherers settled and started domesticating plants and animals, their human nature changed to greed and excessive hunger for wealth. Unlike primitive societies, whose relationship with nature was sustainable, current generations have exploited nature to unsustainable levels. The increase in population, coupled with the diminishing land fertility, have resulted in a decline in per capita food production. This state of affairs has led to continued desertification, land degradation, soil erosion, and environmental pollution. In Zimbabwe, land degradation and soil fertility decline have resulted in an increased utilization of less productive lands leading to a wide-scale scramble for better and fertile soils. This struggle has raised a lot of concern from the government and certain nongovernmental organizations. While the government has advocated the land acquisition and redistribution exercise to solve the problem, some nongovernmental organizations have approached it from a different angle. They have initiated a process of developing approaches and technologies that promote the earth's self-renewal. Emphasis is on the development and management of natural resources to regain or maintain their productivity. The concept is termed sustainable agriculture.

9.4.2 Nonwood Forest Products

Since the hunter-gatherer times, NWFPs or forest products not obtained by the harvest of trees, have been important to humans. In this chapter, the term NWFP will be used according to Wickens (1994), who describes it as “all the biological material (other than wood products as defined above) that can be utilized within the household, be marketed or have social, cultural or religious significance” (p. 56). However, this definition does not include forage.

In India, for people who depend on forests, NWFP often plays a key role in their livelihoods (Hunter, 1981; Yadav and Dugaya, 2013). The provision of many of these products is strongly linked with fire because the products are obtained from forest ecosystems in which fire plays an important role. Case in point is the Tendu tree (Diospyros melanoxylon), a deciduous tree occurring in dry forest of the Indian Deccan, the leaves of which (Tendu Patta) are used for the production of small cigarettes (bidis) in India. This is the most well-known example of a commercial NWFP requiring fire for its production. The trees used for the Tendu Patta production are shrubby, and this appearance is a result of regular burning, which keeps the tree from growing to its full size. Fire also triggers the flushing of new leaves that are collected while they are still in an early stage of development. The bidi business is large, but just how large depends on the source of the figures. According to Lal (2012), 7.5 million people are employed part time to pluck tendu leaves, and 4.4 million women and children are engaged in manufacturing these cigarettes. In 2002–2003, the World Bank (2006) estimated that 360,000 ton of tendu leaves were produced, which is around 100,000–200,000 ton less than that in the previous two decades (1980–2000). But these figures are uncertain because it is difficult to obtain data for tendu and bidi production (Lal, 2012). Nevertheless, the tendu and bidi business give an indication of the extent to which products tied to fire cause an impact on the livelihood of rural people. There are several such examples to understand this connection between fires, products, and livelihoods; however, they are not all as commercially important as tendu leaves are. Table 9.1 provides a list of known NWFPs to date in India that are produced, utilized, or benefit from the use of fire. The fact that there are only a limited number of studies that have been done on this topic makes it likely that there will be more NWFPs added to the list in the future.

TABLE 9.1. The Role of Fire in Producing and Utilizing Nonwood Forest Products (NWFPs) from Indian Forests

NWFPSpeciesThe Role of FireReferencesTendu leavesDiospyros melanoxylonMaintaining shape of plants and enhancing leaf flushHunter (1981), Saigal (1990), Goldammer (1993), Yadav and Dugaya (2013)HoneyMiscellaneousInduction of flowering and the production of smoke to drive away beesSchmerbeck et al. (in press), Schmerbeck (2003)Roofing materialMainly C4 grasses (e.g., Themeda cymbaria, Cymbopogon spec.)Regular fires maintain abundance of required grassesRoveta (2008)Amla fruitsPhyllanthus emblicaControl of hemiparasites and enhancing productionKohli (2010), Ganesan and Setty (2004), Rist et al. (2010)Mahua seeds and flowersMadhuca longifolia (syn. Madhuca indica)Fire is lit prior to flowering/fruit ripening. The cleared and blackened ground improves access and the visibility of fruitSaigal (1990), Pyne (1994), Nanda and Sutar (2003)Tree seedsTerminalia chebula
Buchanania lanzanEnhancing productionKohli (2010)BroomsSeveral grass species (e.g., Aristida setacea)Regular fires maintain abundance of required grassesKohli (2010), Roveta (2008)Eatable tubers and rootsMiscellaneousFire improves growing conditions for the species and makes the plants accessibleKohli (2010), Roveta (2008)FertilizerAllPostfire rains transport ash to agricultural fieldsPyne (1994), Roveta (2008)Leaf cupUnidentifiedFire triggers the flush of leavesKohli (2010)

The importance of NWFP for the livelihoods of forest dwellers varies from location to location. Schmerbeck et al. (in press) found that there was a strong variation in the importance of forest products between villages in one area of Andhra Pradesh, and that the NWFPs that were made available by regular forest fires served mainly domestic purposes.

Plant Selection and Incipient Cultivation

Study of contemporary hunter-gatherer societies during the past 150 years has revealed that they exhibit wide knowledge of plant availability and uses for esthetic decorative items, clothing, cooking devices, cosmetics, dye, fiber, food, medicine, poisons, toys, weapons, and other utilitarian needs. Some plants merely would have been gathered; others dug up, harvested, or berries, nuts, seeds, or tubers collected and some of these could have been planted adjacent to hunting-gathering encampments. Such could be the case where shamans gathered and transplanted medicinal and/or ritual species to have more easy access. The present author observed this practice when working among the baTlokwa ba Moshaweng in the eastern Kalahari Desert of modern Botswana – where medicinal species had been planted adjacent to homesteads of traditional healers that had continued to flourish long after the sites had been abandoned. Such limited planting without tending or cultivation is not agriculture, per se. The present author also observed that the baTlokwa also regularly dug up more than 50 wild bush species and transplanted them in their settlement compounds: only five of these species, however, served as food and the vast majority provided social/cultural needs for esthetics (attractive blooms), dye, fiber, medicine, and magical/protective charms (Grivetti, 1976).

Early Holocene and Transition to Agriculture

Even if the hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic time were in relatively good harmony with the natural environment where food and resources were plenty, an irrevocable split between humans and Nature occurred with the introduction of agriculture approximately 10,000 years ago. Humans no longer regarded themselves as part of Nature, but believed that Nature was designed and created for their benefit. Where land and ecological services were not suitable, humans had the ability to alter and make them useful. The idea that Nature was created by God to be used and dominated by humankind was born at about this time. People became aware of their independence of Nature as well as their distinctiveness from Nature. The beginning of this process in different regions has been dated from approximately 10,000 years ago in Melanesia to approximately 4500 BP in sub-Saharan Africa, with the developments in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East between 11,000 and 9000 BP generally considered to be the most important. The onset of agriculture thus marked the beginning of natural degeneration, which has been expanding ever since. In the birthplace of agriculture in the Near East, people increasingly became adept at and aggressive in their endeavors to humanize the landscape.

A range of causal factors have been proposed to explain the origin of agriculture including population pressure (basic idea is that population growth forced foragers to adopt agriculture because wild resources became so scarce that eventually farming became a necessity); cultural progress (predicated on the assumption that agricultural life is inherently superior to foraging); environmental change (the end of the Pleistocene Epoch was marked by rapid environmental changes, extinction of many game species, rise of sea level, rapidly warming climate, increase in CO2 levels, etc.); and coevolution (refers to mutual evolutionary interaction of human culture and a plant or animal) that was beginning to be subjected to domestication process (protodomesticate). What was incontrovertible was that for much of their history, human beings made little or no direct use of grasses for food. By 15,000 BP, however, hunter-gatherers of the Near East were harvesting wild grasses intensively and processing it by stone grinding. These grasses were C3 (wheat and barley), which saw increased productivity with time because of the increase in the CO2 content of the atmosphere from 200 to 270 ppm between 15,000 and 12,000 BP (see Ruddiman’s hypothesis in the next paragraph), which could have improved the productivity of C3 plants by 25%–50%. By 10,000 BP, wheat and barley began to be domesticated in the Levant. Dogs and millets were first domesticated in northern China before 10,000 BP, pigs in western China before 9000 BP, rice in south China between 8000 and 10,000 BP, and sheep and wheat in northern China around 5500 BP. It was previously thought that the cradle of Chinese civilization was in the region around the middle Yellow River, but modern archeological studies increasingly support the idea that the origin of Chinese civilization is scattered all over the present-day country and most had sprouted in the river plains where the elite with rich court culture ruled over masses of pig-raising and millet and wheat (cold northern regions) or rice (warmer southern regions) farmers. The domestication of sorghum and several other millets in Africa and of maize in Mexico also occurred almost at the same time.

William F. Ruddiman has advanced the argument that the Anthropocene (during which industrial-era human activities have altered greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere enough to affect the earth’s climate) began thousands of years ago as a result of the discovery of agriculture and subsequent technological innovations in the practice of farming. His hypothesis was based on two lines of evidence: (1) the orbitally controlled variations in CO2 and CH4 concentrations that had previously prevailed for several hundred thousand years cannot explain the anomalous increases in levels of these gases that developed in the middle and late Holocene and (2) the initiation and intensification of human alterations of Eurasian landscapes began during the early to mid-Holocene and could be associated with the divergence of the ice-core CO2 and CH4 concentrations from the natural trends predicted by earth-orbital changes. Although Ruddiman’s hypothesis still needs validation, it points to a critical link between agriculture and climate change, which has shaped much of the cultural development and human health in ancient time.

The ability to raise crops and livestock involved attachment to land, which encouraged the growth of permanent settlements that evolved into larger and more complex communities. The food and physical security provided the stimulus for population growth, which necessitated further expansion and intensification of agriculture. With the interdependent pattern of development that emerged, the transition from the nomadic hunter-gatherer mode of life to the settled farming culture in effect became irreversible. A number of social scientists have argued that the appearance of complex societies at the beginning of the Holocene heralded human resilience to external forcing (such as climate change), buffered by assured food supply, especially during times of stable climate. However, results of a large number of studies point to the fact that development of complex societies increased their vulnerability to environmental drivers, especially at times when climatic conditions were more variable. In other words, early complex societies were more severely impacted than a simpler society by a confluence of environmental modifications and climate changes. Climate has been implicated as the ultimate cause of the collapse of prehistoric societies in many parts of the world with ample evidence for a variety of proximate causes, many of which are environmental.

Earliest Animal Biotechnology

Prehistoric humans were originally hunter-gatherers who nourished themselves by following the migration of animals and ripening of foods such as wild fruits and berries. Hunter-gatherer communities could not support high population densities in part, because food resources were not steady or predictable. It is believed that the end of the ice age approximately 10 000 BC created conditions suitable for the transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming communities. This transition, known as the Neolithic Revolution, marked the beginning of early agriculture. The Neolithic Revolution is believed to have occurred independently in seven to nine major centers, including Mesopotamia, China, Mesoamerica, and East and West Africa (Von Baeyer, 2010). Most accounts identify Mesopotamia, also known as the Fertile Crescent, as the origin of early agriculture. Owing to its impact on civilization, the transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer has been described as the most important technological development ever to occur in human history. By becoming farmers, humans were able to gather in greater numbers, have better and more consistent nutrition and develop technology. Table 1 shows the major centers of domestication in the world.

Table 1. Domestication centers of the world

Center of domesticationDates (years ago)Near East/‘Fertile Crescent’11 000Northern China9 000Southern China8 000Central Mexico5 750Peruvian Andes5 250Papau New Guinea6 000–9 000West Africa4 500Eastern North America4 000

Source: Origins of agriculture by Lewis Foote on Prezi. Available at: prezi.com/uczfibsijcj7/origins-of-agriculture/ (accessed 06.05.13).

Scientists believe crop domestication preceded the earliest domesticated animals by approximately 1000 years. In East Asia, rice, millet, and soy were domesticated; in sub-Saharan Africa, millet, sorghum, and African rice were domesticated; and in the Americas potato, sweet potato, corn, squash, and beans were domesticated (Floros et al., 2010). The domestication of cattle, sheep, and goats took place 8000, 11 000, and 10 000 years ago, respectively, whereas buffalos, horses, asses, and camels were domesticated approximately 5000 years ago (Hirata, 2004). These animals were considered suitable for domestication because of their docile temperament, willingness to be dominated, and ability to live in large groups.

As humans became sedentary, they began caring for and controlling wild animals and plants for food production, transportation, protection, production of valuable commodities (cotton, silk, or wool), warfare, and companionship. Domesticated animals that we commonly use today, including dogs, cats, sheep, geese, camels, cattle, pigs, and horses started as wild animals but were changed over time through domestication practices (Zeder et al., 2006; Andersson, 2011).

Domestication is not an instantaneous event. It is a cumulative process characterized by changes in which partner populations become interdependent over time (Zeder et al., 2006). This process is also shaped by the particular environmental, biological, and behavioral profiles of the target species, as well as the cultural context of the human societies involved. The typical changes caused by the domestication process can be external or internal morphological changes, such as modifications in body size, decreased brain size, physiological changes, developmental changes, and behavioral changes, such as reduced fear (Jensen, 2006).

Although domestication initially had a small influence on the economies of human societies, which were originally based on hunting and gathering, it enabled these societies to grow in size and to expand into new and more-challenging environments. For example, the domestication of plants and animals enabled human population to grow by providing a food surplus. Moreover, domesticated dogs and sheep enabled human societies to become pastoral. Farming and raising livestock permitted the creation of permanent communities in place of the temporary ones prevalent in migratory hunter-gatherer groups, and the building of permanent shelters to house livestock and store harvested crops. In addition, new farming tools and technologies were developed once people started to grow their own crops (Zeder et al., 2006; Jensen, 2006).

Fewer than 20 animal species have been successfully domesticated (Diamond, 1997), only 7 of which (cats, dogs, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and horses) are found worldwide. As pointed out by Hale (1969) and Diamond (1997), animals that have been successfully domesticated and farmed share and exhibit a unique combination of characteristics. They are relatively docile, flexible in their dietary habits, grow, and reach maturity quickly on an herbivorous diet, and breed readily in captivity. They also have hierarchical social structures that permit humans to establish dominance over them and are adapted to living in large groups. They do not include species that generally have a tendency to be fearful of humans or disturbed by sudden changes in the environment. Our ancestors no doubt based their selection methods for improving their herds and flocks on how easy the animals were to farm, as well as on potential agricultural value. In turn, the animals adapted to thrive in a domesticated environment.

Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) were the first animal species to be domesticated, probably in East Africa and Asia. According to archeological evidence, dogs first began to show differences in appearance compared to wolves approximately 15 000 BCE. Many researchers believe that dogs essentially domesticated themselves by scavenging near human camps. Humans then bred them to bark in warning and for reduced aggression compared to wolves (Gray et al., 2009; Skoglund et al., 2011).

Sheep (Ovis aries) were probably first domesticated approximately 15 000–11 000 BCE. Their remains have been found at a wide range of sites of early human habitation in the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia (Chen et al., 2006; Chessa et al., 2009). According to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies of European, African, and Asian domestic sheep, it is believed that they descended from at least three different subspecies of the wild mouflon (Ovis gmelini spp.) and that there are three major and distinct lineages: Type A or Asian, Type B or European, and Type C, which has been identified in modern sheep from Turkey and China. Initially sheep were domesticated mainly for meat production. Later, these animals were also used to provide milk, wool, and leather. Nowadays, sheep continue to be important agricultural animals, as well as model organisms for scientific research (Chen et al., 2006; Chessa et al., 2009; Pedrosa et al., 2005).

Goats (Capra hircus) were domesticated for their milk and meat, as well as materials for clothing and building (hair, bone, skin, and sinew). Their dung was also used for fuel. They are thought to have been domesticated in Iran and neighboring countries approximately 10 000–11 000 BCE. Recent mtDNA research has shown that all modern goats probably descended from a wide range of animals and may have been domesticated in a variety of different places (Fernández et al., 2006; Luikart et al., 2001).

Pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) have mostly been domesticated for meat production; however their bones, hide, and hair are also used for items such as weapons and brushes. Domestic pigs, especially pot-bellied pigs, are also kept as pets. Archeological studies have shown that the domestic pig was domesticated from wild boars approximately 13 000 BCE in the Tigris basin. However, remains of domesticated pigs have been found in southeast Anatolia dated to earlier than 13 000 years BCE (Vigne et al., 2009). According to DNA evidence from Neolithic pigs, domesticated pigs were brought west to Europe. Zooarchaeological evidence suggests the domesticated pig was also brought east to China from the Near East, in addition to a separate domestication in China that took place approximately 10 000 years ago. These findings have led to the conclusion that pig domestication occurred independently in several places across Eurasia (Larson et al., 2007; Chen et al., 2007).

Cattle (Bos primigenius) have been domesticated since at least the early Neolithic for their meat, milk, leather, dung for manure or fuel, and for use as load-bearers and to pull plows. According to archeological records and modern genetics research for the domestication of wild forms of cattle, the process occurred independently from as few as 80 aurochs (the now-extinct predecessor of cattle) in Mesopotamia approximately 10 500 years ago near the villages of Çayönü Tepesi in southeastern Turkey and Djade al-Mughara in northern Iraq (Allan and Smith, 2008; Ajmone-Marsan et al., 2010; Beja-Pereira et al., 2006).

In addition, several other animal species also went through a process of domestication, such as farmed fowl (chickens, geese, and turkeys), horses, aquatic animals, and some insects. All of them, like those mentioned above, are of great importance to humans, providing products and inputs used routinely.

Technology

The toolkits possessed by Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in Australia were, in relative terms, very simple (see HUNTER-GATHERERS, ANCIENT). Formal tools were few but included waisted stone hatchets (ground edge axes) from the Huon Peninsula in New Guinea at c. 40 ka, stone hatchets from Northern Australia in deposits dating to over 30 ka, and bone points from Devil's Lair dating to nearly 30 ka. In general, artifact manufacture was effectively determined by both raw material type and flaking quality. Pleistocene assemblages were initially classified as the Core Tool and Scraper Tradition with the Small Tool Tradition attributed to later Holocene assemblages. These labels have now been discarded as regional variations in assemblages have become apparent and it has been established that flaked stone artifact assemblages can be more productively evaluated on the basis of the continuum of a reduction sequence rather than on morphological types. Attributing a function to the many and varied artifacts produced in these reduction strategies is best determined by functional studies that also incorporate use-wear and residue analyses.

Expedient flaked stone tools dominate Pleistocene assemblages. These assemblages are mostly small in number (≤200), and are generally made of locally available stone. The few exceptions to these are the rich artifact assemblages from southwest Tasmania, excavated as part of the Southern Forests Archaeological Project; and from the Cuddie Springs site in central northern New South Wales. Notably, grindstone fragments have also been recovered from horizons dated to c. 30 ka at Cuddie Springs. On the basis of functional studies, these grindstones are argued to have been used for grass seed processing among other tasks. Of the other artifacts found at this site, some were used to prepare and maintain wooden tools, others were used for food processing with butchering tools also being common. Like other Pleistocene archaeological sites, stone raw materials at Cuddie Springs are dominated by locally available silcrete. At this site some raw materials, for example, feldspar porphyry, have been imported from distances greater than 100 km.

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