A Change from Hunter Gatherer
Throughout time man has moved on to supposedly bigger and brighter things. Since the invention of the wheel we have been enamored with technology and what it can bring us. Yet we have been losing our true identity, and take on one that does not suit us as well. "In fact, some anthropologist suggested that hunting and gatheri 16416e49q ng represented something of a lost paradise." (Robbins, pg. 39) Here I will be discussing the reason why we decided to move from a hunter gather culture to a more domestic and stationary lifestyle. "The simplest explanation of why hunters and gatherers chose at some point to settle down and domesticate plants and animals is that sedentary agriculture was an easier, less dangerous, and more productive way to get food." (Robbins, pg. 37)
The sedentary lifestyle was obviously easier in that for one there was no following herd of animal to hunt. There was no need to carry your entire house around so that you would have a place to sleep at night. There was no traversing long and arduous distance to find food, water or a place that was good enough to sleep. With the stationary way of life your food was out in your back yard and as long as you were careful and planted correctly there would be food to last an entire season. No one would go hungry. Also with the hunter gatherer culture the population was limited to the amount of food that the civilization could acquire, with sedentary style there was food for all.
Danger is an important aspect that needs to be addressed. While you are hunting for dinner there are many things that can kill you. If you will recall the Mubti tribe, the elephant hunter was especially careful with the elephant, because he knew that the animal had a great chance of killing him. This is one thing that you don't have to worry about when living in a stationary position. Your herds do not attack you. Your crops never fight back. There is also less chance for a person to get lost in their field and never return.
The fact that in a stationary lifestyle it is easier to produce more crops and meat is a major benefit. This allows a society to increase in size and dynamic. It allow as civilization to expand intellectually and socially. "Because hunter gatherers had only their own muscle power to work with, the amount of energy produced by their work was limited." (Robbins, pg. 38)
With all of these things accomplished hunter gatherer societies developed into some of the civilizations that you see today. For these reasons above describe why a hunting and gatheri 16416e49q ng society moved on to a more stationary and domesticated lifestyle.
And we thought that our lives today can be difficult with the raising of children, paying of bills, television with five hundred channels, deciding which cloths to buy with some other person's name embroidered all over them, and the ultimate what's for dinner.
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