4 ms·

I had a long conversation with an anthropologist so studied the emergence of agriculture, who argued that it wasn't invented but instead adopted by necessity.

I had a long conversation with an anthropologist so studied the emergence of agriculture, who argued that it wasn't invented but instead adopted by necessity. He pointed out the huge host of health problems that came with agriculture: hard labor; poor quality food; diseases from living densely. Life expectancy dropped from the adoption of agriculture until well into the industrial revolution, with the adoption of public health.

ekianjo 3y ago
> Life expectancy dropped from the adoption of agriculture based on what data exactly?
- adrian_b 3y ago
  I do not remember now links, but the study of the human remains from the early Neolithic societies has shown that they had become much smaller and much sicker than their ancestors. This is as expected, because they had switched from a diet where the main sources of proteins and fat were of animal origin to one where the main sources of proteins and fat were plant seeds. They did not have our modern knowledge about essential nutrients, so at least in the beginning they had not been able to choose a balanced diet. It appears that they have eventually accumulated enough experience to improve their food habits (after some centuries). Since the beginnings of agriculture, the cereals have always been the cheapest source of food, but in time it has been learned that they are not enough so they have been then combined with legumes (e.g. lentils, peas and faba beans) and with oily seeds rich in essential fatty acids (e.g. flax seeds).
Calavar 3y ago
So what were the necessities that prompted the adoption of agriculture?
- monkeydreams 3y ago
  10 half-starving farmers could beat 1 fat hunter gatherer in a fight.
  - u320 3y ago
    Why didn't the non-farming population expand to the limits the way the farming one did? Why aren't there two half-starving hunter-gatherers?
- adrian_b 3y ago
  The disappearance of the big animals that could sustain hunting.

ekianjo 3y ago

> Life expectancy dropped from the adoption of agriculture based on what data exactly?

adrian_b 3y ago
I do not remember now links, but the study of the human remains from the early Neolithic societies has shown that they had become much smaller and much sicker than their ancestors. This is as expected, because they had switched from a diet where the main sources of proteins and fat were of animal origin to one where the main sources of proteins and fat were plant seeds. They did not have our modern knowledge about essential nutrients, so at least in the beginning they had not been able to choose a balanced diet. It appears that they have eventually accumulated enough experience to improve their food habits (after some centuries). Since the beginnings of agriculture, the cereals have always been the cheapest source of food, but in time it has been learned that they are not enough so they have been then combined with legumes (e.g. lentils, peas and faba beans) and with oily seeds rich in essential fatty acids (e.g. flax seeds).

Calavar 3y ago

So what were the necessities that prompted the adoption of agriculture?

monkeydreams 3y ago
10 half-starving farmers could beat 1 fat hunter gatherer in a fight.
- u320 3y ago
  Why didn't the non-farming population expand to the limits the way the farming one did? Why aren't there two half-starving hunter-gatherers?
adrian_b 3y ago
The disappearance of the big animals that could sustain hunting.