[Homestead] great die-off
Don Bowen
don.bowen at earthlink.net
Tue Oct 5 12:01:46 EDT 2004
At 10/5/2004, you wrote:
>Before 10,000 years ago, how large - and permanent -
>was/were the land areas humans devoted to agriculture
>and defended *from animals* other than other humans ?
Before about 10,000 years ago very little land was set aside permanently
for crops. Some tribes may have set aside small plots but most food was
obtained through hunting and gathering. Large game animals may have
provided a huge burst of protein at once but they were hard to hunt and
required cooperation. Large carnivores on the other hand were a threat to
survival and determined efforts were made to hunt and kill them.
About 10,000 years ago population and climate change pressures pushed some
middle eastern tribes to grow more food. This gradually lead to a full
blown agriculture society and later to armies and priests, the most
destructive of mans inventions. In the Americas agriculture is much newer,
starting only about 5000 years ago in Meso America.
Don Bowen
Awl Knotted Up Woodworking
Valley Center, CA http://www.braingarage.com
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