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Hunter Gatherer Analysis

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According to Diamond, archaeological evidence suggests that our transformation from hunter-gatherers to farmers was a disaster whose impact can still be seen today. The transformation brought along unpleasant changes, such as social and sexual inequality, disease, and tyranny. Most people would not believe in this negative view of our transformation from hunter-gatherers to farmers because we are better off than the people of the Middle Ages and cavemen in terms of the availability of food, advanced technology, and longevity. From the progressivist view, hunter-gatherers adopted agriculture because it was a productive way for them to produce more food for less work. The progressivist also believe that agriculture gave us more free time since we don’t have to constantly move around looking for food. Although the progressivist view seems appealing, the indirect tests done by archaeologists have failed to support the progressivist view. …show more content…

George Armelagos and his colleagues found evidences that showed the farmers had bad health compared to hunter-gatherers due to the adaptation of agriculture. Diamond outlines the three main reason for the bad health of farmers, which includes varied diet of hunter-gathers compared to the few starchy crops eaten by farmers, the starvation of farmers due to the dependence on limited number of crops, and the spread of diseases in the crowded societies of people encouraged by agriculture. (Diamond 112) The adaptation of agriculture lead to the division of classes due to stored food and more possessions and encourage inequality of sexes as the health of women got worse due to frequenting giving birth. The hunter-gatherers adapted to agriculture due to the growing numbers of people, so they chose to increase food production rather than decrease the population. (Diamond

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