By Darwin’s time, most naturalists had come to accept the notion that life evolved from extinct ancestors into contemporary organisms. Most assumed this had happened for teleological reasons, that is, with a predestined goal. In fact, many naturalists were members of the clergy, and believed that studying god’s creation would provide insights into his plan. This reflected a Christian belief system called the Great Chain of Being, in which all God’s creations had their places in a hierarchy ranging from the inanimate through plants, lower animals, humans, angels and god himself. We were the top of the earthly chain, and it was natural to assume that we were the goal of evolution. Victorians further assumed that the cultural evolution of man had a goal, namely Victorians (this may seem silly, but remember that even today some people consider some other people to be lower life forms).

With reasoning like this, it was natural to assume that the emergence and eventual dominance of agriculture over foraging, and sedentism (being settled rather than nomadic) over nomadism, were improvements. It was assumed that this way of life led to better nutrition, better health, and modern civilization. And that’s what we’ve been taught. But the archeological evidence suggests something quite different.

Over the span of our evolutionary history, Earth has undergone a series of glaciations, or ice ages, alternating with interglacial periods. The Cro-Magnons of Europe, who underwent the creative explosion marked by cave paintings, more advanced tool use, and the origin of language, lived during the most recent major glaciation. At that time, a layer of ice up to three miles thick extended from the poles through what is now the northern United States, northern Eurasia, and a similar portion of the southern hemisphere. These ice layers were as thick as many of our seas and oceans of today are deep. Temperatures were 10 - 20° lower than today. Since the amount of water on Earth remains roughly constant and much of the planet’s water was locked up in ice, the oceans and seas shrank and the waters withdrew to the edges of the continental shelves. The weight of the ice was so great that the tectonic plates which they covered actually sank hundreds or thousands of feet. Even today, approaching what may be the end of the current interglacial, much of Canada is still rebounding, rising after the release 10,000 years ago from the immense weight of the glaciers. Much of the land bordering the ice sheets was steppe and tundra, with unrelenting cold, dry winds. In Europe, only the southern part was inhabited by humans. This zone of habitation extended through the Middle East, into Africa and central Asia.

As the ice age came to an end around 10 – 12,000 years ago and atmospheric temperatures rose, humidity rose as well from evaporating water and ice. Rains began to fall more frequently, the growing season lengthened, and forests began to spread. The lower valleys, some of which today are covered with water, were the most fertile. Hunter-gatherers who lived in these fertile valleys and forests didn’t need to roam as much because food was abundant, and little time or effort was needed to hunt or gather it. When they came upon particularly bountiful spots, like shorelines where aquatic food was abundant or near the migration paths of meat on the hoof, people settled and let the food come to them. Sedentism (being settled rather than nomadic) became more common, although this certainly wasn’t the end of the hunter/gatherer lifestyle.

These settlements began to transform lifestyles. Life was less precarious, so sharing was less necessary. People could acquire and keep more personal property such as tools, clothing, and art. They became acquisitive, possessive. They developed individual, more independent, goals. People built shelters and lived together in stable family units rather than in bands whose members came and went. These were prototypes of more modern households. Some took up horticulture, some started herding livestock. These means of providing food took little effort, and their food supply became more secure.

Planting, herding and sedentism, necessary for full-time farming, had been established. But agriculture as a way of life wasn’t necessary in these times of abundance, and it didn’t develop. One more change was necessary to provide the incentive for agriculture.

For further reading I recommend Bogucki, The Origins of Human Society (1999).

<B>Paul B. BROWN, PHD</B>