week 8:-unit 8 Food Production 10 The Origin and Spread of Food Production

Until about 12,000 years ago all humans were foragers (see Barnard 2004). However, environmental differences did create substantial contrasts among the world’s foragers. Some, like the people who lived in Europe during the Ice Ages, were big-game hunters. Today, hunters in the Arctic still focus on large animals; they have much less vegetation and variety in their diets than do tropical foragers. Moving from colder to hotter areas, the number of species increases. The tropics contain tremendous biodiversity, and tropical foragers typically hunt and gather a wide range of plant and animal species. The same may be true in temperate areas. For example, on the North Pacii c Coast of North America, foragers could draw on varied sea, river, and land species, such as salmon and other i sh, sea mammals, be rries, and mountain goats. Despite differences caused by such environmental variation, all foraging economies have shared one essential feature: People rely on nature to make their living. They don’t grow crops or breed and or tend animals.

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