Page 67 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

this fleeting world / beginnings: the era of foragers tfw-7

This plate shows the variety of stabbing tools used over the course of human history and the
different sizes, shapes, and materials used to make the weapons. Tools 1–2 are made from
flaked stone, 2 from antler, 3 from animal bone, 4 from antler, 5 through 8 from chipped
stone, and 9 through 15 from copper, bronze, and iron.

productivity ensured that population densities were low many links existed between neighboring groups. Almost
by the standards of later eras, averaging perhaps as little all human communities encourage marriage away from
as one person per square kilometer.This fact meant that one’s immediate family. Thus, foraging communities
small numbers of humans were scattered over large likely met periodically with their neighbors to swap gifts,
ranges. Modern studies suggest that foragers may have stories, and rituals, to dance together, and to resolve dis-
deliberately limited population growth to avoid over- putes. At such meetings—similar, perhaps, to the corro-
exploitation of the land; modern foragers can limit pop- borees of aboriginal Australians—females and males
ulation growth by inhibiting conception through pro- may have moved from group to group either sponta-
longed breast feeding, by using various techniques of neously or through more formal arrangements of mar-
abortion, and sometimes by killing excess children or riage or adoption.
allowing the sick and unhealthy to die.
Because each group needed a large area to support Kith and Kin
itself, ancient foragers, like modern foragers, probably Exchanges of people meant that each group normally
lived most of the time in small groups consisting of no had family members in neighboring groups, creating ties
more than a few closely related people. Most of these that ensured that people usually had some sense of soli-
groups must have been nomadic in order to exploit their darity between neighboring groups as well as some lin-
large home territories. However, we can also be sure that guistic overlapping.Ties of kinship created local networks