May I correct a misapprehension you have about hunter/gathers, as academics
have us call certain people. I enjoyed ten years of "subsistence" living,
eight on the coast and two in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. I
know there are major differences from the real hunter/gathering societies
but there are some commonalities. The most important are gathering or
harvesting fish from the sea, shellfish from the tidal zones (we did not
hunt sea mammals but easily could have), and animals from the land (at
times we took swimming deer from the sea). Our activities could not be
termed "hunting" as is used by white sportsmen. When we went out for a
moose, a deer, a goose, a duck, a salmon, a red snapper, rock fish or cod,
we knew where they would be as well and as surely as we knew where to find
the oysters and clams and rice root and miners' lettuce and camas. We also
knew when they would be there as well as we knew when the berries are ripe.
It was no more "hunting" than when you or I go to the supermarket and
"hunt" for the product we want. Were there times of shortage? Of course,
but you always understood what the alternatives were, and preserving food
without modern chemicals or equipment is really not difficult. I'm not
sure exactly what they were but there had to be something other than hunger
which pushed people into fulltime agriculture, and the great civilizations
you speak of. I like your comparison of contemporary people with the
hunter/gathers.
Don Maroc
Vancouver Island. Canada
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