Discussion Post #1

Hunter-gatherer peoples may have settled down in this way possibly from curiosity. Poeple may have wondered what would happen if they planted seeds that they had found. Planting would have led to the people realizing that it farming was an efficient way to feed a larger population by farming. It could be that the people of a hunter-gatherer society grew tired of having to hunt for their food all the time. As peoples' minds expanded and urbanized people may have wanted to try something new or experiment with a new food source. There could also be the possibility of economy. People may have decided that using crops as a means of trade was helpful in developing a powerful society.

I believe hunter-gatherer people may have settle down into village farmers for many reasons. Like Kaitlyn, I agree it is because of tiredness and curiosity.When you really think about it, it must have been tiring to always be on the move. Also, maybe over time as humans advanced (and so did their brains), their interests changed. Instead of being on the go and wanting to kill what they find, humans might have wanted to be creative and explore new things like cooking and mixing spices. These people might have wanted to use their brain more and learn valuable skills or maybe these people just wanted to add more favor to the food they were eating. Let's face it, would you rather eat the same meat and plants, you have been eating for years, or try something new like "potatoes" or "wheat?" Well, yes there are risks in farming, and these people may not be happier, but as history has shown, there are risks in everything, even hunting and gathering. If these people are not afraid of killing large animals, why would they be throw off or turned away from farming? In addition to using their brain more, perhaps, these people wanted to start raising families and expanding their tribes. Now how could these people, who are always moving control and maintain their tribes if everywhere they go is different?

In case any were wondering where I got some of my facts, I used this website, http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_agrev/3-Hunting-and-Gathering/hunt-gathering1.html

Like Kaitlyn, I feel like the hunter-gathers settled down due to curiosty. They probably just wanted to see if "the grass wa greener on the other side", and life just ended up that life was more productive in a settlement. They were most likely able to maintain a more nutrious diet, due to a lager crop varaity. Also, another reson for settleing down might be an easier way to start familes and increase the size of tribes. Now you might say why do you have to have a "home" to aise a family? But due to increase brian grwoth, children needed more attention in their early years in order for their brians to reach a optimum point of intelligence. I do have a question about the research though, people are often happier when they get more rest, being an one-the-go hunter-gatherer would be so tirsome? So my question is how can a person be happier when they are so exhuasted?

Morgan brings up a great point, How are these people "happy" when they are exhausted and constantly having to adapt to new environments? Perhaps they are not happy that they always have to work, but they were glad, that they did not have to worry about getting food all the time. With farming, these people were not guaranteed food and they were worried. When it comes to hunting, these people could be worry free, because when they followed animal herds, they were guaranteed food. Even though they were guaranteed food, it is still hard to believe they were "happier."

The hunter-gatherer lifestyle was certainly one that was less laborious than its agricultural counterpart, but historians have debated why the hunter-gathers gave up their adventurous days for a more stable way of life. Traveling around with the animals throughout the seasons was most definitely a harbinger of this changed lifestyle, but there was a lot more to it than just that. People didn't simply stop migrating with the animals because they were tired. Rather, as the human brain was developing, men mapped the tendencies of animals to pass by a place, and they made this "place" a temporary campsite. Over time, they noticed that plant life began to grow, and they could find food by using the seeds of already eaten food. Even though this type of agriculture may have still been obsolete to the people of those days, population pressures may have obligated them to try to find an alternate food source.

I theorize that the transition from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to the agricultural lifestyle was not set in stone, but rather, it was very gradual, and people eventually transitioned. The early man may have tried to select some people to grow plants, while others would go and hunt, and as they found that they could get a more consistent source of food from agriculture, they all tended to the plants.

The use of agriculture may have also been done because of the women's needs to nurture their children. With the large amounts of traveling, the proper raisin of children was very hard to accomplish, and the settling down of tribes my have led to a more established family life.

People might have started to settle down and start practicing agriculture for many reasons. The main reasons might be that they needed a "constant" food supply to feed a growing population, other might be that they needed to take care of their young, and so they couldn't travel constantly after animals. One simple reason might just be that they were "experimenting" with something new, and curiosity made possible by the "growing" brain. Although many reasons stated above seem to "agree" with the problem, one reason, in my opinion, that might answer the question might be that, because of many factors; climate, terrain, food abundance in a region, many other, they started to plant and do agriculture to attract the animals to the food they were growing, and not actually have to go after the animals, just bring them to you. And a "bonus" would be that you get more, and different, food from agriculture. Another simple thing might just be that they just got tired of eating the same thing, and wanted to try something new. After all, you get vital nutrients from different plants and crops that you cant find in meat, that are ingredients for survival. There are many reasons why they did this and what was the purpose. After all, the curiosity humans have about things make us "explorers".

I would have to say I agree with Morgan. They probably wanted to see what else was out there and wondered if it would look any different possibly. They probably realized they could bury seeds and eventually(if taken care of) fruits, vegetables, and other things grew. People started eating those and Hunter-gatherers did not have to hunt as much. I think they may have gotten tired of hunting all day. I would be tired to if I had to follow animals around all day. After seeds came, hunters were able to not hunt so much and relax a little bit. When they did not have to hunt anymore thats probably why they moved towards the village farmers-so they can still be near food.

Personally, I would have gotten super tired of doing the same routine day in and day out. Therefore, I believe hunters and gatherers ceased doing so due to the want of change. When hunting and gathering, usually the people back then would have to follow the animals (food) to wherever they felt like going. Most likely, these people probably got tired of always having to be on the move, and wanted to settle their lives. Realizing that agriculture brought settling and more specialized workers, neighboring civilizations probably followed in suit. From there it was just a domino affect, for all of the hunters and gatherers were noticing the new and better ways of life; farming.

Well Lori, Swaroon is one mean kid so don't get offended by his rude remarks. I think you are completely correct when it comes to how they started agriculture. Personally, I bet someone gathering berries accidently dropped one. Too lazy to pick it up, the gatherer probably just left it behind. After a few weeks he/she probably came back to collect more fruits, when they saw that the berry there before had sprouted a leaf. Thus, giving the ancient people the understanding of agriculture as a whole. This one dropped berry sprouted a revolution of how people got there food. And I am just messing with Swa, he's a good guy!

One possible answer to this question is that their food sources were dwindling. As they followed and hunted prey, the numbers of animals, which were once massive, now was little. Because of their amount of meat shrinking, they might have wanted to find a more pleniful resource, one that they could rely on without it dying out. Perhaps after experimenting, they finally figured out how to plant seeds from cereals they were eating. After they discovered this, the former hunters became village farmers. They relyed on crops they were growing for food, and hunted and gathered when it was necessary.
By becoming village farmers, it allowed non-farmers more time to do other things. Mothers, for example, had more time to take care for their young. This allowed them to learned things earlier than the previous generation, which then allowed them to participate in farming or hunting faster. Also, the free time available allowed others to produce tools, art (pottery and sculptures), and metallurgy.

i completely agree with kaitlyn, i also think that hunter-gatherers might have stayed in one place out of curiosity. They may have wondered what would happen if they stayed in one plave rather than follow the migration patterns of the animals they were following for food. they could have also wondered what would happen if we decided to plant a seed from the fuit that we have found, and figured out that you can make more fruit plants by planting the seeds in the groud and feed it water. myabe they also wanted to leave the animals alone for a while because they could have almost become extinct by how much they were being hunted so they wanted to let the animals go off and reproduce so that there could be more food for everyone that stayed and made villages. They could have then come up with potery in there free time just like alex said.

Alex,
I completely agree with your answer. When you eat meat as much as people did back then, the animals had to have been disappearing, and quickly too. They had to start filling up on berries. And as I have said before, they probably experimented and buried seeds, and later finding that food was starting to grow on them. They probably realized that the food that was being grown from one village farm could feed many more people than one animal could. And yes, it may have been harder to farm, but planting a seed takes much less time than chasing after an animal.

I personally don’t understand how they may have been happier? The hunter gatherer life style is a harsh one when meat and a large source of food isn’t easy to come by. They may have had to work less, but the reward is also less. And I think that is the direct tie to why they changed their lifestyle to agricultural. The harder you work for something, then that makes the end product that much better. So if they worked harder, as they did to farm and put together cities, the food source, and connection between members would have grown. This life style would require about the same energy as the hunter gatherer style, as you have to farm which takes work, yet there is no traveling to follow the pack which must have been a pain.

And to Cheyenne, Kaitlyn, Morgan, and anyone else who thinks we switched out of curiosity. When have we ever made life changing, revolutions simply out of curiosity? Just a question that came to mind when you brought that up.

Man settled down in permanent cities for a few reasons. Populations of people where increasing drastically. Families and groups of people were increasing size and therefore the need for food. Hunting and gathering alone were not enough to supply the food necessity. In order to cope with this, they began to farm. This added a new food source in addition to hunting and gathering. While hunting can be inconsistent, agriculture is a steady supply of food even when times are tough. Early man realized that some places are good for farming and some are good for hunting and gathering. They probably found the best place for both and built a city. The increased population could now hunt, farm, and gather food. When times were tough for hunting, farming could pick up the slack. This consistency allowed them to stay put, grow, and be successful. A constant food supply is what they needed to survive. Settling down allowed them to have all three main food sources, hunting, gathering, and farming. Creating cities allowed man to become more numerous and more successful. Survival was guaranteed now that food is consistent. Now man could move to even newer jobs, like being an artisan. So while hunting and gathering alone allowed people to survive, settling down and adding agriculture allowed man to do more than just survive. They progressed.

Maybe early humans started developing thoughts of religion and the ideas of cities before they were actually implemented. These figments provided the motivation to settle down. Also, food sources may have started to decrease. Thus they decided to take their food suply into their own hands.

I think that there might have been a few different, incidental factors that caused the transition from a nomadic lifestyle to communities. This was a gradual transition, people didn't just wake up one day and say, "Hey, let's go domesticate wheat because we're tired of walking." Maybe a member of the tribe became ill, and they had to stop. While the tribe was stopped, the animal herds would keep moving and so a new source of food was needed. Perhaps members of the tribe were sent to find berries or other kinds of plants and then they brought the food back to the tribe's resting spot. Seeds fell on the ground, rain came down, and more of the same plant grows. Man-made, mass production of this natural occurence, and then there's farming. I truly believe that the development of communities was accidental. These people had no idea what civilization was, they weren't bored with their lifestyle, they didn't start farming just to switch things up, their perspective is so small. Moving with the herd was the only thing they had ever known.

The cause for the hunter-gatherers to start hunting may be like the rest of the generation in today's day in age everyone is getting lazier. Now I'm not saying entirely that these people are lazy for getting food in any other way(I mean look at us we can just run to a store and buy whatever food we want) but working in the heat none stop everyday would be extremely tiring and hard on your body. I also agree with what Sam Ebright is saying because after you hunt a certain type of animal for so long the population is obviously going to decrease. We can catch and find food faster than the creature can reproduce. The certain species might have been going extinct on their land and there were not many other animals to hunt so why not try something new that, yes, would take longer but give them more of a break and same nutrition’s of food in the long run!

Well Lori, Swaroon is one mean kid so don't get offended by his rude remarks. I think you are completely correct when it comes to how they started agriculture. Personally, I bet someone gathering berries accidently dropped one. Too lazy to pick it up, the gatherer probably just left it behind. After a few weeks he/she probably came back to collect more fruits, when they saw that the berry there before had sprouted a leaf. Thus, giving the ancient people the understanding of agriculture as a whole. This one dropped berry sprouted a revolution of how people got there food. And I am just messing with Swa, he's a good guy!

Andrew,
You make a very good point. If I were an hunter-gatherer I would get so bored and tired, from just walking around following animals in order to maintain a food supply. I dominio effect is a really good way to describe the advancement of agriculture. It was just like the kick-off to advanced civilization and to all of humans great intventions.

Swaroon,

While looking over your comments, I have mixed views. I do not agree with your statement, "Isn't this whole discussion post about how agriculture was harder," and that "they would have tried agriculture and seeing how much work it took, they would have abandoned it." Surely agriculture does take more time like the textbook says that an average farmer worked, "1000-1300 hours," compared to an average hunter, who worked,"800-1000 hours" (Spodek 38), but that does not necessarily mean it was harder. Certainly the farmers worked more, but not all of this time, did the farmers actually work. When it comes to farming, farmers must pick the seeds, burry them, and water them, but the rest of the time is waiting. Keep in mind, that growing plants and crops can take up to months to grow. Hunters, on the other hand, have to be always on the move, hiding in bushes, and creating weapons. Personally, because hunters always have to be in action and use physical force, farming is easier.

Now about how people would just give up after seeing the amount of work farmers do have to do, I disagree. I believe that yes, farming may be "harder" in some eyes but everybody's. There must have been some people who felt farming was easier, because not every person in the tribe is the same. I believe, just like today, everyone was different. Some may have preferred hunting, while others farming and over time, farming won. With this in mind, I believe that people wouldn't just give up because it was "hard." Hunting can be 'hard," and people didn't just give up so why would they with farming?

Swaroon,

Now when it comes to your part about ecological pressures, I agree. I do agree with your point of how as the tribe populations increased and the prey numbers went down, they may have turned to farming. Out of all the answers I have read, this seems the most logical. When you think about, if you cannot find animals to hunt, what are you going to eat? The answer is crops. Farming is a way to provide food, whether you many think it is harder or not, it did provide a constantly stable food source for humans to survive.

I believe that hunter-gatherer may have begun to settle down to be laborious village farmers because they wanted stability. As a hunter-gatherer, they would not have known for sure if they would be able to find food everyday. However, as a farmer, they would definitely know that food would always be available. Therefore, they would be able to lead a less stressful lifestyle even though if it was more work. Another reason that the hunter-gatherers may have decided to begin farming was because they found that the animals often stayed in one region for long periods of time before moving again. While they stayed in one place for months at a time, they were probably continuously trying to improve their lifestyle and make food more available and easier to obtain. As a result, they probably discovered that by planting seeds in one location, they could stay there and reap its crop every year. Another factor in starting farming was that by dragging the whole tribe/group along wherever they went wasn’t a very good way to bring up a family. That is because as they advanced, they began to need more nurture and time to teach the children. They probably found that it was better to settle down and provide structure for the children, than to drag them around everywhere.

Counrtney,
I think that is a definite possibility. Maybe they had to stop for some reason. I think that someone went to pick berries and dropped some, and eventually more grew. As I have said before, maybe they realized after a while they could feed more people with the plants. Maybe eventually, communties just started,after populations just kept growing.

I believe Hunter-gatherer peoples begun to settle down into the mundune, laborious existence of village farmers because of age, reliability, and location/moving.
One reason I believe why hunter gatherers turned into farmers is because of age. The young people of the tribe would probably have been off hunting, while the various old people would farm, for that they know that was probably the only way they were useful for. The various farmers were probably hunters when they were young and strong and had lots of stamina, however they eventually decided to lead a farming lifestyle. Because they turned elderly, they were probably very knowledgeable and knew that hunting would not have been food source that would keep appearing on the table.
Reliability is another factor why hunting/gathering people shifted into another source of food. In Hunting, you could only get so much meat. Nowadays we can go to the supermarket or wherever you get your groceries and just buy beef/chicken/pork of the meat section. When you were hunting, the meat for the week would probably provide for only one day. They probably thought that they needed a more reliable food source and settled down into farming.
The last reason why I think Hunters/gatherers shifted towards farming is location. Families need support, especially if you have children, people you need to be there for. In hunting you would spend long days looking for that prey, tracking it until you kill it. In farming, the food is right there outside in your farming area, no need to travel far.

Lucas,

I have the same line of thought as you. I also think they began farming so that they would have a steady food supply. However, I definitely did not realize that the location for the farmland was picked not just because the land was good for farming but also because it was good for hunting and gathering. By this point in time, the people probably had already realized that they could kill two birds with one stone by choosing the best land available for both jobs. On the other hand, I think rather than picking land that was optimal for both farming and hunting, the humans first began hunting there and then realized that it was good for farming too.

I believe Hunter-gatherer peoples begun to settle down into the mundune, laborious existence of village farmers because of age, reliability, and location/moving.
One reason I believe why hunter gatherers turned into farmers is because of age. The young people of the tribe would probably have been off hunting, while the various old people would farm, for that they know that was probably the only way they were useful for. The various farmers were probably hunters when they were young and strong and had lots of stamina, however they eventually decided to lead a farming lifestyle. Because they turned elderly, they were probably very knowledgeable and knew that hunting would not have been food source that would keep appearing on the table.
Reliability is another factor why hunting/gathering people shifted into another source of food. In Hunting, you could only get so much meat. Nowadays we can go to the supermarket or wherever you get your groceries and just buy beef/chicken/pork of the meat section. When you were hunting, the meat for the week would probably provide for only one day. They probably thought that they needed a more reliable food source and settled down into farming.
The last reason why I think Hunters/gatherers shifted towards farming is location. Families need support, especially if you have children, people you need to be there for. In hunting you would spend long days looking for that prey, tracking it until you kill it. In farming, the food is right there outside in your farming area, no need to travel far.

I agree with the point that Alex made about the dwindling animal population. Comparatively, in today's society we overuse non-renewable fossil fuels and in the future we will have to invent new ways of creating energy. During the times of the hunter-gatherer, people may have over-hunted animals, which terminated their food supply. As a result, hunter-gatherers were forced to explore for a more reliable food source and farming eventually developed.

Another scenario may have been that the farming allowed people to settle in one place instead of living a nomadic life. The increasing population probably made it impossible for the hunter-gatheres to follow herds and keep a constant food supply. Once the hunter-gatherers settled in one spot, they may have discovered wheat and after experimenting, farming was born. In addition, I belive farming is the most productive way to supply a civilization with food.

I completely agree with Jessica's reasons why hunters or gatherers would settle down into Farmers. People need reliable food sources, and you don't know if your going to see a meal on the table everyday. however, with agriculture, theres a guarantee. I also agree with your fact that people can't hunt dragging there families. And they probably wouldn't be a ble to support them as well. The only answer was to farm.

I believe that there are a few main reasons humans switched to farming from hunting and gathering. I believe the main reason was from the ability to have a steady food source. Just as Lucas said, when people are given a steady food source, survival is more guaranteed than it would have been just by hunting and gathering. Another cause of switching to farming was the rapid increase in population. This rapid increase might have led to the hunters killing more animals, leading to a shortage in animals the next year. When farming, you can create more food in less space. My final point is that when your food is in one spot, it leads to specialization. When the community is stationary, it leads to people being able to create more jobs and starts your economy. This is why they started to farm.

Alex N,

Although your saying that because there might have been little populations of animals because of the hunting, they started agriculture. I don't fully agree with that. If you think about it, animals reproduce right?, so you would have generations of animals that might expand through an area. And, there weren't this many humans on Earth, so there would be no "restrictions" for animals to spread. And besides, they were not hunting, I believe, 24/7. My point is that, I believe, there were "enough" animals at that time to feed that small population. Another "topic" is that, another replacement of meat, would be fish. There were many replacements of meat if it were to run out, like fish. After all, you could catch a fish with a bow and arrow. But yeah, I see your point, and it is possible that what your saying might happened, and I partially agree with your opinion.

Andrew Corbett,

I see your point. But think about it, why. Why would they need to have a steady source of food, why would they care about the population, if it grows or decreases, why would they need to specialize in doing something, at the end, why would they need, or wanted, to survive, reproduce, care about each other, create a society, live together, change their food source. They could just hunt and when it "runs out", they don't know anything else to eat, so they just die. At the end, I believe, there is no real answer why, yet. But your point is interesting and it gives allot of perspectives.

Swaroon I would have to agree with you about the curiosity thing. People don't think "Hey let's build a permanent city to live in for the rest of our lives just for the heck of it!" Somewhere along the line they realized that building a city would be beneficial. They realized that they could build a city and hunt and farm for their food. It was not mere chance that people settled down. They settled down for a reason and that was food. Also, I don't think being lazy had something to do with building a city. As it has been said, agriculture was harder work. These people hunted their entire life. Generations and generations before them had hunted for their entire lives. They would not change their way of life just because they were tired. If you were say a lawyer, would you just stop your job one day because you're tired of working? No, you would continue your job because you need to support your family. The same thing applies here. Therefore, curiosity and laziness were not a factor in settling down.

I believe that the hunter-gatherers began to settle down to village farmers for one main reason, population growth. It is true that a hunter-gather system can grow to a fairly good size, but there comes a point where this growth must cease. As the population grows you do have more hunter-gatherers to work and produce food for the clan, but once you hit a certain size no matter how many people are in the group if you all want to stay together you are going to have to find some other food supply besides hunting and gathering. This is because your group is exponentially growing, doesn’t mean the food source of plant and animals are. This will cause a big problem because there will not be enough food to go around and many would end up starving. People will do almost anything to survive, so even though it was much harder work to farm then to hunt and gather in order for the entire group to survive they had to take the hard work over the easy way out.

I believe that the hunter-gather system slowed down because of population growth. As the community was growing, the animals they were hunting could have decreased in population due to the high demand of the hunters. With less hunting available, people probably started planting crops as a last resort to increase food sources. People might have realized planting was a more efficient way to get the desired food and may have started to settle down to begin an agricultural life style.

I believe that the hunter-gather system ceased because of the increase in population. As a species thrives, it's population naturally grows and the species will tend to expand. Same with the human race. I believe humans came to the point that the hunter-gather system caused problems. Some of these problems could include fight with other tribes over wild game, or scarcity of animals in a certain area. I believe people decided it would be much simpler, more time-efficiant, and safer to settle down and grow their own food.

Hunter-Gathers was a way less laborious task for the people of that era. For instance, the work was not even close to the effort put into managing miles of fields every second of the day. Growth of population had a huge affect on this transition. As populations grew, the need for food also increased, and perhaps hunting was too much of an unreliable source. Sooner or later, somebody came across the seeds that the plants gave off, and decided to grow them. Even with all the extra work, they realized that agriculture was a better source to supply the tribe with food. Discovering this, most civilizations began to settle down and become farmers.

i believe that people started to invest in agriculture simply because it is more time-efficiant and reliable. In addition, the hunter-gather system could create problems for the hunters. For example, as the population grows, more people will be hunting for food. When this happens, the food will become more scarce, and tribes could possbily fight over game. So i predict that as population expanded, people concluded it would be a better choice to begin agriculture.

Andrew,
I think your points are very valid. I agree that the hunters would eventually get bored of chasing animals and move on to try something new. After experimenting they finally realized that, although farming and agriculture involves more work, it provides a consistent source of food and allows others to work on different things. The transition may not have been specifically better for the farmer, but it helped the village as a whole.

I think the reason hunter-gatherer people settled down was simply down to food sources. Instead of following the herd and killing animals they probably wanted a more stable and consistent life. So by developing agricultural crops it will be very beneficial in the long run. Once the tough part of planting and harvesting are over then you don't have it to constantly move and adapt to the environment but you can just eat a constant food source. Also while traveling as a group if you decide to stay in one place and you establish a degree of order and efficiency then you can have certain members to certain tasks so overall your life is more beneficial and stable than following the herd.

Alex,
I think a lot of your points are valid. I also think that due to the scarcity in food that may have acted as a catalyst to starting to grow crops. Instead of constantly hunting for meat which is shrinking in the area they use crops. I also agree with the fact that non-farmers could have done much more efficient things by helping out other members by doing certain tasks.

Jessica,
I agree with a lot of points that you made. I also think that structure and stability were two very important factors for them to settle down. I also agree that farming would be difficult initially but more beneficial in the long run as it would provide a more consistent food source. Stability was another key subject you touched on with the idea of eating their own crops instead of always moving with the herd making them live an inconsistent lifestyle.

Jessica,
I agree with a lot of points that you made. I also think that structure and stability were two very important factors for them to settle down. I also agree that farming would be difficult initially but more beneficial in the long run as it would provide a more consistent food source.

Lauren,
I completely agree with you in that at a certain point changes will need to be made in order for population growth to continue. However, I don't think it was solely for the reason so their tribe could grow, that they decided to go "hey, lets plant some wheat so we can have a bigger family". I think it was more of a gradual realization after they began planting farms, they found out that the population will also grow more rapidly.

Alex,
You make a very vaild point with the dominio effect. I would have never thought of their food suppy going down. Also I really like how you drew the line of starting a civilization to the beinging of humans making tools and raising their families. However, I think that thr reasing for "settleing down" could have been more than just a food supply running out. Imagine how boring that would be, walking around all day and following animals and other means of food. Anyway, great ideas!!

Sure hunter-gathers had easy lifestyles, but the amount of food they received from hunting and gather was minimal. Hunting and gathering could only give them so much food, while farming provides enough food for many, less work for the village, and a set area where the food will be found. On the other hand, hunter-gathers never know for sure if they are going to find food and in order to do so, they have to track it down first. In the end, farming ends up being way more sufficient, even if it is more laborious, than hunting and gathering.

Personally, I believe that the reason behind the settling of hunter gatherers was based on a deeper level of comfort. Humans need a sense of safety in order to survive. With constantly changing surroundings and shelters, the hunter gatherers would be missing the comfort of consistency. Keeping this in mind, if these people followed their food source, and they were to find an area with an abundance of food and water, there would be no reason to leave the area. Rivers and the areas around them (such as the Fertile Crescent) would supply hunter gatherers with everything they need to survive. If they were to find such a place, they would stay there until the food source ran out. Perhaps they would begin experimenting with agriculture in the time that they saved by not having to travel. In this time, they may also come to appreciate the comfort and safety in having a more permanent home. All of this may have been enough to change the habitual patterns that these people had been practicing since the beginning of their existence.

My opinion on the question is as follows, I believe that although the hunter gatherers may have had more free time and may have been happier people, at the end of the day it comes down to survival. Perhaps the hunter gatherers had more free time because they had not found or hunted any food that day. What would you rather have, time to yourself or food to survive? Although planting and nurturing crops is time consuming and laborious, it is a for sure source of food. The hunter gatherers would have to adjust to the new lifestyle of caring for a crop, yet they would be rewarded with food on a regular basis. Although hunting and gathering required less time and work, food is in constant supply. The hunter gatherers most likely began moving into the agricultural way of life after discovering that food would not need to be a challenge to gain everyday. In my opinion it is more or less common sense, in order to survive you need food, why choose to gain your food in a challenge while you could have a constant supply of food.

Eric,

I disagree with your point about age affecting the hunting gathering transition to farmers. Surely as members got older, they may have been more tired, but you have to remember that by the time they were old, they have already been hunting for years. Like school, these people got into routines. In addition, I do not believe that these people as they got older would just give up hunting because they are old. This does not make sense. If you did a routine over and over again, I don’t think you would just suddenly change because you got older. Although as these hunters got older, they may have lost some physical strength in their body, I do not believe they would just give up on hunting and turn to a new job. Also, as many say, “You can’t teach an old dog, new tricks.”

About your view that hunters and gatherers changed to farmers to support families, I agree. You brought up a great point that with farming, families were able watch children while they worked, unlike hunting. With hunting, it must have been hard for families to find food and take care of their child, while they are always on the go. Now could you just imagine seeing hunters about to hunt down an animal, when all of a sudden, you hear a baby crying? Well, there goes dinner.

I don't think that the people that farmed were "happy". They might have been more happy than those how hunted because they had a greater success rate. But being in the sun all day would've exhausted them. I think they began to settle down because it was a guaranteed food source. They may not have wanted to risk possible starvation so they stayed.

Bobby, I disagree. Growing crops is very time consuming. It could take months for crops to grow. Once harvested then I suppose it would take less time to retrieve the food, but overall, it takes a long time.

my opinion is that Hunter- Gatherers had to "switch" to farming because of population growth. Over time more babies were born. Hunters obiosly had to hunt more, making the animals extinct in the area they were living in. Even though hunting was way easier and less stressful it was not a constant source and would eventually disapear, making the people move to different places. Farming was tough work but it was constant, so if they took care of it right they would have food for everyone. After all people had to think of survival.

my opinion is that Hunter- Gatherers had to "switch" to farming because of population growth. Over time more babies were born. Hunters obiously had to hunt more, making the animals extinct in the area they were living in. Even though hunting was easier and less stressful, it was not a constant source and would eventually disapear, making people move to different places. Farming was tough work, and time consuming; People had less freetime and they were problably grumpy after the labor, but the food was constant, so it would not go "extinct" or go bad if it was taked care of. After all people had to think of survival and farming feed many people.

ahhh dont listen to the 7:41 my computer is being dumb

Personally, I believe that hunter-gatherers experimented with farming simply because the concept of hunting and gathering became very old. Naturally, humans have the desire to explore new things and new ways of getting food. Eventually the farmers came to the realization that growing grains and other crops brought a consistent food source to the village. It also brought a whole new range of foods, like cereal. I was just watching Mythbusters and after it finished, a show about cereal came on... After a few minutes, the narrator talked about how grains were used as money in 8000 B.C.E. when farming was first taken up. The farmers started to grow more grain than they could eat, so they traded it for other things, thus creating a healthy flow of food through the village.

Alex, your question of why is very interesting. Why did they need a steady food source? They could just risk it right? Well I believe that they wanted a guarentee of survival. Farming supplied a constant source of food even when times are tough. They would save some of their crops for the winter. This extra food would sustain them through hard times. Before agriculture, people would go out and hunt and sometimes they would be unsuccessful. When this happened, they had no food, naturally. But with farming, they would have a constant supply of food because they can save it. Also, agriculture produced more food for extra savings. it says in the textbook that a square mile where you hunt feeds something like nine people. On the other hand, a square mile where you farm can feed like 300. Hopefully, this clears something up about having a steady food source.

James, I am going to disagree with you on one point you made. I don't believe that they switched just because they were bored. I will agree that humans are more likely to try something new when they are bored, but when it comes to survival, I'm not sure many people would change because of the fear of the unknown. If you watched Guns, Germs, and Steel, it didn't seem to me that the New Guinieans were unhappy with hunting and gathering. Part of it could be are you comfortable with what you are doing, and do you have the resources to try something new. It just becomes a cause-and-effect issue to me.

My personal believe is that hunter-gatherers may have become farmers not only due to simple human curiosity or a "tiredness" of hunting, but because their geographic region was better fit for agricultural practices instead of hunter-gathering. While I do agree that every human desires change and exploration deep down inside, a much more practical explanation would be that the environment around someone was much better suited for farming. If a hunter-gatherer lived in an area where deer and other hunted animals were scarce, but the soil was fertile and rich in potential for crops, it was make much more sense and be much more beneficial for that person to begin the practice of agriculture. Also, hunter-gatherers had to follow their food, while with farming, they were able to control when they received food. Farming was much more reliable, and while it may have been harder work, it ensured that they would be fed, while hunter-gathering was a risk that didn't always have a reward. History has shown that humans tend to begin different practices to adapt to their own survival needs, and this is a perfect example of that idea.

Alejandra,
I agree with what you are saying about how in the long run farming would be better off for the growing population. What I have to disagree with is that hunting was less stressful. I think that hunting would be more stressful because every day the hunter-gatherers had to wonder if they would be able to bring home enough food for their families. I mean isn’t the post talking about how they then worked less and had more free time to spend when they switch to famring? Yes, hunting is extremely hard because you have to watch for all the crops and hope your weather is perfect so that nothing dies but the same goes for hunting. Certain animals only like certain temperatures so even if it’s not much hotter or colder a type of animal is going to want to stay somewhere they can keep themselves comfortable. The idea of switching to farming though I think was the best option when you think about the future of surviving.

Alejandra,
Unfortunately I have to disagree with what you said about agriculture and settlement coming as a result of population growth. I believe that the population growth came as a result of farming and agriculture. Since both parents were at home most of the time, instead of out hunting, the responsibilities of raising children could be shared. This allowed the parents to have more babies, resulting in a growth in population.

(Sorry, I forgot to leave my name)

Around 8000 B.C.E, in Mesopotamia in the Fertile Crescent, agriculture began to take off. During this period, people started to move way from the then popular trend of hunting and gathering towards the bright horizon known as agriculture. As this happened people grew more towards the social expansion of their civilizations. Agriculture only required a small percent of a population in order to grow enough food for everyone. While farmers farmed, other people started to move more to social growth. The people who didn't farm began to develop other trades such as building roads and enlarging the economic prosperity of the markets. As more and more people flocked to these larger civilizations, more skills were developed. Over time, the artisans began to evolve into a full time trade. The farming community, in general not only made thing easier but also made other things more difficult. For example, most plants could grow in all conditions and there were an abundance of people growing them hence a very large supply of the crops was almost always available however, when one farmed, it took much more effort to grow the food than to just go out and pick it.

-Nate
P. 4

Who's Ready for the Reading test?!

I agree with population being a main cause of human civilization beginning. But, I think there are many other things that would tie into this besides just population.

It is my belief that the reason hunter gatherers decided to settle down was because of the convenience after many seasons of fallowing herds they will get tired and have a harder time advancing in civilization. It may have been harder work but it was a steady stream of food and it did not require every person being involved with farming trades can be created and advanced there for the people will advance. With advance in agriculture comes closer families who can all help out and can tribute to family’s wealth. With the settling of the tribes they would most likely now the mating patterns or seasons of the animals and can wait for them like what (Swaroon said). With the increase in populations it will also make is more convenient for agriculture. I also believe that the natural curiosity for humans to try things new also could have contributed.

My opinion on the prompt is as follows: I believe that hunter-gatherers were generally more happy because they had the reassurance of a constant food source. Based on my own personal experiences, when I am not being stressed with worrying about upcoming events such as a test or project, I am usually in a much more pleasant mood than when I am being consumed with worry. I believe the same could apply for ancient people as well. As long as they have tried their hardest to have the best, most prosperous crops, they will never have to stress about the importance of food. However, I do seem to disagree with the statement that these hunter-gatherers worked less hard by means of farming and growing crops. Farming is without a doubt, a very tedious task that must take meticulous care for and of course, the right weather. Saying that completing all of these tasks is easy would definitely be an enormous understatement and probably quite insulting to the people who used to farm in these ancient times.

I think hunter-gatherers switched to farming because even though it probably wasn't easier, it was more effective. Especially since the population began to grow more and more so they needed a more consistent way of getting food to the villagers. Farming definitely produced more food for everyone instead of maybe one hunter going out and getting food. Even with more than one hunter I'm sure farming still produced more food for everybody. Plus, farming isn't even as dangerous as hunting is. You could also look at it as if it was present day. Why would people want to go hunting instead of farming? Nowadays, people probably find it way easier to farm and not as dangerous compared to potentially being attacked by a crazy animal just for its insides to eat. If I was in charge, I would also choose to start farming.

Jaime,
Your statement of recognition of the difficulty of farming really impressed me. I completely agree when you mentioned your different reasons of why farming is the much better alternative to hunting and gathering. Overall, I have no different take on what you wrote, and I am very much impressed with your ideas because your supporting evidence is all valid, and exactly how I feel!

Naomi,
I completely agree with what you said about consistency. It is so important to know that you have food every day, and with farming and raising their own livestock, they eliminated the question of having food or not. Although it may not have been the easiest way to live, at least they were sure to have a meal.

I have yet to read the other posts, but I believe that people stopped hunted and started farming because it was more productive for a large community to farm. Despite the fact that life was easier in a hunter-gatherer community, this applies only to individuals, and may not serve a large village well. Not everyone was capable of hunting every day, and other things started becoming more common - art, writing, politics - as the communities became more developed. Although for a small group of people hunting/gathering may have made more sense, farming was much more suitable for growing villages.

A possible explaination is that they found out that less people could do the work of many. For example for a tribe of 20 only two or three people would have to work for the entire tribe.This allowed the flow of ideas and the start of government. This is different than a tribe of 20 that were hunter gatherers it would take the number of poeple working for food closer to about half the tribe to go out and gather.This was an inefficient way to gather food. If they allowed only three people to work for food it would leave room to explore other ideas like starting a form of education or a form of government.Anthor possiblity is that they were tierd of haveing so much down time for instants during the summer vacation students love the amoutn of down time that we have but after a while all the down time gets to be to much and we crave some form of mental stimulation so what im proposing is that its possible that they were tierd of not doing anything they craved the mental stimulation.

Graham,
I agree with what you said about the fact that not every body was fit enough to be able to keep up with the tribe.Also I agree with what you said about the farming possibly being able to support a larger population.

I think that hunter gatherer peoples settled down into a life of agriculture, because of the benefits farming seemed to pose. If they farmed, their food source was right there where they planted it. Unlike hunting, where you had to follow the food instead of growing your own. However, i find it quite interesting how farming and agriculture are still so popular today. Nowadays we know a lot more about the earth and our environment which makes us more aware of the best ways to grow food. But how much did they know back then? I would have thought that after a few bad crops, maybe due to lack of rain, that they would have given up and gone back to a hunter gatherer society.

I think that hunter gatherer peoples settled down into a life of agriculture, because of the benefits farming seemed to pose. If they farmed, their food source was right there where they planted it. Unlike hunting, where you had to follow the food instead of growing your own. However, i find it quite interesting how farming and agriculture are still so popular today. Nowadays we know a lot more about the earth and our environment which makes us more aware of the best ways to grow food. But how much did they know back then? I would have thought that after a few bad crops, maybe due to lack of rain, that they would have given up and gone back to a hunter gatherer society.

Hunter getherers may have chosen to settle down and farm because farming meant a steady supply of food. Basically no matter what, if they farmed, they would have food, but if they hunted, they may not have any food some nights. Also, since it was not neccessary for everyone to faarm, this meant that some people would have a lot of time to do other things, such as make pottery and create inventions.

I see your point, I guess hunter gatherers could have settled down simply because they didnt know that farming was more difficult than hunting, but then why would they stay farming once they found out that life was more tedious as farmers than it was as hunters?

Hunter-gatherer may have settled down for various reasons. The affect of seasons was very hard on their way of life before agriculture sparked up. The animals would migrate with the seasons and plants would either shiver up in the summer due to heat or be covered in snow in the winter. With farming, there were different plants to plant in the four seasons with guarantee that they would grow. Furthermore, if you domesticated animals, the animals would stay by the workers side. Another factor contributing to the decision to settle down is the opportunity to trade with farmers in your village. Overall, without farming we would not have the industrial and technological life we have today, for now few farmers support our whole supply of food.

Hunter-gatherer may have settled down for various reasons. The affect of seasons was very hard on their way of life before agriculture sparked up. The animals would migrate with the seasons and plants would either shiver up in the summer due to heat or be covered in snow in the winter. With farming, there were different plants to plant in the four seasons with guarantee that they would grow. Furthermore, if you domesticated animals, the animals would stay by the workers side. Another factor contributing to the decision to settle down is the opportunity to trade with farmers in your village. Overall, without farming we would not have the industrial and technological life we have today, for now few farmers support our whole supply of food.

Avi,
I'm going to aslo have to disagree with you and agree with you on the fact that there diet was mainly made up of vegitation not meat they were more gatherers than they were hunters.

Okay, then another reason they may have settled down to farm is climate. Instead of following animals into harsh weather conditions, they could settle down somewhere pleasant, and enjoy the weather.

Avi,
at this point in time fire has exsisted for a long period of time they would be able to use it in the cold conditions and they were fully capable to survive in harsh condition because st this point they would have developed some sort of way to survive in harsh conditions.

I personally believe that the reason for the hunter-gatherer people settling down was due to the animals. What would happen if they were on a routine of going to a specific spot hunting for a specific animal and then one day those animals decided to go somehwere else? They would have no food for that day. If it then takes a while to find a new source of food somewhere else, people may starve. With plants, berries, nuts, etc. people have to plan exactly when this source of food is being produced. With farming, you always have a guarenteed source of food and when one source of food is not in season, another one is.

I believe that hunter- gatherers settled down for farming and agriculture because they wanted to stay in one place and stop having to move around to look for food. Hunter gatherers also wanted enough food to last because you usually do not bring a lot of animals back when you go hunting but if you farm then you always have enough to feed the community. It is also a good job for almost anyone because usually only the men hunted but if they switch to agriculture then almost anyone can farm and they can distribute the work so everybody does not have to work as much.

Hunter gatherers began to become farmers for several reasons. The first of which being the population increase. With more people to support, hunting was not nearly as productive as it needed to be. Agriculture allowed massive amounts of crops to be grown to feed a greater population. Another key reason why hunter-gatherers started to become farmers, was because of the climate changes. If they were able to settle down, they wouldn't have to worry about running into adverse weather conditions. A third and final reason why farming became more favorable than hunter gathering is the fact that settling down would mean that the population wouldn't have to follow their prey continuously. If they could domesticate and breed animals, they would not have to worry about chasing their prey constantly.

John,

I do not believe that humans would just settle down just because they might think the animals would leave. These hunters have been tracking animals for a while and I am betting that they could track an animal that went anywhere around a mile or so. Another thing is that the animnals probably did move everyday for food but these people had to track them down anyways. Even though animals probably had a slight part in switching from hunting to agriculture, I do not believe that they had a big a part as you think they did.

Lauren,
i agree with everything you said except that last part about them giving up after a few bad crops. If they have had success with it before, they wouldnt give up after just a few bad crops. They would keep experimenting until they understood everything about farming. I wouldnt be surprised if they knew basically everything we know today.

Lauren,

I believe that hunter-gatherers did not just switch to agriculture because they wanted the food source to be right in front of them. They had gotten used to the fact that they had to hunt and they could do it everyday but there were multiple other reasons why they switched like population increase and climate. Even though having the food right there is a bonus and gives the people a sense of security, I do not believe that that is the reason why they switched.

Lauren,
After reading your thoughts, you have helped me think deeper about the hunter-gatherer concept. You brought up very interesting points such as their logic of farming. When you mentioned, "I would have thought that after a few bad crops, maybe due to lack of rain, that they would have given up and gone back to a hunter gatherer society," I completely related to your opinion. Considering the lack of true knowledge they had back in ancient times, it suprises me as well that they would keep trying with the crops and not resort back to the hunter-gatherer way of life. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your piece because it opened my eyes!

I believe that hunter-gatherers settled into the monotonous rhythm of agriculture to have a steady food supply they could bank on more often than not. Hunter gatherers would have to follow whatever herds they ate from, which means when the herd moves you pack up the kids and head to the next site. This most likely got tiring and repetitive in its own way. If they noticed that the plants dropped seeds and grew new plants, they would make the logical connection that if THEY planted the seeds, THEY would grow the plants. This meant that they could have a steady food supply without having to move all the time.
That is not to say that agriculture did not come with it's own difficulties. If there was too little rain, crops died. A heavy frost? Crops died. Herbivore animals? DEAD CROPS. But the hardships of agriculture could be managed more easily than the difficulties of hunting-gathering. And with crops growing, and only a few people growing the crops for the whole town, people can focus on other things for the community.

Jeffrey,
I believe that your absolutely correct with what your saying. I think that having to move around to catch food was a problem that had to be dealt with, which was a factor in leading to agricultural practices. However, as I've stated before, I think that this idea also included that in certain areas hunters traveled, animals may have been scarce, which also contributed to the need to settle down and practice agriculture. I also really like your point that men were usually hunters, but everyone could practice agriculture, which allowed for more evenly distributed work. That was also probably a factor in the switch from hunting to agriculture.

John,
I agree with the fact that animals may have played a large role in the settling of hunter gatherers, but I don't think it was because the animals moved away, but maybe because they stayed there. Since the people settled in areas fit for farming, there must have been pre-existing vegetation and water, which pobably attracted animals, later leading to their domestication.

Naomi,
I agree with you in the sense that farming is a more consistent food source than hunting and gathering, but I don't think that is the main reason that they switched. This is because when they first made the switch they didn't really know if it was going to work or not. They were basically trying it out. After they tried it out a few times I'm sure they realized that yes, this is a more consistent food source than hunting, and kept on going on with it. Now if they question was what were the pros of farming against hunting and gathering I think you would have it right on the mark, but the question was why did they initially switch and I don't believe consistency was the main reason why.

Kaitlyn I disagree with you. People do not move away from what they are comfortable with. Think about it. How often have you moved somewhere completely different just because of curiosity. There had to be another outside source that made them to decide to move.

Swaroon, por favor, calem a boca. Porque você sabe o quê? Eu realmente odeio você, na medida em que "Eu quero cortar sua cabeça com uma escova de dentes" tipo de curso. Obrigado. Anyway, I think that your comment to Cheyenne was pretty dang rude. Maybe they did get tired of hunting. I understand you're a sad child that stays cooped up in the house studying all the time, so you probably don't actually ever go out hunting for animals, or really know anything about hunting animals, no matter how smart you are. Hunting requires a whole bunch of patience and precision for something that may not actually pay off. When hunting deer you can lay all the traps you want, and know the best deer runs, and be downwind, but you still might not get the animal. If it has other plans that day, you're food supply, your dinner, and your family's morale, is shot to squadoo that day, and probably for however long it takes you to get food. Now, if you are sick and tired of waiting around all the time and hoping that the deer/elk/other large animal doesn't see/smell/hear you, and that the winds are right, and everything is favorable for you, JUST so you can have something to eat that night, maybe you would start farming.
Farming is pretty simple, and at the same time a very specific art. Plant the seeds, but plant them in the right soil. Water the seeds, but don't over or under water them. Make sure they get sunlight, but too much will wither them. Harvest the product, but wait until it's ripe. So if they do everything right, then chances are, food will be on the table tonight. And you know what? With a few people farming, others can still hunt, and then it's the best of both worlds.
So Swaroon, if they got "tired" of a small success rate, then "tiredness" IS a part of it. Think outside the box.

I think hunters and gatherers settled down because they wanted a steady food source. The weather was changing and their food was moving away so the hunters just wanted to hunt the things that are still in the area and stop moving. The gatherers could now plant crops and gather what they planted. The process would be much easier since one farmer can feed tens of people, so if there were 10 farmers you can hundreds.It would have just seemed like a better plan to just stay where you were, expand your tribe , and learn new traits from your new occupants. There is another benefit to creating a settlement, trade.Maybe the hunters and gatherers wanted different stuff that they didn't know how to do or didn't have the resources.

Hey Jeff, i completely understand what you are trying to get to. Yes, all the travelling must have been extremely exhausting for the men and women of the tribes. Not only that, but your reasoning on how anybody can farm and how only few can actually hunt is great. Anybody can be taught how to care for crops, but hunting is a delicate skill that can take weeks to learn. Hunters travel in groups, and all of them are usually necessary in order to catch just one animal. Unlike hunting, farming is an individual resource that hundreds can be working on all at once, producing the ultimate amount of food for that colony. In the end, all this and many other facts leads to the reason those first groups decided to slow down and begin farming.

I totally agree with John. If we hadn't settled down we may have not developed social skills. Think of a world where people don't talk or notice each other because they don't know how to.We may not have the technology we have to this day with out social skills.

Hey, I'm sorry i could have swore that i pressed reply to Jeff's, but apparently not. So yeah, that last one was in response to Jeffrey Martins. ^^^^^

The hunter-gatherers could have changed their means of obtaining food because of the unpredictability of hunting and gathering. Farming is a much more consistent source of food, unless there is drought or a plant disease. These people might have switched their method because of underpopulation of animals which would decrease in the amount of food available. The supply was less, but the demand was still the same, so someone would not get to eat. Possibly, the source of food was taken by other groups of hunter- gatherers. Competition for the food could have become to much, forcing them become farmers so they could depend on a steady food source. Why would someone change their method of obtaining food that was easier, gave them more free time, and made them happier unless if they were forced to change to survive?

I agree with Libby. Animals and plants have their seasons when they are the easiest to obtain. When the animals migrate, and the plants die for a season, the hunter-gatherers would have been left without a supply of food. The farming would have been one of their only options.

I personally believe that farming was began because of the constant supply of food. Hunters kill the animals and after being eaten you can't use it's bones to produce another animal whereas when you farm you can use the left over pits and seeds to plant and eventually produce another plan and you can continue this cycle as long as the climate allows you to do so. Also farming was more reliable and could produce enough food for many people while one animal can only feed a few. With the growing population farming was much more sufficent. Also, people were able to focus on other things since less people are needed to farm to feed more people, this gave them time to raise families as well as develop in other areas like, the use of tools, pottery, buliding, writing, drawing, and even communicating through language. Think about now even, yes, people still hint and gather but most food we find in the grocery store is raised or grown buly farmers and they supply food for many people all over the world. Now hunting is done more for sport then for the necessity for food.

I disagree with Kaitlyn's theory of farming starting out of curiosity. I agree on some level with Andrew's idea about the berry. I think that farming was kind of stumbled upon by accident, by leaving food remains lying around and finding sprouts where seeds or pits had been left. I think that digging a hole and planting a seed was not something people in their mind set could come up with on their own; however, I believe that dissposing of left overs and discovering plants where they had been left out is a totally probable expanation.

Eric,
I disagree with your theory.
The only reason that hunters and gathers stopped hunting it was just easier to stay in one spot.Right next to the major river systems.

I personally believe that farming was began because of the constant supply of food. Hunters kill the animals and after being eaten you can't use it's bones to produce another animal whereas when you farm you can use the left over pits and seeds to plant and eventually produce another plan and you can continue this cycle as long as the climate allows you to do so. Also farming was more reliable and could produce enough food for many people while one animal can only feed a few. With the growing population farming was much more sufficent. Also, people were able to focus on other things since less people are needed to farm to feed more people, this gave them time to raise families as well as develop in other areas like, the use of tools, pottery, buliding, writing, drawing, and even communicating through language. Think about now even, yes, people still hint and gather but most food we find in the grocery store is raised or grown buly farmers and they supply food for many people all over the world. Now hunting is done more for sport then for the necessity for food.

I think that these nomadic groups settled in one area to farm for a few factors, one being the quantity of food that one harvest could supply compared to the amount of food killing a deer and picking a few wild berries. Hunting was uncontrollable, whereas farming was reliable and safe. Although farming might be more laborious than hunting, it still proves to feed more people; therefore the groups of people were willing to take the trade-off of hard work and for rather than less work and less food. Also, in some cases, gathering was the only option. The video: Guns, Germs and Steel states that in farming started when animals were extremely scarce. The previously hunter-gatherer tribes saw wheat and started harvesting it because they saw the benefits of farming. People tend to be reluctant to change, if there was a herd of animals moving away from where their wheat was, they probably would have gone after it, until they realized what they had come upon. Then more people had time to develop new, helpful technology which was just another incentive on top of more food to stay put and farm.

Kaitlyn,
I disagree with your theory of farming starting out of curiosity. I think that digging a hole and planting a seed was probablly too complex a concept for people in their mind set to come up with on their own. I think that, like most revelutionary concepts of that time period, agriculture was stumbled upon and then eventually learned by the people.

Jenny,
I agree with your statement that the discovery of farming could be no accident. These people had no prior knowledge other than where plants were, therefore they could not have come up with this concept out of nowhere.