The Neolithic Revolution made life more difficult

For a long time, it was assumed that the Neolithic Revolution – the transition of hunter-gatherer peoples to cultivation of the land, animal husbandry and a sedentary lifestyle – was a progressive. However, according to researchers at Cambridge University, the revolution has made life more difficult and people have lost some of their free time.

The Neolithic Revolution began 11-12 thousand. years ago in the Middle East and, over time, spread around the world. But while farming and animal husbandry have allowed nomadic communities to settle down and thrive, a new study of one of the world’s last remaining hunter-gatherer communities in the Philippines suggests it has come at a huge cost.

Such a conclusion was drawn by Dr. Mark Dyble of Cambridge University, whoory lived with the Aetami for two years – The indigenous people of the Philippines, whoorej the basis of subsistence until now is gathering, hunting and fishing. Part of Aetow slowly transitioned to a sedentary lifestyle and engaged in agriculture. Dyble together with the coohe community has been watching closely, according to Dr. Mark Dybleoinno those whooers continue to obtain food by gathering edible plants and hunting, as well as those whooers saw their opportunity in agriculture.

The results of the observations of the scientific teamow appeared in the journal „Nature Human Behavior”.

Each day, at regular intervals between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., the scientists recorded what their hosts were doing. They kept similar records in ten communities, in ktorych they lived. Thusob arose in detailoThe daily schedule of 359 peopleob. Based on this, they calculated how members of these communities shared theiroj time for leisure, childcare, household chores and work outside the camp .

Analyzing communities exclusively hunter-gatherer and porown them to these Aetow, ktoof those who took up farming in part, the researchers observed that the latter work harder and devote more time to it to make a living. They calculated that, on average, semi-agricultural communities worked about 30 hours per week, while hunter-gatherer-only communities worked only 20 hours per week.

It turned out that this roThe difference was largely due to women being drawn away from domestic activities to work in the fields. The study found that women living in communities most involved in agriculture had half as much free time as those whoore lived in gatherer-hunter communities.

– For a long time, it was assumed that the transition to agriculture represented an advance, allowing people to escape the arduous and precarious lifestyle of. But as soon as anthropologists began working with gatherer-hunter communities, they began to question this narrative, discovering that gatherer-hunter communities really did have a lot of leisure time. Our research provides some of the clearest evidenceoin support of this thesis – said Dyble.

From the notesow scholars found that Aet adults spent an average of 24 hours a week during the day working outside the camp, about 20 hours a week doing housework and had about 30 hours of leisure time. However, the researchers found that the allocation of time roGrew significantly between adults.

ZaroBoth men and women had the least amount of leisure time in their 30s. However, its length has steadily increased in polater years. The researchers also noted the rogender differences. Women spent less time working outside the camp and more time on household chores and childcare than men, even though men and women had similar lengths of leisure time However, the study found that the transition to agriculture had a disproportionate impact on women’s lives.

– This may be because agricultural labor is more easily divided between the sexes than hunting or fishingowstwo. However, there may be other reasons whyorych men are not prepared or able to devote more time to farm work. This requires further research – admitted Dyble.

– We have to be really careful porownn wspohe modern hunter-gatherer communities to those of prehistoric times. But if the first farmers really worked harder, it raises the important question of why people adopted agriculture? – noted Abigail Page of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, coohe author of the study. – The amount of leisure time with whichorego enjoy the Aetas testifies to the effectiveness of the gatherer-hunter lifestyle – admitted Page.

Previous research, including a study of Aet communitiesow, w roAet wayob linked the adoption of agriculture to population growth and productivity, as well as the emergence of increasingly hierarchical political structures.

SourceoSource: Cambridge University, photo. Pixabay. Pictured are children from the Aet communityow while playing