ENCYCLOPAEDIC INSCRIPTION
ENCYCLOPAEDIC INSCRIPTION
Hunter-gatherer culture was the way of life for early humans until about 11,000 to 12,000 years ago. The lifestyle of hunter-gatherers was based on hunting animals and foraging for food.
Characters
6 - 8
subjects
Anthropology, social studies, world history
Image
Hunting for game
The Hadza people of Tanzania depend on hunting game for their meat, a task that requires great skill in tracking, teamwork and accuracy with a bow and arrow.
Photo by Matthieu Paley
Hunter-gatherer cultureis a kindentertainment lifestylethat depends on hunting and fishing animals and foraging for gamevegetationand othersnutrientslike honey, like food. Until about 12,000 years ago, all humans practiced hunting and gathering.
The anthropologisthave found evidence of the practice of hunter-gatherer culture by modern humans (A wise man) and their distantancestorsdating back two million years. Before the rise of hunter-gatherer cultures, earlier groups relied on the practice of capturing animal remainspredatorsabandoned.
Because hunter-gatherers did not rely on agriculture, they used mobility as a wholesurvival strategy. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle actually required access to large areas, between seven and 500 square kilometers, to find the food they needed to survive. This made the foundation for the long termsettlementsimpractical, and so were most hunter-gatherersnomadic. Hunter-gatherer groups tended to range in size from aextended familyfor a larger band of up to about 100 people.
With the beginning ofNeolithicRevolution about 12,000 years ago, when agricultural practices first developed, there were some groupsto leavehunter-gatherer practices to establish permanent settlements that could support much larger populations. However, many hunter-gatherer behaviors persisted into modern times. Even as late as 1500 AD there were still hunter-gatherers in parts of Europe and throughout the Americas. Over the past 500 years, the hunter-gatherer population has grown enormouslyturned downdramatic. Today very few survive and the Hadza people of Tanzania are one of the last groups living heretradition.
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Manager
Tyson Bruin
, National Geographic Association
Auteur
National Geographic Association
Production managers
Gina Borgia
, National Geographic Association
Jeanna Sullivan
, National Geographic Association
Program specialists
Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society
, National Geographic Association
Margot Willis
, National Geographic Association
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Last updated
February 9, 2024
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