Economic Organization on the Eve of Agriculture

In this chapter, I first reflect on the state of humanity at the end of the Pleistocene right before the onset of agriculture. I review the basic physiology and household organization of the groups of H. sapiens that had populated all the major continents around 15 kya. I consider height differentials across groups and between men and women (dimorphism), the sexual division of labor, and the institutions of marriage. Judging by the contemporary anthropological record, hunting-gathering subsistence strategies and population density varied enormously across regions depending on climate and habitat characteristics. I then discuss evidence on the intensified use of certain plants and animals and the case for a broad spectrum revolution. Lastly, I present the implications of the abrupt climatic swings Bölling-Alleröd and the Younger Dryas that preceded the Holocene.