A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life

by Heather E. Heying

Ten to twelve thousand years ago, people were beginning to farm. By nine thousand years ago, permanent settlements were forming; in the Middle East, Jericho may have been Earth’s first city. Eight thousand years ago, at Chobshi, in the Andes of modern Ecuador, people took cover in a shallow cave, and hunted by funneling guinea pigs, rabbits, and porcupines off a short cliff, retrieving the corpses at the bottom, with which they made food and clothing.30 By three thousand years ago, much of Earth’s landscape had been modified by human activity—by hunter-gatherers, by agriculturalists, and by pastoralists.31 Seven hundred years ago, some humans were in Europe, and many of them died of famine. Not too many years later, many more succumbed to the Black Death. Some humans were in China, living under Kublai Khan’s rule, whose empire had greater geographic reach than any empire before. Some humans were in Mesoamerica, beyond the reach of Khan, living in the embrace of the Mayan Enlightenment.32 Across the planet, humans lived in a multitude of cultures, political systems, and social systems. Most populations knew little about life beyond their borders—they knew only of their nearest neighbors. Seven hundred years ago, only a very few people were connecting with others halfway around the world, sharing ideas, food, language. And those few were restricted to the speed of sail and horses, rather than nearly the speed of light.