began to establish defined borders. Initially these ranges were probably small, being just enough to support their populations of hunter/gatherers. There is an efficient size limit for pre-agricultural peoples’ population size which appears to top out at about two to three thousand in most cases, although there have been some civilizations that were able to form rules of cooperation that enabled them to number into the tens of thousands. Rather than outright genocidal war, they typically resolved border disputes through less lethal skirmishes. Before a situation would become so severe as to cause war, there usually existed the option of migration.
Agricultural societies very gradually became more prevalent. The ability to harvest and store foodstuffs increased the carrying capacity of the land and these civilizations prospered and grew in numbers. In small hunter/gatherer tribes members had migrated easily between groups. If you didn’t like the rules in your own tribe, groups or individuals were free to leave. With the rise of agricultural population centers people were compelled to stay within the culture they were born into and endure whatever laws or custom that were present.
The archaeological record of humans shows a distinct divide between hunter/gatherers and agriculturalists in terms of health and famine. When some cultures became more “civilized” and depended increasingly upon grains for their sustenance, diabetes, tooth decay, osteoporosis, malnutrition, and obesity became more prevalent. Third molars (wisdom teeth) which would erupt normally in “less civilized” populations increased in frequency of impaction or non-eruption. As groups became more dependent on agriculture to feed their societies, they needed to increase their holdings of arable land. Being dependent on just a few crops and practicing monoculture of those crops also produced a food source for herbivores and insects. As the food supply for certain insects rose, so did their populations, and pestilence arose. Bacterial, viral, or mold infections of crops, as well, could cause a catastrophic loss of food stores that might result in famine for those human populations that have grown dependent on them. In nature a variety of plant life inhabits almost any given area, but with the rise of agriculture native varieties of plants are usually burned off, plowed under or weeded out to leave plots where only the food crop planted would be allowed to grow. Because many insects and plant diseases are host specific, feeding on only the crop being grown, they can quickly move from one plant to another under monoculture conditions, multiplying in numbers as they go. Today, insecticides are used extensively to combat this natural consequence of an unnatural human designed ecosystem. Improper storage of grain crop as well, especially among historically novice agriculturalists, lead to rodents, insects and microbes rendering many harvests unusable to their farmers. Add to this the theft of food stores by other hostile tribes, and the result was frequent and unexpected famine. There existed an unfounded perception that life was hard, brutish and short for our hunter/gatherer forbearers, but archeological evidence points to quite the opposite reality. Because agricultural societies staked their future on the viability of one or a few food crops, they suffered tremendous hardship if the crop was somehow lost.
Hunter/gatherers, on the other hand, were quite adept at relying on a variety of food sources for survival. If there were some upsurge of a natural pest that affected a particular species of food plant, which is rare under natural conditions, hunter/gatherers would simply consume other species of plants or animals that were unaffected. So, although famine and malnutrition was quite common among farming civilizations, it was extremely rare among hunter/gatherers. Agriculturalists who experienced such crop failures might therefore be obliged to use aggression against more fortunate neighbors under adverse conditions in order to survive. A textbook example of this would be the difficult times and frequent famines experiences by the first European (farming) settlers who arrived in the Americas in the 1500’s, many which would not have survived if not for aide from indigenous Americans.
The Origin of “Money”
Now, I am not trying to say that the advent of agriculture was a bad thing, but that it was a big thing. It started gradually and endowed its creators with the ability to feed their numbers and set the framework for the evolution of civilization and the specialization of labor. It paved the way for advances in many areas: writing, animal husbandry and eventually great advances in science and technology. With these increases in sophistication came the opportunity for a social stratification that eventually put power in the hands of the elite. This has repeatedly led to corruption and tyranny by those who hold the very lives of the populace in their hands. Gradually, with this acquisition of power over an ever-growing population, there became more intricate means of exchange of goods and services.
As an example let’s say that “Og” make fired earthenware pottery that he trades for goods and services with others in the village, and “Dalu” is in need of pottery to carry drinking water to his hut from a distant spring as well as for cooking and storing food, he might be able to trade goods with Og. Dalu raises fowl that he trades for goods and services within the village, and he wants to trade some of his birds for Og’s pottery. But Og’s father-in-law who lives in the hut adjoining his, and also raises fowl, which he freely gives to Og if he requests some birds. Dalu would then have difficulty striking a deal with Og to trade his fowl for pottery. Eventually, in many cultures, a standard media of value would be achieved where beads, gems, ornate feathers or something of rare value could serve as a currency that would be easily traded between individuals and would be considered equally valuable to all, and could be used as an exchange to acquire any good or service. This eventually led to the creation of a monetary system, often in the form of rare metals that could be traded and eventually came to be cast in specified quantities as coinage in many European and Asian cultures.
Eventually monetary systems were created using coins of copper, silver and gold by many governments. As some individuals amassed great amounts of coinage, it also became a commodity that individuals or groups would go to great lengths to acquire by theft or warfare. As the monetary system evolved, and some people amassed more money than others, guarding their loot became a problem for many individuals. Some created fortified buildings with security to guard them. Those who felt their money was less secure began to store their money with those they trusted to guard them together with their precious assets. This was the birth of banking. Of course those persons who invested in these secure buildings with guards wanted to receive some fee for protecting assets of others. Sometimes these new “bankers” would loan money to individuals they felt confident would repay the loaned money at a later date. A fee would usually be charged for this service which we now refer to as “interest.” When people deposited this money with a banker they were given a receipt for their deposit, a “banknote.” Because large sums of money were heavy and cumbersome, bank notes were sometimes used to purchase goods and were the early forms of “paper money.” Eventually those with the most money and power came to be known as “the government” and took exclusive control of the printing and value of currency inside their domains.
Historically, those who were born into wealthy families were offered tremendous advantage over those who were not. The initial possession of capitol allows that person to accomplish things a person born into poverty could only dream of. With large sums of money at their disposal wealthy families could invest in all sorts of business dealings and amass greater lands and possessions that would stay within the family. Although, of course, it is very possible to lose money through bad investments in business or losing wars, it is quite true that “it takes money to make money” leaving those who have it in a much better position than those born into a lower socioeconomic class. With wealth comes more lands, more wealth and more power until those wealthiest citizens become the “owners” of society. Just as the case of wars over food in the past, wars over assets and wealth are now the norm.
As I have presented it, much of recent human cultural history over the last few thousand years is in fact a history of conflict over resources. Perhaps the greatest resource we have is people. When wars have been fought it is usually an all or nothing conflict. The winners in battle hold all the cards. Food, land, gold, men, money, children, and animals live or die at the victor’s whim. With the conquest over another group, often came the enslavement of the survivors.
Slavery
