Answer:
It is known as hunting-gathering economic system of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, still practiced by some peoples. The hunting-gathering was the first adaptation of humanity that was carried out successfully, occupying at least 90% of the history of mankind. Only some contemporary societies have been classified as hunter-gatherer societies, and complement their activity with horticulture and animal care. Features:
• For a time, it was thought that the ecological impact of hunter-gatherer societies was non-existent since they did not practice agriculture or livestock and had limited technological development. Added to this, his itinerant activities limited his influence at a particular point in his environment. However, it has been suggested that hunter-gatherers could have a key importance in the extinction of megafauna and in the transformation of ecological communities by the use of fire. There is still a debate among the scientific community about the evidences of these impacts and the responsibility of the hunter-gatherer societies in them.
• One of the main characteristics of hunter and gatherer societies is their mobility, referred to both the location of the group and the magnitude of the people that compose it according to the time of year.
• It is possible that from the beginning there was a certain labor specialization by sex and age, men hunting, women and children collecting. Maybe someone more skilled with their hands, devote more time than others to the manufacture of weapons or the treatment of the skins. The fact that hunting and gathering were the dominant economic activities does not mean that they were the only ones. Mines excavated with paleolithic instruments have been discovered. The existence of commercial exchanges is demonstrated by the presence of materials such as obsidian or marine shells in burials a thousand or two thousand kilometers from their origin.
• The most common foods were vegetables (harvesting) and meat (hunting or fish-eating). They also survived thanks to fishing on the coasts.