Final answer:
Foraging stopped being the main human subsistence strategy around 12,000 years ago with the onset of agriculture, although it persisted alongside farming in some regions. The transition from foraging to farming led to changes in work, leisure, and social structure, and the choice to adopt agriculture was influenced by numerous factors.
Step-by-step explanation:
Foraging, or the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, ceased to be the main strategy for human subsistence starting around 12,000 years ago, when agriculture began to take root in human societies. This transition, known as the Neolithic Revolution, marked a fundamental change in how humans interacted with their environment and led to the development of settled communities and eventually, civilizations. Evidence suggests that this shift was a response to the challenges faced by foragers, such as the overhunting of key game species and the unstable nature of foraging. The adoption of agriculture did not happen uniformly around the globe, as various factors including geography, climate, and human choices influenced when and where different societies began farming.
Although the transition to agriculture introduced the possibility of generating food surpluses, allowing for the rise of cities and complex societies, it also led to longer working hours, less leisure time, and the advent of social inequalities. For a significant portion of human history, hunter-gatherers enjoyed a diet rich in fruits, nuts, and game, coupled with ample leisure time, which could be observed as a contrast to the labour-intensive lifestyle of early farmers. Some communities continued to practice foraging alongside agriculture well into the modern era, indicating the resilience and adaptability of the foraging strategy.