Question

Do you agree with Professor Diamond's thesis that Paleolithic hunter-gatherers may have been better off than their neolithic farming cousins? Explain your position.

Answer 1

Yes, professor Diamond is right in many senses.

Step-by-step explanation:

For example, hunter-gatherers had healthier diets and healthier bodies than neolithic farmers. The hunter-gatherer diet was based on a great variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, while the neolithic farmer diet was based on a few staples like wheat or barley.

And while the hunter-gatherer move around constantly in search for food, and a had a fit physique, the neolithic farmer often did very hard work on the farm, that was also hard on the body.

Hunter-gatherer society was also more egalitarian, social hierarchies were soft or even non-existant in some tribes. Neolithic society became stratified, and a few people at the top began to take possession of the food surpluses that farming produced.