Our species has been hunter-gatherers for most of the time we have existed on Earth. Paleolithic humans adapted to the environment of the time, taking food as and when it was available and hunting game, which resulted in a high percentage of their food being meat. Evidence suggests that before the end of the Paleolithic, hunters would have noticed the migratory patterns of the herds they hunted and would have learned which plants were nutritious and non-poisonous. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and berries were gathered in season, and, being nomadic, they followed food sources rather than growing crops. Learning to control fire helped them adapt to their environment, both by providing a source of heat and safety (extending the temperate range in which they could survive) and by making food more palatable and appetizing. (I. Kuijt, pp. 103-107)About twelve thousand years ago the most recent ice age retreated. Herds of large animals from cold climates moved north, and our ancestors had to change their habits to survive. As more southern locations warmed, some hunter-gatherers found enough food to sustain the group within a short distance of their camps. These food plants attracted a wide variety of smaller game such as horses and rabbits. Conditions around major river systems in warm climates were favorable for settlement, as these areas had sufficient food for year-round survival. Evidence suggests that sedentary living and the deliberate cultivation of food plants began in five different parts of the world in this period; the Euphrates and Nile rivers; the Indus River in the northern Indian subcontinent; in China along the Yellow River; the Fertile Crescent area in western Asia along the Tigris; in sub-Saharan Africa and the Niger River system; and Central America. (http://ragz-international.com/ancient_civilization.htm) The transition from nomadic life to settlement marked the beginning of the Neolithic period. People now produced food, instead of obtaining it, they no longer adapted to their environment, but adapted their environment to them. This involved simple actions such as weeding food plants, bringing water to plants during times of drought, and planting seeds so that food would grow in a more convenient location. Sedentary living meant that food could be stored as a reserve for time ... middle of paper ... This early agriculture led to the extensive kinship networks and commercial economic systems that existed until the Industrial Revolution. It influenced our culture and changed our drives by making us territorial and materialistic, but it also created the hierarchical systems that allowed cooperation within our species beyond that normal in the animal kingdom. It was this cooperation that allowed us to change the world in which our species lived, giving us the capabilities necessary to dominate the planet. Bibliography (1959) R. Redfield The primitive world and its transformations Great Seal Books, New York (1991) RL Bettinger Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory Plenum Press, New York (1995) Hansen International World History Project http:// ragz-international.com/ancient_civilization.htm Accessed: 30102003(2000) I. Kuijt Life in Neolithic Agricultural Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and Differentiation Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers, New York (September 2001) RH Steckel et al A history of health in Europe from the late Paleolithic to the present: a research proposal (online - http://global.sbs. ohio-state.edu/docs/Proposal-09-03-01.pdf accessible at: 30102003)