As societies develop, many changes occur that help the progression of a better civilization. While some changes are subtle, others are incredibly dramatic and alter the course of human history. Few changes of this significance have occurred and one of these more notable changes appeared in the era of the Hunter-Gathers. The drastic changes from a Hunter-Gatherer society to an Agriculturalist or Pastoralist civilization are some of the most radical alterations in societal development on earth.
First, the shift from a Hunter-Gatherer society to an agriculturalist civilization was tremendous. The innovation of various occupations, government, and gender roles all stemmed from the adaptation of agriculture. As food sources became more stable and in a central location, people could now focus on other occupations rather than simply looking for food. From this shift, many more occupations began which included sculptures, artists, carpenters and much more. This also allowed for more advanced infrastructure in their cities. In more advanced cities such as Harappan civilizations plumbing even emerged. In addition to different jobs, government formed as well. Many Agriculturalist civilizations had governments with set governing rules. Compared to today’s society their rules were much more punitive and retaliatory. Men also had a much higher positions. Another change that happened was the transference into gender roles. Whereas in Hunter-Gatherer society men and women were considered equal and both had similar roles. When agriculture began, women could now have more children when they could remain in one place. This led to women staying home and caring for their families more, which in turn allowed men to work out of the house and also created patriarchy.
Next, there were also large advances in art and religion. As more cities began to spring up, the trade of ideas and materials increased. At this point, much more structured religion began and the free flow of ideas also created much larger advances in art. The contrast in religion from their time to a Hunter-Gatherer society is tremendous as well. Hunter-Gatherer religion was animism, where certain objects and features had gods. As it evolved, later religion became monotheistic and centered on this one god. Mesopotamia for example had a polytheistic religion up until the 1st century C.E when Christianity began to develop. Another significant change was in the civilizations arts. Hunter-Gatherers were quite primitive and instead had cave paintings, whereas art in other civilizations was much more advanced. In Harappa, art was very developed; they had many stone carvings as well as necklaces consisting of rare stones.
In addition to the digression into agriculture, Hunter-Gatherers also developed into Pastoralist societies. This development altered many aspects to a Hunter-Gatherer society....