Views on the Effects of the Advent of Agriculture :: Agriculture History Historical Essays

Views on the Effects of the Advent of Agriculture 4,000 BC: Today, I awoke when the sun was just over the treetops. It was wonderful to be able to sleep in again. Our last hunt was so successful, we've had enough meat to feed the entire tribe for three days, now, and we feel that it will suffice until tomorrow, when we'll go out again. The big game is everywhere, lately. Later on this afternoon, I plan on taking our tribe's oldest son out into the wilderness to help him with his spear-throwing technique. I slept with one of the women of our tribe last night. My cousin will lay with her tonight, and her sister has asked me to lay with her . For some reason, the rythm of the furs seems to be most passionate just before a hunt. Perhaps it's the beat of the drums of the Ceremony of the Hunt; the dancing of the bon-fire flames; the voices of men and women shouting the invocations of the Bison-gods, again thanking them for the sucess of the last hunt. We praise them for the abundance they provide. So tomorrow, we will again set out to find another herd of large game which will hopefully feed us for another three or four days. We follow the game. No two more than four or five nights are ever spent in the same place. It is the dynamic nature of our people. If we stay too long in one place, the Earth will not provide for us. We must move on. Nothing is more refreshing than seeing the dawn in an entirely new surrounding (except, perhaps, not seeing the dawn at all, because the previous evening was so good). 1,500 BC: I killed my brother yesterday. He fornicated with my woman. I came home from my days work, harvesting the potatoes, and found him mounting her in my own house. It was my right to take his life. The rest of the village was pleased with my actions. I was protecting my possessions. When I first caught the two of them, I called two of my cousins to help detain my brother. That evening, we held a meeting with the chief and all the wise men of the village. It was decreed that I was to take his life in full view of the whole village. The only time such things are allowed is during the Fertility Dances which take place only once a year, and whose time is dictated by the chief.