The Beechmont Crest Online Guide to Management Science
Agriculture and the First Divisions of Labor
The Paleolithic Age (also known as the “Old Stone Age”) began about two million years ago, and ended between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago. The Paleolithic Age is what people usually have in mind when they think of “cave dwellers” and Neanderthals. Throughout this extremely long period, humans remained stuck in the hunter-gatherer mode. There were no permanent settlements; and technology was limited to basic hand tools and primitive weaponry. People moved around from place to place in small tribes, usually following animal migrations patterns.
Paleolithic humans had no concept of specialization or divisions of labor. The hunter-gatherer mode of existence required all able-bodied members of the tribe to dedicate themselves to the acquisition of food. Hunters could never be sure if game could be located and killed on a particular day. Moreover, slain carcasses quickly spoiled, so there was no way to put aside extra food in times of surplus.
As might be expected, life during the Paleolithic Age was short, brutal, and precarious. Starvation was common, and Paleolithic humans routinely took desperate measures just to stay alive. In a cave in the former Yugoslavia, scientists discovered Neanderthal bones that had burnt and split open—evidence that Paleolithic people sometimes turned to cannibalism.
The Neolithic Age (“New Stone Age”) began about 10,000 years ago. Neolithic humans lived primitively by our standards, but their lives were vastly superiors to those of the Paleolithic Age. Not only did Neolithic humans live longer, but they enjoyed stability and abundance that Paleolithic humans could not have imagined.
The secret of Neolithic success was an activity that we modern humans take very much for granted: agriculture. Although the concept of agriculture seems painfully obvious today, it was once as revolutionary as e-commerce or telecommuting. Agriculture provided people with stable sources of food. Some agriculture products—like grain—could be stored for future consumption. For the first time, there was not just sufficient food—there was also surplus food that could be held for long periods of time without spoilage. Before metallic currency existed, grain was used as an early form of universal economic exchange.
As the hunter-gatherer lifestyle passed into history, humans began to congregate into communities. The new conditions of abundance enabled some members of each community to dedicate themselves to activities other than food production. The first artisans dedicated themselves to making tools, weapons, baskets, and other implements. The era of specialization and division of labor had begun.
The efficiencies of specialization quickly became apparent. For example, a farmer was technically capable of making his own tools, but it took him far more time than a specialized toolmaker. Likewise, it was easier for the toolmaker to barter for grain with the farmer, versus trying to raise his own.
The specialization of the Neolithic Age gave rise to a previously unseen level of invention. During this period, humans conceived the plow, the domestication of large animals as beasts of burden, irrigation, and countless other innovations. The Neolithic Age proved conclusively that a community of specialized workers can achieve far more than a collection of individuals who do not specialize in complimentary tasks.