Anthropology explains population increase over time and the consequences of that increase through biological and cultural evolution. I will trace the growth of human numbers over the last 4.5 million years beginning with our earliest ancestors and how they lived. From Australopithecine to Homo Erectus to modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens, man has increased his range of habitats and his numbers. What cultural inventions and environmental manipulations stimulated these patterns? How have migrations and immigrations effected population pressure? What are some of the projections for our future?

Australopithecines: The Earliest of the Human Line

As early as 4.5 million years ago, the first hominids walked upon two feet in the savannas of East Africa. These precursors of the human's we know today were small, about 3 feet tall and had very small brains, about 500 cc in size, less than half the size of our brain today. They are classified as Australopithecine, a genus different from Homo, but both are in the hominid family.

What makes them part of our early line was the fact that they walked perpetually upright, not just now and then like our ape cousins. We know they were bipedal because of the fossil footprints and bone structure that has been found in the archaeological record in geological layers of ancient age. These small-brained hominids foraged for roots and tubers, and scavenged bones of animals left by other predators for bone marrow, an important source of protein (Campbell 1992:256-262. See picture 1). Another species of Australopithecine may have dined exclusively on seeds, surmised from the immensely large jaws, teeth and molars, which show grinding, wear and the indications of massive muscles attachment on the skull called a saggital crest. We have little clues regarding the disappearance of the seedeater, but can surmise that they were more dependent on the plant material that could have disappeared during prolonged drought, demonstrating early man's dependency upon his ecosystem just like his mammal relatives.

The marrow eating Australopithecine had no dependency on one source of food. In all likelihood this early man survived to evolve into a more human like species because of his varied diet, but he had probably had no more cultural artifacts to work with than a digging stick for tubers, and a stone to crush the scavenged carcass bone for marrow. He had no fire to make any meat or vegetable material tender. He was simply an opportunist with a host of predators himself to fear. Being able to walk on two legs made him taller and more capable of looking over the tall grasses of the savannas for game intent on making him/her their dinner. Walking upright was not all advantage, because they lost their ability to run fast. Having two hands free became important to carry items, a stick for defense, a baby, or meat for the family. Man was indeed tied to the ecosystem.

Because of predators and limited food supply, early man was most efficient in small bands of family groups of a minimum of male, female, and offspring. The amount of energy gathered from the environment was sufficient to maintain small bands, but women could only expend energy to carry one child at a time. The male expended energy on risky business such as defense and meat gathering as the family moved from place to place in search of food. Pre-homo population was naturally small and in balance with the environment being energy consumer and energy provider as prey.

 

Homo erectus: Earliest migrations and cultural elaboration

Through the process of natural selection, larger brained hominids were selected for increasing our capacity for cognitive thought and cultural elaboration. These hominids that were better at capturing game (energy) and avoiding predators (being energy) were most likely to survive to pass their genes on to future generations. The process of greater survival rate was coupled with larger brained individuals in a biofeedback loop (Picture from Campbell 1992:234. The first in the Homo genera, Homo erectus, appeared 1.6 million years ago (Ember and Ember 1996:75). He was now taller and larger brained (750 cc cranial capacity average) who was the first hominid to leave Africa, as early as 1 million years ago. Because they had learned to use fire (we are not too sure about their ability to MAKE fire) they could move into colder climates such as Zhoukatien, near present day Peking, China. Fire was important in being able to roast meats, scare away predators, and extend their daylight hours, possibly important for the transmission of knowledge. They could sit around the fire at night telling stories or making tools.

Now they were living in caves or rock shelters and primarily relied on gathering and hunting, although some scientists believe that Homo erectus was still scavenging marrow. They were found through China, Indonesia, and further around Africa, yet they were still living in small bands, possibly with more than one family group or an extended family. They were more efficient hunters and had gained more control over their environment through the use of fire. Still their numbers were small and limited to only the Old World.

Early Homo sapiens: Beginning of abstract thought

About 300,000 to 40,000 years ago, the hominid most like ourselves evolved, probably again the bigger brained of the earlier species being selected (Ember and Ember 1996:103). The earliest of our present day line had brains almost the size of ours today with some, the Neandertals, having brains considerably bigger than ours. Size was important in the early days of hominid development, but these new species had deeper and greater numbers of folds on the cortex of their brain. The brain was sufficiently complex in areas involved with language to lead anthropologists to assume they had speech and abstract reasoning ability. Although still living in caves, rock shelters, they began manufacturing housing using bone, stone, and hide along with wood that is usually lost in archaeological excavations. See photo from Campbell 1992:302.

They had complex burials involving patterned placement of antlers, animal skulls, and evidence of flowers from pollen analysis. These burials indicate they had abstract thought in the concept of an afterlife because of the intentional burial and grave goods. This group was extremely efficient hunters using spears, lances, atl atls, fire and cooperative hunting to procure more meat protein. They had full use of fire from the number of hearths found with partially charred bone indicating cooking. Their diet was varied and continued to include many different plants. They followed the game and visited some areas seasonally to provision themselves. They were the first to attempt to manipulate the environment with magic to insure a successful hunt possibly to pray for increased game. This was seen in the cave drawings in France (Click to see photo from Ember and Ember 1996:116). Multiple big game was portrayed on cave walls in what may have been a ritual or in some cases, the animals as targets for practice. Because cooperative trapping of game was an effective way to kill game larger than themselves, we surmise they were living in larger multi-male groups. Many males could frighten large game into a crevasse or lake where they could easily spear or club an animal.

They had complex burials involving patterned placement of antlers, animal skulls, and evidence of flowers from pollen analysis. These burials indicate they had abstract thought in the concept of an afterlife because of the intentional burial and grave goods.

This group was extremely efficient hunters using spears, lances, atl atls, fire and cooperative hunting to procure more meat protein. They had full use of fire from the number of hearths found with partially charred bone indicating cooking. Their diet was varied and continued to include many different plants. They followed the game and visited some areas seasonally to provision themselves. They were the first to attempt to manipulate the environment with magic to insure a successful hunt possibly to pray for increased game. This was seen in the cave drawings in France (Click to see photo from Ember and Ember 1996:116). Multiple big game was portrayed on cave walls in what may have been a ritual or in some cases, the animals as targets for practice.

Because cooperative trapping of game was an effective way to kill game larger than themselves, we surmise they were living in larger multi-male groups. Many males could frighten large game into a crevasse or lake where they could easily spear or club an animal.

Homo sapiens sapiens: Modern Humans

Humans were considered thoroughly modern by approximately 200,000 years ago. The species had inhabited all continents but Antarctica. Both their biological and cultural adaptation had provided an ability to survive in most any climate. This adaptation led to large increases in populations world wide, but most were still bands, extended bands, or related groups who came together seasonally as food supplies make congregate living possible. On the other hand, some resource areas were so rich in food sources that chiefdoms and city-states were possible. The Calusa of SW Florida has so many and varied marine food resources that they were able to build a hierarchy of groups which paid tribute to a central leadership (see photo Brown 1994: cover).

Like wise the North West Coast of the Americas were so abundant in sea and land resources that they had large chiefdoms as well with a centralized authority. People were living in dispersed domains throughout the region but denser in population and residence. There was so much abundance that not every one need be engaged in food gathering making possible some to serve as religious practitioners, chiefs, and artisans.

AGRICULTURE:

About 10,000 years ago the agricultural revolution was begun by this modern man. Agriculture was the one medium capable of transforming mans relationship with the environment forever. Because of his close relationship with the earth, mankind understood the concept of reproduction and began to manipulate or domesticate wild plants and animals. How they first began manipulating crops and animals to serve as a more reliable food source is unknown. We can only surmise that it was accidental at first and purposeful as they realized that stored food extended the ability to eat year round. They horticulturists, a person who plants crops using a hand axe or digging stick, and farmers, a person who plants crops using a plow, draft animals, or machinery. Pastoralists (animal husbandry) usually refers to nomadic herders of domesticated animals, but sometimes includes more sedentary animal raisers.

. The invention of agriculture had the most significant impact on populations. If you farm and are not transhumant pastoralists, you must stay in one place while the food grows. Many early crops were high carbohydrates, such as rice, potatoes, and wheat. As the availability of game decreased from overhunting around the permanent households, people were forced to eat more carbohydrates. The natural birth control of nomadic foragers was no longer necessary because women could maintain more weight, keeping them above the weight that prevents menstruation and fertility. Now women could tend for more than one baby at a time, because they could keep an eye on them around the house or carry them and watch others in the field. Families grew as children were needed to help with the garden or farm chores. Plows allowed for the increased production of crops and soon mechanization allowed for home production and some for the market. Because of the markets many others did not have to grow crops but could trade services and goods for the farmer's bounty. Walled cities and fortification grew to defend prime land from raiders. Agriculture made possible the beginning of warfare.

The domestication of plants and animals was a parallel invention, occurring at different places at different times with different crops. Trading ships and in some areas canoes began to move goods and people around the world in larger numbers than ever. Trade abounded and soon cultivars, domesticated animals, people and disease were being exchanged around the world. This was the age of discovery. The great cities in the New World, Tenochitlan, Machu Picchu, Calusa, Natchez, and Iroquois chiefdoms fell to the guns and diseases of the European explorers. In the Old World, wheat, sorghum, and rice were major crops [See picture from Kruper 1986:119]. The New World was to give the world potatoes, corn, tomatoes, tobacco, and countless other foods.

Soon settlers were to come to the New World to extract the bounty from the rich soils there. Plantations sprung up providing cotton, sugar, and other crops in great quantity for the greedy empires in the Old World. This was not just the pattern in the New World, but all over the globe. Clouded in a mystic of the pursuit of "religion freedom" many of the poor and needy came to the newly found worlds to carve out a life for their families. They were in search of survival from a European world with diminishing resources to feed everyone. Forced migration of slaves, indentured servants, the indebted, and the incarcerated were to follow. As demand for labor increased in the new colonies, slaves and indentured servants were brought to supply the labor for the voracious plantations. People were sent from overcrowded prisons in the Old World to places such as Savannah, Georgia (debtors) and Australia (prisoners). Indigenous people everywhere were pushed back from prime land and made to settle in marginal areas or resourceless and impoverished barrios set aside in the growing cities. Competition for resources awarded prime land and its products to the mighty, usually those with superior technology in the form of horses and guns. Overtime the remaining nomadic hunter and gatherers were forced to settle in one place and take up agriculture, work other's fields, or migrate to the cities seeking wage labor.

 

Industrial revolution Within time, more and more products were demanded to satisfy the growing populations. With the Industrial Revolution, mechanization replaced positions formerly filled by human labor. With large mechanized farm equipment more food was available. With factory innovations such as conveyor belts and machines of mass production, old products could be turned out in greater number and shorter time. The age of consumerism had begun. Large-scale water management systems made the deserts flourish, supplied energy to run the industrialized world, and rationed water through hydroelectric dams. The railway opened up territories with people and supplies. Transportation and later communication made growth and "modernization" possible in all but the most undesirable regions which

With industrialization we have increased our energy need to provide food. What was once taken freely from the sea, plain, or forest was transformed to the work of family labor with incipient agriculture. Mechanized harvest has greatly increased our energy demand from seed to can of corn. Imagine the energy expended to provide us with a single can of corn.

Within a relatively short time span for all of human history, cultural innovations had transformed our world. At present there are 6 billion people worldwide, 273 million are in the United States, a major consumer of all the world's resources, especially oil and minerals (US Census 1999). With modern medicine, mankind is living longer, more newborns survive, and fewer infants succumb to childhood diseases. See from the Campbell picture (1992:524) how humans have increased in stature and in life expectancy.

For the greatest part of our 3 million year existence, hominids (our own line) have been nomadic hunters and gathers, using resources until game was exhausted and then moving to another richer environment. It is only in the last 10,000 years that we have settled. With settlement, higher populations were possible. The pattern continues. Today, when resources are exhausted or available to only the very wealthy, we migrate to exploit new environments. When Florida orange groves fall to development we import Brazilian oranges. Now we have filled the world and our own survival is threatened through loss of resources (oil, arable land, seafood, etc), pollution of our water and air supply, diminished food production (currently only 4% of the US population is engaged in farming to supply the other 96%). As immigrants of the world, we are in grave danger. See Campbell's (1992:527) model of our risky feed back loop. We have always moved to solve our food problem.

Are we "modern" man with a "hunter and gatherer" brain? The story of the boiled frog is a good example of our unrecognized complacency. If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will jump out immediately. If you put the frog in a pot of cold water and turn up the heat he will not notice the slow warming of the water and die--boiled to death.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, Robin C. 1994. Florida's First People. Sarasota: Pineapple Press.

Campbell, Bernard G. 1992. Humankind Emerging. New York: Harper Collins.

Ember, C.R., and M. Ember. 1996. Anthropology. Upper Saddle River, NJ:Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Kruper, Hilda. 1986. The Swazi. Fort Worth, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

U.S. Census Bureau. August 15, 1999. Department of Commerce. http://www.census.gov/

 

Here are some issues for you to ponder possible research problems for later assignments:

Trace the energy required to produce a can of corn. Describe the steps involved and each use of fossil fuel.

Examine the ideology of different nations (US versus China).

Examine the ideology of different religions regarding birth control and abortion.

Look at how sociobiologists view our need to reproduce.

What are the ramifications of better health care?

What happens to starving populations after we initially flood them with food following median attention and we move on to the new cause of the month (year)?

 

Photo from Ember and Ember 1996:116