The rise of agricultural states came at a big cost, a new book argues

[News]

The rise of agricultural states came at a big cost, a new book argues

By Bruce Bower
October 3, 2017 -


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Contrary to popular opinion, humans didn’t shed a harsh existence as hunter-gatherers and herders for the good life of stay-in-place farming. Year-round farming villages and early agricultural states, such as those that cropped up in Mesopotamia, exchanged mobile groups’ healthy lifestyles for the back-breaking drudgery of cultivating crops, exposure to infectious diseases, inadequate diets, taxes and conscription into armies.

Full Article:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rise-agricultural-states-came-big-cost-new-book-argues