Question

How did the changing environment affect the life of the early people

Answer 1

The seasonal changes, climate, and other atmospheric conditions created many challenges for early humans. Modern examples that demonstrate what life might have been like thousands of years ago show that seasons determine where humans can survive. For example, the Bushmen of Southwest Africa live in a consistent climate. They move five or six times a year, but never travel more then ten to twelve miles. On the other hand, the Gidjingali Aborigines in northern Australia eat water lilies from full swamps during the wet season, but move to another area during dry season to hunt yam and geese. The Netsilik Inuit living in Canada use their environmental surroundings for all the necessities of life. Their houses are made from snow and ice while their clothing, kayaks, sledges, and tents are made from animal skins. Their tools and weapons are made from bones and in the winter are used for seal hunting. In the summer the Inuit hunt caribou and fish for survival (Ponting). While hunting did cause a strain on some ecosystems, as Clive Ponting states in his book, A Green History of the World: the Enviornment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations, “all gathering and hunting groups seem to have tried to control their numbers so as not to overtax the resources of their ecosystem