- The passage discusses hunter-gatherer societies and how they obtain their food by harvesting from nature, which was the oldest known subsistence strategy for at least 2 million years until the introduction of farming around 10,000 years ago.
- Hunter-gatherers have declined in numbers and been forced to live in harsh environments like deserts and arctic areas as their agricultural counterparts fared better. Environmental differences like shorter growing seasons in higher latitudes restricted diets and limited subsistence development.
- Observing modern hunter-gatherers in Africa and Alaska provides insights into prehistoric ancestors - their societies were very mobile and migrated seasonally, with a strict gender division of labor, to exploit food sources as areas became exhausted