On Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:55:03 -0700, Robert Kesterson <[log in to unmask]>  
wrote:

> On Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:00:10 -0600, Jim Swayze  
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Farmers were clearly *more* active if you define "active" as absolute  
>> time spent in strenous physical activity.
Studies of hunter-gatherers show that they satisfy their needs with about
3 hrs work a day, and spent the rest of their time visiting, dancing,  
resting, etc.
Their work was strenuous, chasing and killing animals, and carrying heavy  
burdens back
to camp, but they did not spend all their days doing it.

Early farmers probably put in 12 hour days of heavy work for much of the  
year.
HGs always resisted going into farming, even with more reliable food,  
partly because they
didn't want the drudgery of farmwork.  Archeological examinations of the  
bones of early
farmers show the wear marks of extremely heavy work in the muscle  
attachments.
It's not the same as riding in the air-conditioned tractor these days.   
And it's not like
having a cute little home garden that you put a few hours a week into.  If  
you had to
actually support your family by farming, using stone and wood tools, it  
would be a huge
amount of work.

	Lynnet