Amadeus, >What puzzles me most, is the *very* small space consumption of a farming village, >compared to a hunting population of the same size. This is an interesting question. >It has been found, that using the very best hunting strategies one person >needs about 10 square kilometers (about 3km*3km), >to have enough resources for a living *on the long run*. >Temporarily 1 square kilometer would be enough, but after that >all the wild game would be dead and the area empty of further resources. >Ok this space makes about 30*30km (900 square km) for a group of 90 people >- 10 or 20 families. >Now imagine what a equal big farming group would require on space, moveing to >the same 30*30 km area. Even with the most primitive grain agriculture >with the smallest yealds, and storage for bad years to keep, these 90 people >would need only about 1* 0.5 kilometers. If you would draw such a settlement >on the 30km *30km space you'd hardly see the small settling space. Does this figure apply to a farming system that would be sustainable _in the long run_ (as in your definition of the hunter/gatherer system above), i.e., without _any_ inputs from outside the system (other than sunlight)? Regards, Barbara