Hunter-Gatherers and Farmers Grew the Same During Prehistoric Times

Prehistoric human populations may have actually grown in the same way-whether they were in North America or Europe. Scientists have challenged the commonly held view that the advent of agriculture 10,000 to 12,000 years ago accelerated human population growth.

The world's human population currently grows at an average rate of 1 percent per year. Prehistoric humans, though, had a growth rate of just .04 percent annually. This held true until about 200 years ago.

In this latest study, the researchers analyzed radiocarbon dates from Wyoming and Colorado that were recovered predominantly from charcoal hearths, which provide a direct record of prehistoric human activity.

For hunter-gatherers in the region that is now Wyoming and Colorado, there was a long-term annual growth rate of .041 percent. During that same period, farmers in Europe had about the same growth rate.

"Our analysis shows that transitioning farming societies experienced the same rate of growth as contemporaneous foraging societies," said Robert Kelly, co-author of the new paper, in a news release. "The same rate of growth measured for populations dwelling in a range of environments, and practicing a variety of subsistence strategies, suggests that the global climate and/or other biological factors-not adaptability to local environment or subsistence practices-regulated long-term growth of the human population for most of the past 12,000 years."

In fact, it appears as if the introduction of agriculture can't be directly linked to an increase in the long-term annual rate of population growth. Instead, it's more likely that humans managed to survive by adapting to their surroundings.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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