Historians have long asked whether the rise of agriculture was a step forward for humans. It is equally important to ask another question: did all societies adopt agriculture? Actually, many communities did not start farming right away. Others never did. Agriculture did not take over fully or evenly around the world.

Some communities began farming more than 12,000 years ago. Other groups didn’t farm for thousands of years after that. Today there are still communities that do very little farming.

Farming also was uneven in the sense that it was not always adopted fully. Some communities did a bit of farming but remained largely nomadic. They wandered from place to place, and never settled down permanently. Other groups only farmed part of the year. They got what they needed through trade at other times. Some communities that had previously farmed gave up farming. For example, this happened in the Sahara region in Africa. Communities there were forced to stop farming as the desert spread.

Non-agricultural societies didn’t disappear after farming became common. They were still found in much of the world.

Different kinds of communities

It would be wrong to think that communities that did not adopt agriculture grew nothing. Many groups did grow some crops. However, they never settled down permanently to farm the land. Others, called pastoralists, raised animals but didn’t grow plants regularly. They remained mostly nomadic. Still, others mainly foraged or hunted and gathered. They continued to live as their ancestors had for thousands of years.

In the Americas, people mostly foraged and grew some plants. In coastal South America, settled communities depended on fishing.

Animals were central to nomadic pastoralists’ way of life. For pastoralist groups from the Eurasian steppe, the horse was the single most important animal. Horses provided food in the form of dairy and sometimes meat. Their dung provided fuel. Their hides provided clothing and shelter. Horses were also the main form of transportation.

How were pastoralist groups organized socially? Like foragers, they often moved in groups of five to a dozen families. These groups worked together and defended each other from outsiders. Some pastoralist groups joined together with other pastoralists to form small confederacies. Others, like the Xiongnu in China, built empires.

In nomadic communities, gender roles were usually freer than in farming communities. Men usually cared for cattle or other herd animals. They made weapons and other tools. They also hunted and defended the communities. Women made food and clothing and took care of small children. However, when men were gone, women took on almost all responsibilities. When the group moved, women often took down and set up dwellings. They were also trained in riding and archery, as they sometimes had to defend their communities from outsiders. Some nomadic women may have served as warriors.

Networks and exchange

Both pastoralist and foraging societies partly relied on trade. Both traded with sedentary or settled, communities. Pastoralists offered dairy, meat, and wool. In return, they received agricultural products, including grains.

Pastoralist nomads supplied and handled animals along the Silk Road. They also provided protection for Silk Road travelers. In the Arabian Peninsula, Arab pastoralists supplied camels to traders. They also led caravans across the desert. These caravans carried goods from around the world.

Non-agricultural communities also often battled sedentary farming groups. Sedentary agriculturalists tended to be part of rich societies. They were tied to their land and possessions. By contrast, nomadic communities could move about quickly and easily. This allowed them to attack and seize what they wanted. They could acquire food and goods without having to farm or trade.

Of course, this angered sedentary communities. The Chinese, for example, were constantly fighting with nomadic groups. Chinese historian Sima Qian (who lived from about 147–87 BCE) wrote about the nomadic Xiongnu in his “Records of the Grand Historian.” The Xiongnu, he said, sometimes raided farming communities. They simply stole what they wanted by force.

Sima Qian had a very low opinion of the Xiongnu. He considered them to be invaders and thieves. Many nomadic groups were described this way by sedentary societies. However, it is wise to be critical when reading these accounts from outsiders. Nomadic groups had their own ideas of right and wrong. They were not always well understood by others. Still, the descriptions of outsiders can be very informative. They help to show what life was like for non agricultural communities.