Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c10.8

c10.8

This need not in itself have entailed wholly settled communities – pastoralism may involve complete mobility, and even primitive hoe-cultivation soon exhausts the land. If there is no river-inundation to provide fresh mud each year, the settlement must seek new fields every few seasons. But camping sites may be re-visited regularly, and some of the tribe may remain more or less permanently to guard the crops. The increased and more assured food supply of a farming community allows for larger families, and children can be put to more uses in herding, weeding or hoeing than the limited specialized skills of a hunting tribe admit.