A simple idea to make the key differences as clear as possible, using just two central questions: how did they spend their time and what did they eat? These are used to accentuate the key differences in daily life without getting bogged down in too much detail. They are then asked much more searching and intriguing questions which make them think much more deeply.
How did they spend their time and What did they eat?
Hunter gatherers,15,000 years ago
Females would tend to look for roots and grubs. Males would go big game hunting, usually in groups of 50-100. They would follow big animals as they moved around. This would take a few hours a day, leaving a lot of time for leisure. They would eat meat following a successful hunt: otherwise, it was roots and snails and sometime nothing else.
Farmers, 7,000 years ago
Farmers, 7,000 years ago would herd and protect animals, sow seed, weed, gather in the crops, bake bread, make porridge and weak beer. Some with skills would make baskets, pottery, cloth. Overall, this extra activity gave very little time for leisure. For food they would still eat meat, if lucky, but would drink milk, eat
