By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline
Published: 12:19 BST, 21 May 2019 | Updated: 12:32 BST, 21 May 2019
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Switching from hunting to farming made life more difficult and forced people to work longer hours, a study on modern tribes has claimed.
The agriculture revolution is heralded as a major turning point in human history as it ushered in stable settlements and allowed culture to blossom.
But scientists found it was not without its costs as the arduous work was less productive and took longer to make the same amount of food as a hunter-gatherer.
This goes against the commonly held belief that the advent of agriculture benefited humans and made life easier, and researchers are yet to understand why.
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Scientists from the University of Cambridge studied ten Agta groups in the Philippines and found hunter-gatherers spend 20 hours a week getting food. Those that had recently taken up farming took 30 hours to get the same quantity
The so-called Neolithic revolution brought radical changes to human populations as they began to settle and establish roots in a specific areas, something that had previously been impossible during the nomadic way of life.
Modern-day equivalents still exist in some parts of the world, with tribes still surviving with the hunter-gatherer approach.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge studied ten Agta tribes scattered around remote regions of the Philippines.
They found hunter-gatherers spend 20 hours a week getting food whereas those that had recently taken up farming took 30 hours to get the same
