Holocene to Anthropocene
“Mama, what those two guys over there talking about?” a curious cub asked her mother, a lion, pointing to a boy and a girl who were taking a stroll in the Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad.
“Some non-sense regarding the Neolithic Revolution, Holocene and Anthropocene” she replied.
“And what are those?” asked the cub again.
“He is such an idiot. Who would talk those sorts of things to his girl-friend in a zoo-park? Enjoy watching us incarcerated, you moron!” roared the lion.
They became scared at once and left the lion and her cub.
“Why did you do that mom? You scared by shouting at them.”
“Oh, don’t worry dear. It was fun, right? Look at their cruel faces.”
“OK! That’s enough!! Don’t get started again. I know how much you hate them. Just tell me what the terms were about. That’s it.”
The lion gave a one angry look at the cub and said, “Ok, but don’t get started to like them,” cautioned her daughter.
“Human history dates back to the Pleistocene epoch (of Cenozoic Era) which began about 1.8 million years ago and continued till 12000 years before present. It was during this period the human evolution took place. This period is characterized by striking climatic changes and the Quaternary Ice Age, with many glacials and interglacials. The Paleolithic or Old Stone Age fits completely in the Pleistocene epoch.”
“Human beings solely depended on hunting (animals) and gathering (plants and their edible parts) to obtain food. Families formed the units of production. Women may have played a great part gathering plant products and hunting involved group of males. The food collected or hunted was consumed immediately. Also, the families frequently shifted their camps in response to the availability of both plants and animal resources. As they have to move from place to place, the population remained low. But, all of a sudden, their mode of life style changed, in many human settlements all over the world. They started to permanently reside in a particular place.”
“What prompted the humans to settle?” asked the cub.
“Wait till you hear it to the end,” replied the lion.
“Approximately 12000 years ago, glaciation ended and the interglacial period started. We are still living in the interglacial period. This is known as the Holocene Epoch. In many parts of the world, this period was marked by the onset of milder, warmer, wetter climate. The temperature is just apt for the development of agriculture, for the humans to settle and practice domestication. And the humans took complete advantage of that. Without this change in climate, we could not have seen any of the developments which we are seeing today. Many cultures around the world witnessed changing lifestyles—hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement. The nature of relationship between humans and planet Earth underwent a significant change. These changes happened during the Neolithic Age or New Stone Age where humans used advanced stone tools.”
“Humans started experimenting with the domestication of plants and animals. They had experimented with many plant and animal species before finally arriving at the selected species which can be used for domestication. These experiments may have continued for many generations. This new relationship between humans, plants and animals ensured surplus production of food—thus prompting the human beings to settle at a certain place without fearing about the loss of food. This sedentary lifestyle led to the increase in population and settlements.”
“With further technological advancements such as using advanced tools, making pottery, etc. surplus production increased and this paved way for many different kinds of exchanges, occupations. The societies became larger and complex and their socio-economic relations changed.”
“A scholar called Gordon Child described these changes as Neolithic Revolution. It was not a sudden revolution but a gradual one, occurred at different places in different periods, with different features and results. But the effects of these changes were revolutionary.”
“So, this is what Neolithic Revolution is—the changes in human lifestyle with change in climate.”
“Yes”
“And what happened after that?”
“Neolithic Revolutions enabled setting up of complex societies which led to the emergence of metal-civilizations, followed by kingdoms and then the governments. We are here now.”
“Why you hate humans then? They are intelligent folks who developed their societies, forged relationships; they govern themselves with centralized administrations, they keep their surroundings clean, they care for other creatures like us. I think they are awesome.”
The lion smiled at the cub, thinking of her innocence. She replied,
“You’ve never been out of here, dear. You don’t even know a little about them.”
“Aha! Then tell me about them.”
"These 12000 years saw the emergence of irrational humans (they think they are rational) as the supreme species undermining the rights of other species to live (survive). They radically modified their natural environment by deforestation and irrigation to grow more surplus food to accommodate growing population. They invaded resource rich regions to acquire more wealth. They stratified their society depending upon occupation and later on an imaginary entity called ‘Money’. They killed themselves in the name of protection. They started acting first and then brood about the results later.”
“With perpetual thinking and always striving to move forward or higher, they have reached a stage where they play a dominant role in shaping the Earth systems. Their activities now control planet Earth. This is being referred to as Anthropocene.”
“Being the dominant species, they have the greater responsibility to save planet Earth. But everybody is reluctant to take it. They know everything but they act as if they know nothing. They always strive about growth even if it comes at a great cost. They cut forests to increase the area under agriculture. Yet many people sleep without food. They extensively use plastics even knowing that they are harmful. They adulterate their own food products. They talk of their rights by subverting those of other creatures. Their personal interests prevail over the greater good. They wage wars either for power or greed. Every country wants to be the dominant one, to control others. In a way, Homo Sapiens Sapiens is the clever, cunning and cruel species to ever live on Earth.”
“So, it is they who put us in these cages then,” asked the cub.
“Yes”
“Why can’t we do anything?”
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