--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In 10000 BC, all human beings were…" description: "\"In 10000 BC, all human beings were hunter-gatherers; by 1500 AD, 1 percent were hunter-gatherers. Less than .001 percent of people are hunter-gatherers..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/robyn-davidson-7837_human_in-10000-bc-all-human-beings-were-hunter_1712633.png" --- # In 10000 BC, all human beings were hunter-gatherers; by… ![“In 10000 BC, all human beings were hunter-gatherers; by 1500 AD, 1 percent were hunter-gatherers. Less than .001 percent of people are hunter-gatherers today.” quote by Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/robyn-davidson-7837_human_in-10000-bc-all-human-beings-were-hunter_1712633.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/robyn-davidson-7837_human_in-10000-bc-all-human-beings-were-hunter_1712633.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/robyn-davidson-7837_human_in-10000-bc-all-human-beings-were-hunter_1712633.png) > “In 10000 BC, all human beings were hunter-gatherers; by 1500 AD, 1 percent were hunter-gatherers. Less than .001 percent of people are hunter-gatherers today.” [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human societies have shifted from nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled populations, making true hunter-gatherer life extremely rare today. **In simple terms:** Most people no longer live as hunter-gatherers. Key Takeaway Recognize how modern life differs from ancestral ways. Themes history culture anthropology change modernity Mood reflective informative thoughtful Type nonfiction analytical When to use this quote - education - policy making - personal lifestyle choices - conservation efforts Key Concepts sedentism technology environmental impact Questions to Reflect On - How does our loss of nomadic practices affect us? - What can we learn from hunter-gatherer societies? A Different Perspective Modern comforts can obscure the value of traditional knowledge. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gatherers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gatherers-1260874/) [Gatherers 1500](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gatherers-1500-1260876/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Hunter gatherers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunter-gatherers/) [Less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/less/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Percent Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent-hunter-1260875/) [Percent People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent-people/) [Than](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/than/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [“Estimates are that the hunter-gatherers who were all but wiped out by the agricultural revolution numbered around 2 million 12,000 years ago. Agriculture spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rutherford/estimates-are-that-the-hunter-gatherers-who-were-all-but-wiped-out-by/) [Adam Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rutherford/) > [“One thing I know people will say to me is ‘Are you suggesting we go back to being hunter-gatherers?’” “That of course is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/one-thing-i-know-people-will-say-to-me-is-are-you-suggesting-we-go/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“Hunter-gatherers no more live on the knife-edge of survival than wolves or lions or sparrows or rabbits. Man was as well adapted to life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/hunter-gatherers-no-more-live-on-the-knife-edge-of-survival-than/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we're shopper-borrowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re-shopper-borrowers/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [“Most peasant farmers and herders, who constitute the great majority of the world's actual food producers, aren't necessarily better off than hunter-gatherers. 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"No one, no one, ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-v-brett/rojer-nodded-but-his-eye-grew-wet-leesha-squeezed-his-hand-herb/) [Peter V. Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-v-brett/) > [“We are inclined to think of hunters and gatherers as poor because they don't have anything; perhaps better to think of them for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-sahlins/we-are-inclined-to-think-of-hunters-and-gatherers-as-poor-because/) [Marshall Sahlins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-sahlins/) > [There are those who collect the refuse of the public streets, but in order to be received into the band it is necessary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-bramah/there-are-those-who-collect-the-refuse-of-the-public-streets-but-in/) [Ernest Bramah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-bramah/) > [“Will you be at the harvest, Among the gatherers of new fruits?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/will-you-be-at-the-harvest-among-the-gatherers-of-new-fruits/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“The change from the categories of hunter-gatherers to pastoralism to agriculture involved using a decreasing area of land, but an increasingly more intensive use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romila-thapar/the-change-from-the-categories-of-hunter-gatherers-to-pastoralism-to/) [Romila Thapar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romila-thapar/) > [“Society itself was a lonelier place. As a species, we had always been close to nature; from our days as hunter-gatherers to our millennia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grimm/society-itself-was-a-lonelier-place-as-a-species-we-had-always-been/) [David Grimm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grimm/) ## More by Robyn Davidson > [There are some moments in life that are like pivots around which your existence turns—small intuitive flashes, when you know you have done something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-davidson/there-are-some-moments-in-life-that-are-like-pivots-around-which-your/) [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) > [Australia's arid western region, from the town of Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean coast, is a beautiful, haunting, but largely empty land. 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It is better to proceed with one's duty in the service of others than wallow in the pain attachments bring”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-davidson/it-is-better-to-proceed-with-one-s-duty-in-the-service-of-others-than/) [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) > [I try to factor solitude into my life because more and more, that's becoming a very precious and rare commodity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-davidson/i-try-to-factor-solitude-into-my-life-because-more-and-more-that-s/) [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) > [I think a lot of writers are unrealistic about having their books translated into film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-davidson/i-think-a-lot-of-writers-are-unrealistic-about-having-their-books/) [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) > [Some of us just don't want to be famous ... anonymity cannot be bought for any price, once you have lost it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-davidson/some-of-us-just-don-t-want-to-be-famous-anonymity-cannot-be-bought/) [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) > [I just don't see myself as a travel writer. 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