History of Fire Term Paper by Nicky
A look at the evolution of fire and its impact on humankind.
# 150512
| 1,082 words
| 3 sources
| MLA
| 2012
| 
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Description:
This paper examines the history of fire and how it changed mankind not only in terms of agriculture, technology and warfare but in the way social structure evolved. First, the paper explores the discovery of fire on prehistoric man and how it changed his living conditions. According to the paper, fire became used as a tool for cooking, heating and providing light at night in addition to being an implement of warfare. Next, the paper addresses the use of fire on how communities developed, including military administration. Finally, the paper discuses the social structures that were impacted by fire and eventually other forms of energy, including modern day fossil fuels. The paper concludes by comparing early man's fire regimes to today's energy regimes based on oil.
From the Paper:
"When fire was discovered, the way prehistoric man lived changed. The hunter-gatherer axiom still holds true but this time static living conditions started occurring because they have learnt to use fire to cook their meals and preserve some of what they have hunted and gathered. The meagre stick and stones used to hunt and or protect themselves evolved into the spear and bow and arrow that allowed them greater distance in hunting and warfare. With fire, they have learnt to use it as a tool for cooking, heating or providing light at night but also an implement of warfare where they can destroy rivals by burning or releasing flaming arrows. From then on, several communities begun forming and defensive structures became part of the infrastructure with fire as one of the implements of offense and defense. Therefore the build up of static communities means having the ability to sustain the community. Sending the hunter gatherers for food means less people to defend the community and as a result of a new social and environmental structure, domestication of plants and animals became requirements giving rise to the agrarian-based culture or economy. In the case of human agriculture, co-evolution was presumably encouraged by the fact that hunter-gatherers were likely to scatter the seeds of plants they favored around frequently used camp sites."Sample of Sources Used:
- Christian, David. The Case for "Big History." 06 Dec. 2006. 20 Aug. 2009. <http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals/jwh/jwh022p223.pdf>.
- Ecosystemes. "Renewable Energy and Social Organization." Energy and Development. 2006. 20 Aug. 2009. <http://web.univ-pau.fr/~scholle/ecosystemes/2-dev/21-ener/21-pg-en.htm>.
- Watson, Peter. "Ideas: A History of Thought from Fire to Freud." The Newsletter of FPRI's Wachman Center. 19 Oct. 2008. Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). 20 Aug. 2009. <http://www.fpri.org/footnotes/1328.200812.watson.ideashistorythought.html>.
Cite this Term Paper:
APA Format
History of Fire (2012, February 28)
Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/term-paper/history-of-fire-150512/
MLA Format
"History of Fire" 28 February 2012.
Web. 29 March. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/term-paper/history-of-fire-150512/>