This rural village (left), Agra, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, still exhibits the same simple rectangular architecture with rock and mud walls and thatched roofs as used by the first agriculturalists in the area 7,000 years ago. Some of the very earliest evidence of an agricultural life can be found nearby.The dense clustering of the houses of this village suggests some important challenges posed by the new way of life. Humans had never before lived in large groups or in densely packed spaces. They had to learn how to do so successfully (perhaps we are still learning how).
Thus, even the advantages of sedentary life brought with them a set of new problems: for example, the problem of polluting one's living space. Nomads can stay clean and healthy simply by moving frequently. Few in number and inhabiting a fairly large territory, hunter- gatherers or pastoral nomads stay in one spot only a short time and then move on. They do not need to develop elaborate cultural means of disposing of their dead, or of their food wastes or excrement, or of the wastes of their livestock. Natural processes are adequate for their needs. People living in very close quarters with one another in villages, towns, and cities, however, are obliged to develop cultural practices for disposing of wastes and maintaining a hygenic environment.
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