population densities result in sedentary communities in which people build permanent structures where they reside for extended periods of time.
Hunting and gathering as a means of subsistence dominated the societies of the Pleistocene period. In Africa, these groups hunted large savanna animals, fished, and gathered and ground wild grain. Albeit the diet of the forest dwellers of west Africa was probably markedly different from that of the hunting populations of the open grassland and woodland savannas.
Although hunters and gatherers possessed the technology for tool production, these implements were not generally put to use for agriculture. Microliths (small blades or bladelets) were used in various combinations as spears, arrowheads, knives, sickles, or saws. Such tools were made of stones, bone, or ivory. After five thousand BC, hunters began to use light projectiles, such as the bow and arrow and the throwing-stick.
Some researchers theorize that the widespread use of projectile weaponry contributed to the gendered division of labor in primitive societies. With the use of projectiles, hunters were able to pursue game at far distances. The pursuit of game over long distances naturally fell to men, since the childbearing and child rearing practices of females, necessitated their remaining closer to home: "Where a society devel
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