Settled Existence

Hence, nomadic hunter-gatherer societies have few or no such full-time specialists, who instead first appear in sedentary societies. | So, while some nomadic hunter-gatherers may occasionally bag more food than they can consume in a few days, such a bonanza is of little use to them because they cannot protect it. | But stored food is essential for feeding non-food-producing specialists, and certainly for supporting whole towns of them. | A consequence of a settled existence is that it permits one to store food surpluses since storage would be pointless if one didn't remain nearby to guard the stored food.