How did most people in ancient civilizations make their livings?

Answer 1

It depends what civilization you're talking about and how long ago, but if people were already growing plants, then that means they were sedentary (could stay in one place since they had plants to grow) and, in general, women would raise the children and tend the plants and men would hunt for meat.

Answer 2

In the hunter/gatherer civilizations, 95% of the people were employed in hunting and gathering. The only other occupations were part-time and they included weapon making, leader, medicine man or woman, and midwife.

After agriculture began, you started having specialization. In the beginning someone would be better at making weapons than the others so he would become a smith. Someone else would be better at weaving baskets or tanning hides or pottery. The healer/midwife/medicine man also became more specialized.

You should note that most specialized domestic fields (not weapon making) initially fell to the women. As the population increased and farming methods got better, more men moved into the specialized areas. A good example is weaving. Initially that was a female art, but by the 1600s it was men who owned and ran the looms and women were expected to do the spinning. After the rise of cloth mills, men quit doing the weaving and it became a "hobby" for women.

Another example is doll-making in a South American civilization. It was discovered that the earliest dolls were made by women and probably to entertain the children. As the population rose and became more civilized, men started making the dolls and they became religious objects (they couldn't admit they were making them for children).

Answer 3

farming or trade, most people were farmers who worked lands owned by the king and they paid a tax each year in grain, in ancient china for instance some 90% of the population was peasant farmer, some performed skilled labor such as weaving, ironsmiths, pottery etc., some were merchants, some performed priestly duties and some were nobles, thats about it

Answer 4

In virtually every society in history, especially ancient history, only 5% were of the noble or priestly class. Everyone else was involved in farming.