Paleopathologists found evidence that the skeletons of hunter-gatherers were larger than those of farmers, had less evidence of disease, and signs of better nutrition, such as tooth enamel. Diamond offers three explanations for this. First, hunter-gatherers had a more varied and nutritious diet, including fats, proteins and vitamins. Second, the simpler diets of farmers were less diverse and so more at risk of crop failure. Third, agriculture encouraged people to live in closer proximity, increasing the likelihood of the spread of diseases such as Tuberculosis.
Diamond argues that farming enabled societies to produce food surpluses, meaning that elite groups were able to form and to live off the labor of others. This led to power structures and undesirable inequality. For example, skeletons of royals found in Greek tombs in Mycenae were 2 or 3 inches taller than their peasant counterparts.
Freed from the need to carry their young in a nomadic existence, and under pressure to produce more hands for the farm, women began to give birth to more babies. Skeletons show that many women suffered from worse health than men.
Evidence of contemporary hunter-gatherers, such as the Bushmen of the Kalahari, suggests that their lifestyles compare favorably to those of many farmers in the same countries. Even though they are often pushed onto marginal land, they continue to live healthy, simple lives, with greater amounts of leisure time. According to one study, their daily intake of calories and protein was considerably greater than the recommended daily amount for people of their size.