Subsistence and Economy

Part 1:
1. A key benefit to hunting for sustenance is you are highly unlikely to over-hunt (not true in modern time because of industry efficient, but this is for profit and not sustenance) and nature takes care of all the replenishing the stock and maintenance thereof. Also, bones and other animals parts can be used as tools and not just food. Agriculture is beneficial because with fair weather you can guarantee a certain amount of yielded food, offering an opportunity to grow extra and trade.
2. A disadvantage to hunting is a high potential for a failed hunt. If there is a drought there is likely to be less food roaming around, also, you can go out hunting and not find a single animal to eat. Similarly, growing food can be fickle when considering weather and the right soil. Access to water is a necessity, so there is potential for failure.
3. Agriculture is healthier yet more dangerous. To have a steady food supply versus foraging and hoping for the best is obviously better because it keeps people fed consistently. However, consistent food supply leads to overpopulation or disease, which can eliminate all the benefits. Biologically, it is better to eat vegetable every day than saved meat that comes in only as fast as one can hunt for it.
4. I believe most cultures changed to an agricultrual lifestyle because it is sedentary and consistent, both of which foster population growth. Also, being able to grow extra food allows you an opportunity to trade your "wealth" for more wealth or supplies, increasing mortality rates.

Part 2:
1. "There is a direct relationship between the availability of surplus and the ability to trade." This means that one cannot trade if one does not have a surplus of commodities. For example, if you have medication that keeps you from dying, you probably wouldn't trade it for anything, unless you have plenty of extra and a means of acquiring more. If you didn't, you might have a surplus but you would have no ability to trade because you may not be able to get more of your vital medication. Food and supplies were the first form of currency because they are like medication that keeps you alive.
2. Two social benefits of trade would be wealth and health. If you are healthy, you can operate successfully in society. If you trade with entrepreneurship you have a potential of accruing wealth, which often means prestige and power in many cultures.
3. Two social negatives of trade would be greediness and availability. If there is a limit to supply in a culture, and someone has used their resources to corner a market, there may be less vital supplies in circulation due to a solidification of a greedy persons assets. Also, trade means people to trade with. If there are no roads or designated places to trade, where can a nomad trade for supplies with a sedentary person?
4. The development of agriculture fostered trade. When hunting and gathering, it is very difficult and time consuming to gather or hunt more than what is needed to survive. When engaging in agricultural, it is just as difficult to plant 10 crops to survive as it is to plant 15 crops to have extra. This extra can be considered "profit."