How Neolithic farming sowed the seeds of modern inequality 10,000 years ago

The prehistoric shift towards cultivation began our preoccupation with hierarchy and growth - and even changed how we perceive the passage of time

Most people regard hierarchy in human societies as inevitable, a natural part of who we are. Yet this belief contradicts much of the 200,000-year history of Homo sapiens.

In fact, our ancestors have for the most part been "fiercely egalitarian", intolerant of any form of inequality. While hunter-gatherers accepted that people had different skills, abilities and attributes, they aggressively rejected efforts to institutionalise them into any form of hierarchy.

Related: Why 'Bushman banter' was crucial to hunter-gatherers' evolutionary success

Farming-based societies created economies of hope and aspiration, in which we focus almost unerringly on the future

Related: The Inequality Project: the Guardian's in-depth look at our unequal world