What is the oldest profession?

Gnomon

Prostitution is normally known as "the oldest profession". Jul 27 06, 4:44 PM

lanfranco

The common claim is that prostitution is the oldest profession, but I think I'll go for "hunting." Great hunters reaped rich rewards in terms of respect, wives, and elevated positions in a tribe or clan, long before currency and coinage developed. Then there were the tribal/clan priests, later called "shamans" or some variation thereof. The ancient figures who acted as priests, healers, and sign-readers often didn't hunt or fight but were supported by their tribes, in return for their presumed skills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting Jul 27 06, 4:58 PM

zbeckabee

THIS from an advertising agency: The world's oldest profession is not prostitution. Go back to pre-historic times and what do you find? Cave men and cave drawings, right? And what are cave drawings? Imagine it's 1,000,000 BC, and you're wandering around in your Jurassic neighborhood, and you look up and see a wall covered with images of large furry mammals and guys with spears. Even a Neanderthal would know that means food and a new fall wardrobe. Is advertising the most respected profession? Obviously not. Is it the most exciting? Possibly. But one thing is for sure ­ it's the oldest. Pre-historic cave drawings are well documented. And who's ever heard of a pre-historic hooker? http://www.follisinc.com/theone.htm Jul 27 06, 5:32 PM

Baloo55th

Flint-knapping has quite a claim, too. Back then, hunting wasn't necessarily a specialised occupation, and communities weren't really big enough to support professional prostitutes. Flint-knapping, on the other hand, was highly specialised and there were centres where flint tools were produced and exported over quite long distances. (Same in Africa with obsidian tools.) Jul 27 06, 5:48 PM

starNumberA399

I'll go with shaman or witch doctor. They've been around at least as long as flint knappers, advertisers (???), prostitutes, or hunters. Almost every group, clan, tribe, etc. of early humans employed a specialized professional to explain the things they could observe but could not understand. Today we call them college professors! Jul 27 06, 8:16 PM

amcan

zookeeper?!? Jul 28 06, 1:46 AM

helenasykes

Ah yes of course, why did i not think of zookeeper? There had to be someone to look after the dinosaurs in the pre-historic Jurassic Park??!! Sorry amcan, i just couldn't resist! Jul 28 06, 11:23 AM