I'm not sure but I think the worlds oldest profession is farming. Back then you needed to grow food to survive without being a nomad so to my estimation, being a farmer is the worlds oldest profession.
I personally think prostitution is. Not in the modern, traditional sense... but simply trading sexual acts for resources, protection, etc. There's theories that suggest even animals such as penguins (females take stones from males' piles after sex) and chimpanzees (male chimpanzees offer meat in exchange for sex) "prostitute" themselves. They're only theories though and don't have concrete evidence, but I do believe prostitution was the first "profession" that humans did.
I know that this is probably an odd response, but I thought it would stir up conversation or debate.
Well a profession requires pay in some form, so I don't think it would. There's no money, trade, or exchange of services involved in hunting/gathering. The resources of a hunter/gatherer society would likely be pooled and rationed, so maybe it could count depending on your view of the matter. But that's more like taxes (in terms of rations) or a communist government (males hunt and females gather, the work is chosen for you) to me.
hunting older than farming. likely exchange of raw material 'payment' for hunters prior to farming. oldest recorded transactions was in 12k BC. prostitution unlikely to be the first 'paid' for occupation as that far back in time, there would likely be no reason to "pay" with nonconsensual encounters without any repercussions likely being very prevalent.
I don't think there can be a singular "first" profession. Take a definition: "a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification." The word "paid" can be replaced by "trade," and trade requires at least two parties with different goods and services.
So I think that hunting/gathering is one of the first professions because survival needs will always come first, and the other is up for debate. Prostitution could very well the other profession, but skills in medicine, cooking, or tool making would also be good candidates, as they all allow more trade.
Or, hunting(/gathering) is the primary activity of early humans, and professions simply evolved as different hunters started developing different specialized skills. Some hunters would be better at trapping, some better at tracking, and some better at finding edible plants. The general skills would all be shared--at first--but the specialization would create separation between different roles, and at some point, at least one "hunter" will be doing more to support the hunt than actually gathering food. Once someone can focus on developing a skill instead of focusing entirely on where the next meal comes from, trade develops and you have professions.
Either way, I still don't think we can definitively point to one and only one "firt" profession.
I'm not sure but I think the worlds oldest profession is farming. Back then you needed to grow food to survive without being a nomad so to my estimation, being a farmer is the worlds oldest profession.
They did an experiment with Capuchin monkeys where they taught them how to use currency. They dropped coins into the enclosure, then they come back and ask for coins, giving them fruits and sweets in return.
At some point, they caught a female monkey having more coins than the others. Then they watched closely and found out she was bending over for the males to collect more coins.
Given the monkeys figured out prostitution before farming, I'm gonna go with prostitution. It's not even a matter of introducing currency - with humans it could have started with "can I have more of that mammoth rib?" since, well, the ultimate end of person monkey wasn't to hoard the coins, but to use it to get an extra cupcake.
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