1. Thanks for this calculation! The starting point is very interesting, but I am not sure the answer is right (there seem to be a few extra orders of magnitude...)
2. So let's try to simplify it.
3. 100 k people burn 200 k ha, so we have 2 ha burned per person.
4. Taking median standing crop biomass in grasslands as 300 g per sq.m (it varies, dry steppe is less, moist savanna is more, but let's for the order of magnitude).
5. That works out to 6,000 kg of dry matter (mostly cellulose) per capita burned.
6. Now let's compare it with my previous estimate of firewood burned by a Russian household, 3,000 kg. In per capita terms, 600 - 750 kg.
7. So indeed, a big difference. One order of magnitude is not to be sneezed at.
8. Were the early Holocene foraging societies the champions of the energy rich race? According to this calculation, yes.
9. I haven't bought it yet, but this estimate certainly is thought-provoking.
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