# What is the oldest profession? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920 "2002-12-06T15:01:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/1 "2002-12-06T15:01:05Z")
I heard somewhere that prostitution is the oldest profession. Is there any way to figure out if this is true? I would think that some type of “wise man” or “shaman” would be older. Which came first, someone telling you what to do, or someone offering to screw? ---
**Author:** ![TheLadyLion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d78d45/32.png) [@TheLadyLion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLadyLion)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/2 "2002-12-06T15:06:35Z")
My guess is “neither.” How about hunter/gatherer? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/3 "2002-12-06T15:09:28Z")
How about motherhood? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/4 "2002-12-06T15:10:02Z")
Probably hunter/gatherer came first. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/5 "2002-12-06T15:11:23Z")
Damn…beaten again…knew I shouldn’t have answered my phone! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/6 "2002-12-06T15:11:45Z")
I was going to say shepard but then I realized that tool-maker has got to be one of the oldest, most tradeable skills. Flint-knapper, probably I am defining “profession” as something specialized you can do to obtain goods in trade. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/7 "2002-12-06T15:16:20Z")
The oldest professing is that of “cataloger”. That’s the job of assigning item names to National Stock Numbers used in the supply system. This is based on the bible passage Genesis 2:19 “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every creature, that was the name thereof.” ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/8 "2002-12-06T15:22:35Z")
LOL @ **GaryM** ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/9 "2002-12-06T15:26:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*LOL @ **GaryM** \*\* That’s an old joke in the Aerospace Industry! ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/10 "2002-12-06T15:35:58Z")
Shouldn’t you be laughing w/ GaryM as opposed to @GaryM? That’s just mean. ---
**Author:** ![Coffeeguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@Coffeeguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coffeeguy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/11 "2002-12-06T15:41:15Z")
Gotta go with motherhood on this one. -Coffeeguy ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/12 "2002-12-06T15:48:10Z")
But isn’t a Profession something do do for a living? Woudn’t that mean it was done for some kind of payment, other than emotional rewards? ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/13 "2002-12-06T15:48:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hello Again \* > \*\*I was going to say shepard but then I realized that tool-maker has got to be one of the oldest, most tradeable skills. Flint-knapper, probably > > I am defining “profession” as something specialized you can do to obtain goods in trade. \*\* In that case, “prostitution,” as we call it, might qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Wearia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/14 "2002-12-06T16:17:45Z")
Another vote for hunter/gatherer. How are you gonna breed if you can’t eat? ---
**Author:** ![martin\_ibn\_martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@martin\_ibn\_martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martin_ibn_martin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/15 "2002-12-08T13:46:44Z")
Gotta weigh in… It should be Hunter OR Gatherer, as they tend to be gender-specific in Hunter/Gatherer societies. I’d go with the ladies and say Motherhood, followed by Gatherer Martin ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/16 "2002-12-08T20:53:53Z")
“Shaman” was the first specialist involved in an activity not directly related to subsistance. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/17 "2002-12-08T22:06:26Z")
How is Hunter / Gatherer a profession? Surely, you would be hunting animals or gathering firewood (for example) for food and warmth. You don’t make a living out of it; you need to do it to eat and stay warm. Unless you include hunting / gathering things to sell? A profession is an occupation or career, by which you make a living. Prostitution fits nicely into this category, and I’m giving it another vote. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/18 "2002-12-08T22:08:44Z")
Forgot to mention that having babies cannot be called a profession either, unless you make money by selling the babies or something. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/19 "2002-12-08T23:37:15Z")
If you want to define prostitution as “having sex as a means of obtaining someting”, then yes. But it wasn’t recognized as a specialized activity like shamanism was. Other than the division of labor by genders as to hunting and gathering, shamanism was the first specialized form of labor, if you want to call it that. Referring to prostitution as “the oldest profession” is more a wry commentary on society than an anthropological observation. Flintknapping or pottery wouldn’t count either, as they were activities, like hunting or gathering, that everyone engaged in. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920/20 "2002-12-08T23:57:19Z")
I saw a documentary a few years back about one of the oldest frozen men they’ve ever found (maybe _the_ oldest?) They said his hair was a pretty even 4 inches all over. I would bet that someone else trimmed it up for him. Barber has got to be one of the oldest professions, and still one of the most secure. Everyone needs a haircut. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-profession/140920.md?page=2)