the economy of a society refers to the ways in which the people of that society use their environment to meet their material needs. Many of the early settlements had agriculturally-based economies. This means that they depended on farming for a living. As agricultural methods improved , the settlements were able to grow surplus or extra food. With extra food produced , fewer people in the settlement needed to farm , and more were able to earn their living in other ways. This enabled the economics of the settlements to diversify.