Sorry to but in here…
I’ve been following this thread closely, trying to see where the difference between your perspectives lie and from what I have seen here, it appears to be a case of “yes, and…”
Yes, hunter-gatherers have luxuries and they also exert themselves physically to their limits. Not to the extent, nor the way that agriculturalists do.
The Molalla indians lived in the foothills of the Cascades. I have hiked up one mountain and it took me three hours to get up, 2 1/2 to get down. After 5 1/2 hours of hiking I was completely exhausted and sore. Now compared to my day-to-day urban lifestyle of sitting in front of a computer, getting my ass kicked after 5 1/2 hours of walking shows more how weak I have become than how hard hiking is. To the Molalla indians, who ate paleo diet and hiked the hills everyday, it probably felt more normal than ass-kicking. In that sense, they exerted themselves physically much more than I, but they were in better shape, not to mention they walk in a more efficient way (the fox walk), than I (city shuffle).
I have tanned one hide, and it was a pain in the ass! Regardless of tools/etc, it takes a lot of work, a lot of physical exertion. I think the key here is that our bodies are designed for higher levels of discomfort and exertion than civilized people experience.
Now, if you were in a field with a digging stick for 8-12 hours a day 7 days a week, you’d know how fucked up early agriculturalists were. If you compounded that extreme exertion with a crappy diet (grains) that cause all kinds of diseases and physical problems, the work would feel even worse.
Because of oil, the statistics of how much someone works or even what work, or hard work means, has changed quite a bit. When I spend all day on a computer at work, I consider that “hard work,” though I haven’t done anything physically demanding, but psychologically demanding. If I were to physically exert myself more than I do now, it would be uncomfortable at first, but eventually I’d get over it.
I think Billy has expanded his comfort zones (living in -30 tipi) further than most here, or most civilized people in general. Given the option of living in a -30 tipi or living in a nice heated cabin, I know what most people will gravitate towards; ease of comfort. Though, given a bioregion, humans are capable of finding comfort at extremes.
I think this all comes down to defining “hard” and what is or isn’t “comfortable.”
Hunting and gathering does require a lot of physical exertion. Hiking all day through the hills, stalking animals to hunt (I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to hold a stalking position for more than 30 seconds, but it’s extremely difficult), stretching hides, etc. Not as much exertion as agriculturalists who spend 8-12 hours a day hunched over with a digging stick, but it does take a hell of a lot more physical exertion than most urban civilized people have ever experienced in their entire lives, aside from “professional athletes.”
Now, does that make the lifestyle more “hard?” I think it depends on how you see hard. Definitely living as a hunter-gatherer is much much more uncomfortable than living in americanized, urban civilization. It just comes down to your level of comfort and how far can you expand it? Indigenous peoples have rites of passage to expand peoples comfort zones so they feel more comfortable in colder, wetter, hotter, hungrier times.
From where I live right now, in a climate controlled room with my belly full of bacon and eggs that I bought at the grocery store with money I made from my job where I sit at a computer and do database work and answer the phone, in a climate controlled room… I can’t really argue that the hunter-gatherer lifestyle requires a shit load more physical exertion and discomfort.
Many people think of these civilized comforts as the “luxuries” of civilization. Hunter-gatherers most suredly did not have the comfort of central heating and air-conditioning and sitting on their asses all day long in such a place. Now, does that mean they lived “harder” lives? I don’t think so, because I think that physical exertion is healthy and normal. I think civilized people are lazy and sissies. I hate the cold. I hate bugs. I hate being dirty. These are all things that hunter-gatherers are more comfortable with because they have to be. And that’s the normal state of humans.
Hunter-gatherers worked less and exert themselves less than slaves with digging sticks. You can hardly say the same about modern urban people, who do little physical exertion than changing the channel on their tv in their climate controlled McMansion.
I definitely see the point that Billy is making, that hunter-gatherers had much wider ranges of comfort than (urbanized) civilized people, and that they physically exerted themselves a lot more. I personally don’t see that as a “harder” life, just a normal one. Though if you were to throw me out in the cold, I may change my mind! 
