Patterns of Subsistence

(Foragers, agricultural and pastoral societies)

Cultural type

Society type

Adaptation

Culture area

Some subsistence economies:

Foraging

Agriculture

Mixed

Pastoralism

ANT 1010. SLCC. Lolita Nikolova, Ph.D. (Haviland et al. 2005, Chapter 6)

Foraging societies

Agricultural societies

Societies with mixed economies

Nomadic societies

Industrial societies

Post-Industrial societies (Technological)

Pre-industrial societies

Resources

Labor

Adaptation

Reproduction and production of social relationships and culture

Household and communities (lineage, village, cities)Economies

Resources

Resources used to produce goods and services include:– Raw materials– Labor– Technology

Modes of Distributing Goods

1. Reciprocity2. Redistribution3. Market exchange

Neolithic revolutionThe profound culture change associated with the early domestication of plants and animals.

Adaptation

Interaction between – changes an organism makes in its

environment– changes the environment

makes in the organism.

Patterns of Labor Every society has a division of labor by

gender and age. This is an elaboration of patterns found

among monkeys and apes. Division by gender makes learning more

efficient. Division by age provides sufficient time

to developing skills.

Three Patterns of Work by Gender

Flexible/integrated pattern Rigid segregation pattern Dual sex pattern

culture areaA geographic region in which a number of different societies follow similar patterns of life.

cultural adaptationThe process organisms undergo to achieve a beneficial adjustment to an available environment and the result of that process—the characteristics of organisms that fit them to the particular environmental conditions in which they are found.

culture typeThe view of a culture in terms of the relation of its particular technology to the environment exploited by that technology.

culture coreThe features of a culture that play a part in matters relating to the society’s way of making a living.

food foraging Hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plant foods.

carrying capacityThe number of people who can be supported by the available resources at a given level of technology.

density of social relationsRoughly, the number and intensity of interactions among the members of a camp or other residential unit.

Food Foraging Life: Characteristics

Move about a great deal. Small size of local groups. Populations stabilize at numbers well

below the carrying capacity of their land.

Egalitarian, populations have few possessions and share what they have.

Food Foraging: Impact on Society

Three elements of human organization: Division of labor by gender. Food sharing. The camp as the center of daily activity

and the place where food is shared.

convergent evolutionIn cultural evolution, the development of similar adaptations to similar environmental conditions by peoples whose ancestral cultures were quite different.

parallel evolutionIn cultural evolution, the development of similar adaptations to similar environmental conditions by peoples whose ancestral cultures were similar.

intensive agriculture Crop cultivation using technologies other than hand tools, such as irrigation, fertilizers, and the wooden or metal plow pulled by harnessed draft animals.

pastoralismBreeding and managing of herds of domesticated grazing animals, such as goats, sheep, cattle, llamas, or camels.

Transition to Food Production

Began about 11,000 to 9,000 y.a. Probably the result of increased

management of wild food resources. Resulted in the development of

permanent settlements as people practiced horticulture using simple hand tools.

HorticultureCultivation of crops using hand tools such as digging sticks.

swidden farming An extensive form of horticulture in which the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is subsequently burned, and crops then planted amongst the ashes.

Pastoralism

Subsistence that relies on raising herds of domesticated animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats.

Pastoralists are usually nomadic.

transhumancePattern of strict seasonal movement between different environmental zones.

Development of Cities

Cities developed as intensified agricultural techniques created a surplus.

Individuals were free to specialize full-time in other activities.

Preindustrial citiesThe kinds of urban settlements that are characteristic of nonindustrial civilizations.

Social Structure of Cities

Development of cities resulted in increased social stratification.

People are ranked according to gender, the work they do, and the family they are born into.

Social relationships grow more formal and centralized.

Cultural ecologyThe study of the interaction of specific human cultures with their environment.

EcosystemA system, or a functioning whole, composed of both the physical environment and the organisms living within it.

Procedures for Cultural Ecology

1. Analyze the interrelationship of a culture’s technology and its environment.

2. Analyze the patterns of behavior associated with a culture’s technology.

3. Determine the relation between those behavior patterns and the rest of the cultural system.

ProgressThe notion that humans are moving forward to a higher, more advanced stage in their development toward perfection.