Patterns of Patterns of SubsistenceSubsistence

Topic Questions:Topic Questions:

o How do human cultures impact their environments? o In what ways do different societies make a living? o What are some of the relationships between subsistence strategies and other aspects of culture and social life? o How can anthropology make a difference in increasing food production?

Subsistence Patterns

Ways in which societies transform material resources of the environment into food, clothing and shelter.

Develop in response to:Seasonal variation in the environment.Environmental variations over the long run

such as drought, flood, or animal diseases.

Human Adaptation

Impact of modern science and technology. Nonindustrial societies rely on their

knowledge & simple technologies. Lacandones & Amish people

How Humans Meet Basic Needs.

Throughout human antiquity it is known that humans must have the ability to constantly make cultural adaptations to better survive and thrive in their natural environments or ecosystems. Meeting humans most basic needs are finding efficient methods to obtain food, shelter, and fresh water.

Ecosystem- functioning system that comprised of both the natural environment and the organism that inhabit it.

Adaptation in Cultural Evolution

The most common way for a group of people to adapt to their ecosystem is through their culture. Cultural Evolution is the process of cultures changing over time.

It is important to note that the idea of cultural evolution is not always in a positive light. Although this concept can often be confused with the idea of “progress” as if humans are progressing as a culture towards something better.

Convergent Evolution

The Native American Comanche were from the highlands of southern Idaho. They had traditionally subsisted on wild grains, small animals and the occasional large game that roamed the region. The possessed simple technology and equipment that was limited to what dogs could carry on their backs. They considered their shaman (spiritual and medicinal healer) as holding the highest social power.

Eventually the Comanche made a move towards the Great Plains region where they encountered a larger food supply such as free roaming bison

Trade for horses and guns began with nearby European settlers.

Over time Comanche traders began to hold a higher power within the group, one above the shaman, as they would go on raids to steal horses.

The society that started small and powerless, converged into a powerful and wealthy tribe.

The history of the Comanche is similar to the historical accounts of the Native American Cheyenne Indians. These peoples moved from the woodlands of the Great Lakes regions also into the Great Plains. Unlike the Comanche they took up farming which they later ceased to focus on hunting and gathering.

Both tribes developed similar solutions to living in the new environment

Convergent Evolution

Convergent Evolution as outlined by the Native America Comanche and Cheyenne is best described as the development of similar cultural adaptations to similar environmental conditions by different peoples with different ancestral cultures.

Parallel Evolution The other type of cultural evolution apart from

convergent evolution is parallel evolution. The development of farming took place simultaneously in Southwest Asia and Mesoamerica. People in both regions already had similar life ways. They both became dependent on a narrow range of plant foods.

Both developed intensive forms of agriculture, built large cities, and created complex social and political organizations.

Parallel Evolution

Parallel Evolution as outlines by the development of farming in Mesoamerican & SW Asia is best defined by the development of similar adaptations to similar environmental conditions by peoples whose ancestral cultures were similar.

Cultural Areas

Anthropologists have long identified that ethnic groups that co-habitat within the same geographical region many times share cultural traits.

These groups have been classified as “cultural areas”, which are geographic regions in which a number of societies follow a similar pattern of life.

Many times these cultural areas are defined by natural environmental conditions.

What determines Subsistence Patterns?

Although technological advancements and environmental factors play a significant role in a culture’s subsistence patterns it is not the only defining trait. Political and social organization will also play a large role in the technology that will be invented and used-thus directly influencing what subsistence pattern a culture will use.

These features are known as the culture core.

Culture Core

The culture core is defined as the cultural features that are fundamental in the societies way of making its living. This can include:Food producing techniquesKnowledge of available resourcesWork arrangements involved in applying

those techniques to the local environment.

Culture Core and Food Ways

The culture core also influences other aspects of culture including the production and distribution of food. Religious views can define and prohibit certain cultural foods.Muslims and Jews must abstain from eating

pork because it is prohibited by their religion.Hindus do not eat beef because their religion

considers these animals to be sacred.

Modes of Subsistence

There are three main modes of subsistence patterns. Each mode will involve not only natural resources but also the developed technology to effectively utilize those resources.1.) Food Foraging Societies2.) Food Producing Societies3.) Industrialized Societies

Forager Subsistence

Anthropologists have identified three major variations of the foraging subsistence pattern:

Pedestrian: diversified hunting and gathering on foot

Equestrian: concentrating on hunting large mammals from horseback

Aquatic: concentrating on fish and/or marine mammal hunting usually from boats

Population Levels Foraging population densities are very low.  In harsh, relatively unproductive environments,

densities of foragers have been as low as one person per 10-50 square miles. 

In rich environments, the densities have been as high as 10-30 people per square mile. 

The optimal community size usually is about 25-30 people, depending on the availability of food and water

Thus high degree of stability Most of human history as Foragers

Food Foraging: Organization

Four elements of food foraging organization: Mobility Division of labor by gender. Food sharing Egalitarian Social Relations

Mobility

Mobility of food foragers is strongly limited by their difficult living environments which they occupy. For instance the distance between their food supply and fresh water must not be so great that more energy is required to obtain fresh water than can be obtained from food.

It is necessary for food foraging groups to limit their population size due to the carrying capacity of the land which is defined by the amount of people the land and support with it’s available resources.

Often this can create what is called a density of social relations; meaning that the limited availability for resources forces larger groups to live together. More people can create more social conflicts.

How do Food Foraging Groups Limit Population

One way that these groups limit population growth is by the prolonged nursing of infants. The longer the mother nurses the less likely she is to ovulate.

The other factor is their low percentage of body fat. Lower body fat leads to a later onset of ovulation and the onset of menstruation.

Labor by Gender

All societies have some type of division of labor by genders. Foraging Groups follow these two patterns:

Men: hunting, butchering, process of hard or tough materials, and overall more dangerous activities

Women: collecting food, domestic chores

Food Sharing

Men and Women will both share the fruits of their labor. Considering they each provide a different food resource that they continue to share with one another.

Food sharing among members and other nearing groups can also provide the basis for creating and maintain social allies and networks.

Egalitarianism

Among many food foraging societies egalitarianism is an important characteristic.

To be egalitarian means to have no status differences among members of a group. Generally the only status differences are with age and sex.

No one member will accumulate more goods than another, thus eliminating jealously and potential conflict.

Ethnographic Examples

• Foragers– Very few such groups

remain– Eskimos/Inuit Eskimos/Inuit

(Alaska/Canada) (Alaska/Canada) – !Kung (Africa) !Kung (Africa) – Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians

TODAY almost completely TODAY almost completely exterminated exterminated

Food Producers

The New Stone Age or Neolithic; the prehistoric period beginning about 10,000 years ago in which peoples possessed stone-based technologies and depended on domesticated plants and/or animals.

This time period marks the emergence of a transition to food producing.

Transition to Food Production The Neolithic revolution (transition) began about

11,000 to 9,000 years ago. It was a time of significant culture change associated with the early domestication of plants and animals with settlement of permanent villages.

Probably the result of increased management of wild food resources.

Begin the development of simple hand tools for working the land.

Types of Food Producing

There are three main forms of food producing subsistence patterns:1.) Pastoralism2.) Agriculture3.) Horticulture

Pastoralism

Pastoralism or animal husbandry is the subsistence pattern of raising and maintaining herds of domesticated animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats.

Pastoralists are usually nomadic. They share the similar concern of food foragers for finding fresh resources not only for their group but their herds as well.

Horticulture

The cultivation of crops using simple hand tools such as digging sticks or hoes.

Slash-and-burn cultivation (swidden farming).• An extensive form of horticulture in which

the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is subsequently burned, and crops are then planted among the ashes.

Ethnographic Examples

Horiculturalists Tribal peoples living a

ethnohistorical lifeway in the present?

Few such groups remain

• Yanomami• Ashaninka• Kuikuru

Agriculture

Agriculture is defined as the cultivation of food plants in soil prepared and maintained for crop production.

It involves using technologies other than hand tools, such as irrigation, fertilizers, and the wooden or metal plow pulled by harnessed draft animals.

Characteristics of Agricultural Societies

Similar to food foragers who stay nearby their food resources, food producers reside together near their cultivated fields in fixed settlements.

Historically, social relations would have been egalitarian and similar to those of food foragers. However, as settlements grew larger in population size people had to share important resources such as land and water, society became more elaborately organized.

Intensive Agriculture

As agriculture grows some farming communities will turn from small villages into larger cities including large centers of market exchange. This allows other members of the community to engage in other activities.Carpenters, blacksmiths, sculptures, basket

makers, stonecutters.Carpenters, blacksmiths, sculptures, basket

makers, stonecutters. Eventually this creates an urbanization.

Peasants

As urbanization including new life ways and complex culture these dwellers must rely on farmers in rural areas for most of their food supplies.

Over time it becomes increasingly important for urban dwellers to seek control over rural areas. Farmers eventually turn into peasants.

Transitions to Industrial Economy

Had an effect on many aspects of society: Population growth Expanded consumption of resources International expansion Occupational specialization Shift from subsistence strategies to wage

labor

Industrialization

After the invention of the steam engine about 200 years ago in England (which replaces human labor by machine labor) subsistence patterns changed in some regions.

North America, Europe, Asia will become centers of industrialization among areas of intensified agriculture.

This has led to a multitude of technological inventions that utilize; oil, electricity, and nuclear energy.

Effects of Global Exchange

Resulted in worldwide inequities: Cultivation oriented primarily toward the

market Predominance of wage labor Control over culture and social institutions

•More leisure time