Cult anth lecture subsistence pt 1
- 1. Hadza Forager Women, Tanzania Subsistence Patterns: Food Collectors
- 2. Subsistence • Subsistence Strategy: – Also called “Mode of Production” – The dominant way a culture gets its food – In practice, many cultures use mixed strategies
- 3. Major Strategies • Food Collecting: – Foraging (also called Hunting-Gathering) • Food Production: – Domesticated Plants (Agriculture), Domesticated Animals (Pastoralism)
- 4. Adaptation • Humans adapt to their environments • Cultural Ecology – Adapt through culture (learned behaviors, invented tools) – Adapt through biology (long-term physical changes reflecting environmental conditions, e.g. more or less melanin in skin based on amount of ultra-violet rays from the sun)
- 5. Environment and Subsistence • Subsistence: – Practices are affected by environment, culture and technology • Carrying Capacity: – The capacity of a given region to support a society of people, given a particular subsistence practice – Increasing investments in environment (e.g. planting crops, use of fertilizer, technology) leads to a rise in carrying capacity
- 6. Environment and Subsistence • Optimal Foraging Theory: – States that foragers (food collectors) maximize caloric intake versus energy output – Based on presumption of rational decision- making • Environment limits possibilities, but does not dictate practices – Variation in practices seen in similar environments – Variation in what is considered “food”
- 7. Foragers • Subsistence strategy using food occurring in nature – “Hunting and gathering” – Main strategy for most of human history – Shift away from foraging occurred during the Neolithic Revolution • c. 10,000 years ago • Emergence of domesticated foods – Less than 1/4 million foragers today
- 8. Foragers: Characteristics • Low population densities, live in small groups – Live in balance with resources – Necessary for strategy to be sustainable • Often nomadic/semi-nomadic – Must travel to where resources are available – No formal property ownership • Basic social institution is the family or band – Group formation is dynamic, fluid – Groups can break apart and reform if necessary • Now live in marginalized environments – Resource-rich environments now used by other people
- 10. Foragers: The Ju/’hoansi • Live in Kalahari desert of Africa • Frequent nomads, must move many times a year to access resources • Environmental knowledge and access to land is key to survival • In temperate regions like this, women’s work (plant-based calories) contributes more to overall diet • Now becoming sedentary due to government policies
- 11. Foragers: The Inuit • Circumpolar regions: Arctic and sub arctic • Semi-nomadic, move less frequently based on harsh landscape • Rely heavily on hunting and fishing to make a living • Few plants available
- 12. Foragers: Summary • Today’s foragers live in sub-optimal environments for their lifestyle; optimal environments now occupied by others • Temperate region foragers (like Ju/’hoansi) have less division of labor overall – men and women can each do most tasks on their own, except men responsible for large game hunting • Circumpolar region foragers (like Inuit) have sharper division of labor between males and females – males hunt/fish, women process all of the food back at camp