Subsistence and EconomicsSubsistence and EconomicsSubsistence and EconomicsSubsistence and Economics

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Upper PalaeolithicUpper Palaeolithic 14,000 years B.P., people relied more on fish, shellfish, small game,

wild plants than migratory herds of animals called Mesolithic in Europe called Archaic in Mesoamerica called Epipalaeolithic in Near East

8,000 B.C., first clear cultivation and domestication of plants and animals China, SE Asia, Africa - 6,000 B.C. Mesoamerica, Andes, Peru - 7,000 B.C. Eastern U.S. - 2,000 B.C.

Definitions: sendentarism agriculture

Preagricultural DevelopmentsPreagricultural DevelopmentsNear East

end of Upper Palaeolithic (14,000 years B.P.), switch to broad-spectrum hunting and gathering

grain diet impetus for constructionMesoamerica

end of Paleo-Indian period (10,000 years B.P.), shift to broad-spectrum hunting and gathering

climate changeOther areas

SE Asia - changes in environment Africa - warmer, wetter environment

Broad-Spectrum CollectingBroad-Spectrum CollectingWhy did it develop?

climate change decline in availability of big game (overkill)

Results successful exploitation of new food decline in stature decline in general level of health sedentarism population growth increase in variation of tools

Domestication of Plants and AnimalsDomestication of Plants and AnimalsNeolithic - New Stone Age

old definition: cultural stage in which humans invented pottery and ground-stone tools

new definition: presence of domesticated plants and animals people began to produce food, not just procure it

Definitions cultivation - crops domestication - animals and crops that are modified

Domestication ExamplesDomestication ExamplesFertile Crescent

arc of land from Israel through southern Turkey to Iran wheat, rye, barley, lentils, peas, fruit, nuts - 8,000 B.C.

Near East first animal domestication:

dogs - 10,000 B.C. goats and sheep - 7,000 B.C. cattle and pigs - 6,000 B.C.

Ali Kosh (Iran, 7,500 B.C.) Catal Küyük (Turkey, 5,600 B.C.)

Domestication ExamplesDomestication ExamplesMesoamerica

Why did H/G lifestyle persist in Mesoamerica? First domesticate = maize (5,000 B.C. in Mexico) Early domesticate = bottle gourd Other domesticates = beans and squash

South America and Eastern United States most domesticates after 7,500 B.C. (gourds, squashes) first domesticate = chili pepper (7,300 B.C.) corn/maize = beginning 2,000 B.C., some as late as A.D. 200 animals: dogs and turkeys; llamas, alpacas, guinea pigs

Domestication ExamplesDomestication ExamplesEast Asia

earliest evidence of cereal cultivation outside Near East (6,000 B.C.)

mostly in plains and terraces around rivers other domesticates = bamboo, gourds, rice (Thailand around

4,000 B.C.)Africa

first domesticates = African rice, peanuts, yams first domesticated animals = donkey and guinea fowl

Why (independent) domestication?Why (independent) domestication? V. Gordon Childe (1950s)

Oasis Theory - People were forced into shrinking pockets, or oases, of food resources surrounded by desert, providing an incentive to domesticate plants and animals.

Robert Braidwood and Gordon Willey Climatic changes weren’t severe enough for Childe’s Oasis Theory People domesticated plants and animals when they were good and ready. They

needed information about their environment and an evolved culture. Lewis Binford and Kent Flannery

Some change in external circumstances must have induced or favored the changeover to food production.

Maybe a desire to reproduce abundant natural resources. Mark Cohen

Population pressure on a global scale explains why people all over the world adopted agriculture.

Others Return to the idea of climatic change

Consequences of Food ProductionConsequences of Food Production Population Growth

birth spacing - ovulation, breastfeeding value of children cooking

Decline in Health bones - nutrient deficiencies teeth - enamel defects shorter stature Diamond article - health, starvation, disease, class divisions

Elaboration of Material Possessions houses became more elaborate and comfortable padded, upholstered furniture (woven textiles) advanced tool technology pottery, art creation long-distance trade

Food CollectionFood Collection Food collection takes precedence over other activities important

to survival. Defined as all forms of subsistence technology in which food-getting is dependent on naturally occurring resources--wild plants and animals.

The way a society gets its food strongly predicts other aspects of a culture, from community size and permanence of settlement to type of economy and degree of inequality and type of political system, and even art styles and religious beliefs and practices.

Three points covered in this chapter (E&E 16): Ways different societies get food Why societies vary in their food-getting strategies Why societies switched from collecting to cultivating

Food Collection - FeaturesFood Collection - Features low population densitysmall community sizegenerally nomadic infrequent food shortagesminimal tradeno full-time crafts or specialistsfew, if any, wealth differences informal political leadership

Food Production - FeaturesFood Production - Features Food production is the cultivation or domestication of plants and animals Horticulture

growing of crops of all kinds with simple tools and methods extensive and shifting cultivation larger communities than food collectors; some craftworkers

Intensive Agriculture permanently cultivated fields more likely to have towns, cities, craftworkers, political organization,

differences in wealth more likely to face famine and food shortages

Pastoralism depend directly or indirectly on domesticated herds of animals mainly practiced in grassland or semiarid habitats generally nomadic

Food Production - Features (E&E p.272)Food Production - Features (E&E p.272)

Environmental RestraintsEnvironmental RestraintsFood collection was practiced on almost all areas of the

Earth at one time.Tropical forests, until recently, were not the site of food

collection.Grasslands favor large game.

Origin, Spread of Food ProductionOrigin, Spread of Food ProductionPossible Reasons for Switch:

regional population growth global population growth climatic change

Possible Reasons for Primary Mode of Subsistence: territorial expansion

more productive method of getting food population pressure

Economic AnthropologyEconomic AnthropologyEconomic anthropology studies economics in a comparative

perspective.An economy is a study of production, distribution, and

consumption of resources.Mode of production is defined as a way of organizing

production—a set of social relations through which labor is deployed to wrest energy from nature using tools, skills, organization, and knowledge.

Similarity of adaptive strategies between societies tends to correspond with similarity of mode of production: variations occur according to environmental particularities.

Natural Resources - LandNatural Resources - LandEvery society has access to natural resourcesSome own property (private property system), some share,

some have rules of access to land

Land UsageLand UsageFood Collectors

land has no intrinsic value for food collectorsHorticulturists

most do not have individual or family ownership of landPastoralists

customary for animals to be owned by individualsIntensive Agriculturalists

individual ownership of land

TechnologyTechnologyFood Collectors

tools belong to the person who made them tools include those needed for the hunt, digging sticks

Pastoralists each family owns its own tools, clothes, tent, livestock

Horticulturists principal tools include knife and hoe often obligated to lend to others

Intensive Agriculture tools made by specialists, acquired through trade or purchase

Modes of ProductionModes of ProductionDomestic (family or kinship)Industrial (based on mechanized production)Tributary (elite controls portion of production)Postindustrialism (computers drive mechanized production)

Incentives for LaborIncentives for LaborWhy do people work?

necessary for survival profit motive

surplus storage overhunting sharing

need for achievement enjoyable gain respect

Forced LaborForced LaborTaxation (U.S.)Corvée (Incas)Draft (many countries)Slavery (most extreme form)

ReciprocityReciprocityThree types of distribution of goods and services:

reciprocity redistribution market or commercial exchange

Reciprocity consists of giving and taking without the use of money. generalized reciprocity - implicit and long-term balanced reciprocity - explicit and short-term

The Kula Ring - Trobrianders of Papua, New Guinea leveling device (potlatch)

RedistributionRedistributionRedistribution is the accumulation of goods or labor by a

particular person, or in a particular place, for the purpose of subsequent distribution.

Important in societies that have a political hierarchy. Wealthy are generally more likely than the poor to benefit.

Why do redistribution systems develop? Service - agricultural societies that contain subregions suited

to different kinds of crops of natural resources Harris - competitive feasting encourages people to work harder

to produce somewhat more than they need; protection against crop failure

Market or Commercial ExchangeMarket or Commercial ExchangeDefinition: Exchanges or transactions in which the “prices”

are subject to supply and demand, whether or not the transactions actually occur in a marketplace. Market exchange involves not only the exchange of goods, but also transactions of labor, land, rentals, and credit.

Resembles balanced reciprocity, but money is involved.Kinds of money:

general purpose (serves to purchase all kinds of goods) special purpose (exchanged on the spot)

Why does money develop? When trade or barter becomes increasingly efficient.