Patterns of Subsistence

1
Patterns of Subsistence

• Robert Rhoades
• Dept. of Anthropology
• University of Georgia

2
Five Ways of Making a Living

• Hunting and gathering / foragers
• Horticulture
• Pastoral herding
• Agrarian
• Industrial ? Post-industrial

3
Trends of Human Adaptation

• Technology advances
• Energy capture efficiency increases
• Population grows
• Society becomes more complex
• Impact on natural environment increases

4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
The Foraging Way of Life

• Characteristics
• Live in marginal, non-agricultural areas
• Nomadic
• Egalitarian
• No formal leaders
• Vary in complexity
• Largely disappeared

9

• Beliefs about Foragers
• Primarily hunters
• On the verge of starvation
• Died young
• Had little leisure time

10
!Kung Bushmen of Kalahari Desert
11
!Kung Bushmen

• Studied by Richard Lee in Kalahari Desert
• Diet 2,140 calories/day (Mongongo nuts)
• Leisure work only 12-18 hours/week
• Longevity 10 over 60 years of age
• Exchange sharing ethic

12
Other Foraging Examples

• Hadza
• Eskimo

13

• Two views of Affluence
• Zen versus Galbraithean