ANT 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Shifting Cultivation, Herding, Pastoralism
Document Summary
Chapter 6: culture and nature - interacting with the environment. Materialists: believe that how people interact with their natural environment is a primary cause of cultural differences/similarities. Interaction: how human groups alter their environments in the process of living in them/adjusting to it. Environment (habitat) provides resources that people use. Environment poses problems that people must overcome. Allocating different tasks to different people (division of labor) More efficient if multiple people work together (patterns of cooperation) Do not come in conflict with others (ways of allocating resources) Hunting and gathering (foraging): exploiting wild plants and animals of their territory for food. Supported humanity for first 80-90% of human existence. Do not modify nature very much; take what nature offers. Foragers must be in the right place at the right time to acquire resources efficiently. Division of labor based on sex and age (men: hunting // women: gathering) Adjust size of groups to match seasonal availability/abundance of food.
