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CONTRASTING FORAGERS AND FARMERS Ethnographic research among hunter-gatherers.

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Presentation on theme: "CONTRASTING FORAGERS AND FARMERS Ethnographic research among hunter-gatherers."— Presentation transcript:

1 CONTRASTING FORAGERS AND FARMERS Ethnographic research among hunter-gatherers

2 From Paleolithic to Mesolithic Paleolithic economies disappeared millennia ago. Definition of “Paleolithic” and “Mesolithic” Cultural anthropologists have studied groups using Mesolithic technology: hunting and gathering. Examples:  Inuit (Eskimo)  Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert  Australian aborigines  Pygmies of Central Africa

3 Ethnographic Strategy: Participant observation “Holistic” description as the first task. Search for universal components of human cultures. Economic base: making a living. Kinship and marriage. The raising of children. Expressive dimensions of culture: music, art, etc. Power and conflict resolution Healing of illness. Disposal of the dead Religion: dealing with invisible spirits.

4 Hunter-gatherer features Economy: hunting wild animals, gathering vegetation. Long distance running.  Side theme: the loss of human body hair. Occupational specialization only by age and gender. Monogamous egalitarian gender relations. Domestic economy: Sharing of meat. Social organization: Nomadic bands. Much leisure time. Relgion:  zoomorphic spirits.  Shamans: healing the sick

5 Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert

6 Kung woman processing meat

7 Eskimo seal hunting

8 Eskimo igloo

9 Eskimos and dogs

10 The transition to agriculture The Near East and the Horn of Africa  Wheat, barley and sorghum  Cattle, swine, goats and sheep Meso-America: corn and beans The Andes: potatoes, llamas, alpacas China: rice and millet

11 Overview of Rice Three cultivated species Oryza sativa japonica, domesticated in what is today central China by about 9,000 years BP. Oryza sativa indica, domesticated/hybridized in the Indian subcontinent about 2500 BP Oryza glabberima, domesticated/hybridized in west Africa between about 3500 and 2800 BP.

12 Domestication of rice in China Figs and rice may have been the earliest domesticates Time: end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000-12,000 BP, early Neolithic. Domesticated rice (Oryza sativa) was developed from a wild variety perhaps in the Yangtse River Valley in China  Probably about 8000 years ago  Maybe before 10,000 years ago.

13 Two causal questions about domestication Diffusion or independent invention? Population growth: cause or effect?

14 Three explanatory models for the transition to agriculture Independent invention Diffusion, borrowing, local modifications. Visitors from outer space. Example: Question of pyramids

15 Egyptian pyramids Mayan pyramids Pyramids: invention or imitation?

16 Emphasis on independent invention When confronted with similar problems, humans often devise similar solutions. There were independent movements around the world to pass  from foraging to food growing,  From hunting to raising livestock

17 Population growth: cause or effect of domesticated food? Were people forced into food growing by population pressure? Or did population increase as a result of more abundant food? What other factors could have led to  1.the domestication of food?  2. population growth?


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