Patterns of Subsistence
Introduction
There are several different ways in which a culture can provide for their subsistence. They can be food foragers, pastoralists, horticulturists, or agriculturists. Each pattern of subsistence has its own level of stratification, settlement patterns, and degree of labor specialization.
There are several different ways in which a culture can provide for their subsistence. They can be food foragers, pastoralists, horticulturists, or agriculturists. Each pattern of subsistence has its own level of stratification, settlement patterns, and degree of labor specialization.
Food Foragers
Food foragers live in small bands of 100 or less people, who work together in an egalitarian society, and who gather wild harvests and hunt for meat. There is a sexual division of labor among the men and women. Men are required to do the tasks that require physical strength and endurance like hunting and preparing tough materials, while women are required to tasks that allow the accommodation of child rearing restraints. This includes gathering wild nuts, grasses, cereals, and vegetables, cooking, sewing, and maintaining the home. There is no stratification in type of culture and sharing of the spoils of nature is done equally among its members. However there are specific rules about how much meat eat person in the band receives. This is based on the biological and cultural protein and fat needs of each member. Food foragers move frequently through a roughly defined territory and often follow seasonal patterns of wild crops and game migrations. (Searles and Less, 2002, pg. 118).
Food foragers live in small bands of 100 or less people, who work together in an egalitarian society, and who gather wild harvests and hunt for meat. There is a sexual division of labor among the men and women. Men are required to do the tasks that require physical strength and endurance like hunting and preparing tough materials, while women are required to tasks that allow the accommodation of child rearing restraints. This includes gathering wild nuts, grasses, cereals, and vegetables, cooking, sewing, and maintaining the home. There is no stratification in type of culture and sharing of the spoils of nature is done equally among its members. However there are specific rules about how much meat eat person in the band receives. This is based on the biological and cultural protein and fat needs of each member. Food foragers move frequently through a roughly defined territory and often follow seasonal patterns of wild crops and game migrations. (Searles and Less, 2002, pg. 118).
An example of a food foraging culture is the Netsilik that occupy the land along the Arctic coast northwest of Hudson Bay. The Netsilik are hunters and gatherers, however, because of the frozen and barren condition of the land they inhabit, there is very little to gather, and so they must rely on hunting. They use what resources they have available to provide for their daily living needs. Hunting provides for their food, clothing, and tool needs, while ice provides shelter, and entertainment. The Netsilik migrated based on a two-season per year cycle. During the summer they migrate inland to fish and hunt. This is the best time of the year for the Netsilik because food is plentiful and varied. (Searles and Lee, 2002, p. 103). During this time of plenty, each man hunts and fishes for his own family unit by himself. However as the winter takes hold of the land the Netsilik migrate back to the coastal winter camps that consist of 50 to 100 people. It is during the winter that seal hunting is the main staple of their lives, and because of the difficulty in catching seals, teamwork and sharing is vital to surviving the harshness of winter. The Netsilik lack stratification because of this need to share during the tough times of the year. Also because of the nature of their environment, specialization of roles is also not present. (p. 105).
Pastoralists
Pastoralists differ from food foragers in that they have domesticated certain animals to provide meat, dairy products, and skins to fulfill their needs. In most other ways their cultures are similar. They lack stratification, they migrate in a defined territory usually following the grazing patterns of their herds, jobs are divided based on sex, and live in small to medium sized groups.
An example of a pastoral group of people is the Basseri of southern Iran. Basseri follow a two-season per year migration that follows the grazing needs of their herds. In the winter they graze their herds on the plains and foothills, and in the summer they graze in the lush mountain pastures. The Basseri, unlike the Netsilik, do have specialization in their labor. They are excellent weavers and tanners. Women use goat hair to spin yarn and weave saddlebags, carpets, and sleeping rungs. (Searles and Lee, 2002, pg. 108). Although they have claim to a right to use certain pastures, they do not own land. A sexual division of labor is seen in this group of people. The men are in charge of herding the animals while the women are in charge of keeping the home and raising the children. They also often have small gardens where they raise vegetables for the winter months. It is important to note that women’s work, among the Basseri, does not include dangerous jobs because of the value placed on their reproductive role. (p. 110).
Horticulturists
The previous two subsistence groups were defined as food-gatherers, horticulturists on the other hand, belong to a category of food subsistence defined as a food producer. Horticulturists differ from food gatherers in that they have a vested interest in the crops they plant, and therefore do not migrate, or at least not as much, as food gatherers. Most set up permanent residences and an ownership of the land is claimed. Because they are sedentary, they also accumulate more material objects, and place value in possessions. (Searles and Lee, 2002, pp. 124-125). This practice is not practical in migratory societies.
The previous two subsistence groups were defined as food-gatherers, horticulturists on the other hand, belong to a category of food subsistence defined as a food producer. Horticulturists differ from food gatherers in that they have a vested interest in the crops they plant, and therefore do not migrate, or at least not as much, as food gatherers. Most set up permanent residences and an ownership of the land is claimed. Because they are sedentary, they also accumulate more material objects, and place value in possessions. (Searles and Lee, 2002, pp. 124-125). This practice is not practical in migratory societies.
An example that illustrates horticultural subsistence is Afghanistan Wheat Farming. Unlike the food gatherers, stratification is seen at this level of subsistence patterning, although it is only marginally observed. For example, in the bazaar where merchants and farmers sell their merchandise a chief of the merchants is selected based on an informal election of one man. Exchange is made using money on a cash-and-carry basis. This too is different from food gatherers who mostly rely on their own abilities to acquire food sources from the wild as opposed to buying or trading for it. Because of the nature of their work, and its dependence on larger labor forces, work is not as strictly divided among the sexes in the field. Men and women take part in the cultivation of the land, however bartering tends to remain a man’s world. Labor specialization is observable at this level as farmers produce surpluses of food that can be sold to people who did not take part in its cultivation. The farmers in turn can acquire material goods like tools, clothes, and specialty items made by specialized craftsmen. (p. 126).
Agriculture
The next step up is agricultural subsistence groups. Here there is a deeply stratification of its members. Populations are much larger and the development of urban centers is possible because of the ability to produce a surplus of food. Specialization of labor is clearly seen in these types of groups, and other areas of interest like religion, science, math, and the arts are more fully developed.
An example of this type of subsistence group is illustrated by the Taiwanese Rice Farming. Here there is a strong centralized bureaucratic government. Men and women both work in the fields and harvest the crops of rice. In depth knowledge about the biological weaknesses and needs of the rice plant is needed by the farmers so that the correct fertilizers and growing techniques can be used to produce the largest crop. (Searles and Lee, 2002, pg. 128-129). Farmers’ associations help to maintain ties in the group and provide up-to-date information about farming techniques. It is also possible to borrow money from the association to fund the acquisition of farming equipment and machinery. A formal legal system is in place that governs land rights, tax obligations, and sales of crops. (p. 131).
References
Haviland, William A. (2002). Cultural Anthropology. (10th ed.). Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers.Lee, Valerie L., and Searles, Richard T. (2002). Study Guide for the Telecourse Faces of Culture. (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
