ANTH 024 1nd Edition Lecture 14 Outline of Last Lecture I. Early Modern HumansOutline of Current Lecture II. Hunter-Gatherers A. StereotypesB. LifewaysIII. Emergence of AgricultureCurrent LectureI. Hunter-Gatherers a. Stereotypes i. “Nasty, brutish, and short” lives – Thomas Hobbes 1. Europeans colonized other countries in 1600s2. Began using the image of the “Other” to make sense of the world outside Europe 3. Some viewed hunter-gatherers in a negative light ii. “Original Affluent Society” – Marshall Sahlins 1. We would’ve been better off if we stayed hunter-gatherers 2. They have more leisure time 3. Anarcho-primitivism – believe we should go back to foraging a. Unsustainable for most of the world’s populationb. Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifewaysi. Vary in: 1. How much they move2. How big their groups are3. Social equality/inequality 4. Different gender roles 5. Hunting vs. gathering vs. fishing ii. 4 Different Groups 1. Dobe Ju/’Hoansi a. Live in arid desert in south-western Africab. Water is scarcec. Have to forage for tubers in order to get water from themd. Small groups These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.e. Low population density f. Relatively mobileg. Plant-dominated dieth. Women gather, men hunti. Only forage for a few hours a dayj. Highly egalitarian, no inherited rank 2. The Achea. Live in the east river valleys of Paraguayb. Subtropical forestc. Not very mobiled. Forage for 6-8 hours a daye. Hunting is dominant f. Hemmed in by agriculturalists on all sides, so movement is limitedg. Social inequality – emphasis on hunting, some hunters gainstatus 3. The Agtaa. Tropical forest in Philippinesb. Move around a lot – up to 20 times a yearc. Relatively hunting dependent d. Women hunt 4. The Tlingit a. Northwest coast of North America b. Protein available in the sea through fishing c. Allows people to live in the same place year round d. 60% of their calories come from fishing e. Big groups f. Gendered division of labor i. Men obtain 90% of food g. Live at high densitiesh. High levels of social inequality i. Potlach – chiefs and leaders would destroy huge amounts of material goods to prove their wealth i. An abundance of food leads to different social structure 5. Diversity in groupsa. Forager group size and economic strategies dynamically respond to their environmentb. When the temperature goes up, mobility goes downi. People move more in cold climates c. Group size – Dunbar’s number i. Humans can only manage a certain number of relationshipsii. Maximum number of people than humans can maintain relationships is 150 d. Hunter-gatherer lifeways in Upper Paleolithici. In Ice Ages populations were more mobileii. Climate fluctuates, high mobility 6. Need to have an ethnographic approach when looking at hunter-gatherersII. Origins of Agriculture and Domestication a. Agriculture only appeared 12,000 years ago b. We evolved and spread throughout the planet as hunter-gatherersi. Only developed agriculture after the last Ice Age c. Only 30 crops dominate our food nowd. Grains cover 70% of our land e. Human society didn’t have to evolve this way f. Agriculture = “worst mistake in human history” i. Created huge population spike g. Cereals are our primary food stuff i. Wheat, barley, millet, rice, cornii. Advantages: 1. High nutritional value 2. High yield3. Can be stored for a long timea. Can colonize more areasiii. Disadvantages: 1. Poor in protein 2. Needs rich soils h. Consequences of agriculture i. Foragers—moving around frequently leads to amenorrhea and lactation amenorrhea1. Breast feeding lowers fertility2. Leads to births being spaces by at least 4 years 3. Natural population control ii. Sedentary societies – not moving around1. Using gruel/grain products to wean children off of breastfeeding earlier a. Birth rates go way up iii. Adverse health effects of agriculture and homogenous diets1. More cavities2. Increased population density a. Sanitation issues b. Disease spreads more quickly 3. More hard labor leads to arthritis iv. 4 Theories for Why Agriculture Developed1. Affluence Theoriesa. Agriculture is a positive change b. “Advanced cultural achievement”c. Hilly Flanks hypothesis: Area in Mesopotamia with lots of abundancei. One day someone started controlling the growth ofplants so that they’d have a higher yield 2. Stress Theoriesa. External forces (climate, population change) force people to develop agriculture in order to deal with high populationsb. Solution to a stress c. Allow them to produce more caloriesd. Binford: Margins Theoryi. Cycle of climate change drew people into lush valleys with lots of resourcesii. Dense populations, populations increase iii. Then there are too many people in dense areasiv. Hunter-gatherers are forced in marginal areas that don’t have enough food v. Invented agriculture because they needed to make more food3. Feasting Theorya. Provide surplus of grains to create fermented beveragesb. Agriculture invented during a process of social stratification as a method of social domination c. Increasing social inequality led leaders and chiefs to compete with each other by throwing feasts i. Competition to throw the best partiesii. Incentive for new sources of carbs4. Co-evolution Hypothesisa. David Rindosb. Agriculture is not a one way processc. Story of the changing relationships between people and plants d. Humans start out exploiting plants by dispersing and protecting wild plantse. Settle down near places of abundance f. Plants adapt to grow around middens, grow thicker & more densely g. People observe plants h. Plan reproduction becomes more dependent on peoplei. Edible parts of plants become bigger, last longerj. Plants become adapted to growing in dense populations, as do