Exam 2 Study Guide ANTH 205 Lecture 1 In terms of band societies Describe what subsistence is and what is an example of a society that were foragers Describe the demography and how this applies to the Ache What specific word is tied to describing demography What type of technology do band societies use Subsistence is total or almost total dependence on hunted fished or gathered food Essentially foragers with very in depth knowledge of the environment There are several strategies they used as a result in order to adapt to the environment such as being very mobile The Ache is an example of this forager society Demography of band societies was minimal population increase because of the environment for it can only support a certain population Also humans were the prey of bigger stronger animals and a big population was not feasible for being prey for it is harder to keep track of everyone all of the time The Ache for example were always on the watch for jaguars Their life expectancy was 55 and only about 50 of children lived to 15 years old Going back to the first idea a bigger population can be supported by the environment for their is not enough resources and proper nutrition for everyone The Ache had low fertility possibly due to poor nutrition and late maturity also the women breast fed their children till they were possibly five or six years old Fissioning was used to keep the population in check The population would grow to a sort of maximum point and then people would break off due mostly to increase in tribal strife or not enough resources for everyone Band societies had very functional environment specific technology Their technology was simple but that was all that was needed in order to solve problems within their environment Their technology requires cultural knowledge though does not mean the technology was not static As a result of the constant mobility band societies had not very many possessions Lecture 2 Band societies Part 2 Describe what a band society s economy looks like is it the same as what a modern economy is Describe how the social structure is set up What is the political organization set up Specifically what did the Ache do to get political influence Describe what band society s religion is like How do most foragers live now A band society s economy is not like modern society s economy for their s is a reciprocal economy In other words a big part of their economy was trust and kinship relations exchanging between family groups within the band in a sort of gift giving fashion People would bring goods back from what they had collected and give out as a form of insurance so other people will give them food when they are in need This does not mean they were less materialistic but more about being conformed to their environment it just was not practical to have a lot of stuff The social structure was based on nuclear families small immediate family Each band was usually 20 100 people at the maximum but would fission out in nuclear families However it was very important for bands or clusters to come together in certain seasons for resources but more importantly for marriages The Ache typically had about 50 people in a band There was am unclear sexual division of labor but maybe there was one because of strength childbirth or men showing off and so would have higher status The political organization was about kinship and marriage not very complex though older women did tend have more influence Their political system was egalitarian no clear enforcer though the leaders were chosen only based on their practical skills in persuasion and personality The Ache would club axe fight in order to gain political influence Band society s religion was mostly animism where everything has a spirit of some sort mostly because of oral traditions There was no historical incidents that caused that marked their religion just spiritual and material forces being tied together Foragers today depend on outside assistance for they do not live in their traditional environments living in nation states They are unable to participate in historical traditions thus have a lot of contacts with outsider their traditions have turned into economical resource They are very much affected by political and economic things happening in the modern world Lecture 3 In terms of prehistoric bands Describe what subsistence practices were done How do modern anthropologists know how prehistoric bands lived Describe the technology used How was the economy set up Describe how the social structure and demography were seen since there is really no definite facts Describe the political organization What was the religion like When talking about prehistoric band societies they were hunter gatherers They were always moving being that there was no agriculture in order to get the resources they needed to survive Scientists have concluded that is why people moved over the land bridge from Siberia into North America following their food resource Anthropologists are able to figure out how the bands lived based on plant and animal remains having to do with human goods Their technology like more modern band societies is very fitting for their environment very simple but getting the job done Such technology was the atlatl before the bow and arrow and sharp tipped weapons such as arrow heads It is quite difficult for anthropologists to find organic material technology because they break down fairly quickly so most technology found is stone tools Their economy is reciprocal trading and giving out resources and goods to group members This is also quite difficult for anthropologists to detect Their social structure and demography can be seen through preserved houses that have been uncovered They use materials such as bones and skins to make shift their houses It is very difficult to tell gender differences more assumption are made by bits of evidence found Art that is found such as cave paintings is a big indicator of individualism Political organization of prehistoric band societies was egalitarian with no real stratification seen Some evidence found does show more of hierarchy but no real records Religion was animism the spiritual and physical world intertwined There is not a lot of materials found that show religion though Russian figurines have been found Lecture 4 Band societies Part 3 the Ju hoansi the San Describe the environment where the San lived Describe the traditional subsistence strategies of the San Describe the