Ecological Anthropology: Hunting and

Gathering, The Origins of Food Production,

Horticulture and Pastoralism

Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, pages 125-249 in

Introduction to Cultural Ecology by Mark
Sutton and E.N. Anderson

Chapter Five:
Hunting and Gathering
Until about 10 thousand years ago all humans were
hunters and gatherers (exploiters of wild resources
rather than domesticated)
Foraging, moving about a landscape with no permanent
dwelling, is now the more accepted term
Four Characteristics:
Under produce resources, few material possessions
Routinely share food
Tend to be egalitarian
Division of labor by gender, men hunt & women gather

Bias in Hunter-Gather Studies

1. Privileging the hunter (male) when gathering (female)
often provided as many or more calories
2. Least evolved or most primitive society when their
adaptive success (i.e. Australian Aboriginal 50K years)
dwarfs agricultural or industrial society
3. Contemporary examples found on marginal land when
they often existed in areas rich in resources. Marshall
Sahlins called them the original affluent society
working less and having less population pressure than
agricultural or industrial societies

Settlement and Subsistence

Seasonal round: movement to attain and
monitor and share information about their
environment and to maximize the exploitation
of resources
Strategy: A general long-term plan to attain
information and make a living
Tactic: A specific method of obtaining information
and exploiting a resource

Case Study: The Nuu-Chan

Nulth of British Columbia
Occupied and area of abundant diverse
resources, i.e. five species of salmon named
individually with the general term salmon never
used
Potlatch: A complex cycle of gift giving
ceremonies that used the display and transfer of
material wealth to validate and increase social status
and kinship solidarity

The Nuu-ChanNulth
Little environmental manipulation
All things animals, trees, and rocks
had spirits and had to be treated as one
would treat a human.
Stripping bark would entail asking the tree
permission and providing explanation
Whaling would require months-long
ceremonies

Case Study: The Mbuti of the

Ituri Forest in Central Africa
Mutualistic or interdependent relationship
between the Mbuti (mythic pygmies or
short people of Darkest Africa) and
neighboring Bila agriculturalists
Depend on each other for traded goods and
diverse environmental exploitation and
manipulation

The Mbuti and Bila of the

Ituri Forest in Central Africa
Mbuti childern of the Forest material possessions
of little value, instead happiness and well-being
Manage the benevolent forest through ritual,
maintaining a ceremonial relationship, only
hungry Mbuti is a lazy Mbuti. See themselves
as superior to stupid Bila
Bila fear the forest, as farmers they see themselves
as superior adults to childlike materially poor
Mbuti who require their assistance for survival
Mbuti and Bila interdependence has strengthened
with outside civil strife

Chapter Six: The Origins

Of Food Production
10,000 B.P. humans began to domesticate
plants and animals in the Middle East and
form interdependent relationships with some
select species
Examples: wheat, barley, dogs, sheep, and goats

They also began altering landscapes through

the clearing of field and the diversion of
rivers and streams

The Transition to Agriculture

Hunting and gathering and Agriculture Coevolved, utilization of wild and
domesticated resources the norm
Three factors led to Agricultures growth
Environmental Change: Warmer and Dryer Climate
Population Pressure: Human population expansion
required additional food
Organizational Change: Groups began to utilize
resources more effectively

The Impact of Agriculture on the

Natural environment
Large-scale and long-term landscape
alteration led to:

Loss of entire ecosystems

Habit destruction
Decrease in biodiversity [Semiotic web]
Decrease in surface and subsurface fresh water
Soil erosion/exhaustion & pollution of water
Climate change to to less carbon sequestering

The Impact of Agriculture on

People and Cultures

Dramatic increase in population

Dependence on a few species for survival
Increase in work load for most (not elite rich)
Increase in diseases related to crowded living
General health improvement & longer life
expectancy
Increase in scale and impact of warfare
Loss of traditional environmental knowledge
increase in specialized knowledge

Chapter Seven: Horticulture

Horticulture:
Low-intensity, small-scale agriculture involving
the use of relatively small fields, plots, or
gardens with an integration of wild resources an
little environmental alteration
Groups live primarily in one place all year in a
tribal-level organization often sharing habitat
with hunters and gatherers
Human labor and small hand tools predominate
Crops grown mainly for consumption by family
unit and dispersal within tribe

Horticulture
Gardens: small fields cultivated repeatedly by
individuals or small groups
Chinampas: small raised gardens built in water
usually as part of a large agricultural system
Terraced Gardens: small fields constructed on
sloping terrain
Slash and Burn: one-time cultivation of a small field
consisting of poor soil due to constant rain,
woodlands and forests
Swidden Agriculture: Integrates slash and burn with
fallow periods and crop rotation to create long-term
sustainable cultivation

Case Study: The Grand Valley Dani

of Highland New Guinea
The Dani: members of a series of related groups
of horticulturalist in Western New Guinea

First contact by Occident in 1933

Live in a temperate fertile mountain valley
Once forest but converted to fields and grasslands
90% of diet is yams, can name dozens of varieties
Pigs supplement and add protein
Prevalent warfare keeps minimizes travel
Frequent ceremonies around warfare distributes pigs
& protein

Case Study: The Lozi

of Western Zambia
The Lozi: Twenty-five separate tribes located in
Western Zambia on the grassy broad floodplain
along the Zambezi River surrounded by forests
Horticulture, cattle, and fishing (little environmental
impact)
Horticulture: Chinampa Water Gardens, Slash and
Burn fields
Cattle: Primary domesticated animal
Fishing: Major protein source

Seasonal movement around flooding

Extensive class oriented social system

Chapter 8: Pastoralism
Primary subsistence derives from the
husbandry of one or a few domestic animals
Herbivores: cattle, horses, sheep, llamas, alpacas,
goats, camels, & similar animals (reindeer are an
example of pastoralism with non-domesticated
animals
Mutually beneficial relationship
Animals provide: meat, milk, hide, dung, wool, labor,
companionship, transportation
Humans provide: protection from predators, steady food
supply, health care, an expanded habitat, and assured
reproductive success

Pastoralism
Requires a great deal of land as a pasture base
More productive than hunting and gathering typically less
productive than agriculture
Efficient way to store resources, on the hoof
Diverse social-political organization and when moving
their animals they need to interact effectively with other
groups whose lands they traverse
Greater population than hunting and gathering typically
less than agriculture
Significant landscape alteration from grazing, however,
typically less environmental degradation than from
agriculture, i.e. ecological equilibrium of Alpine herders

Case Study: The Maasai

Of East Africa
To the Maasai, cattle form the basis of life
Food (milch pastorialism, milk and blood), materials,
currency, marriage legitimization, and solidification of
social relationships
Occupy two ecozones, an arid plain and a better-watered
mountain area
Men raised to be warriors, protect cattle and pillage
cattle from others
Constant goal is to have as many cattle as possible
Rigorous burning of brush limits biodiversity
Resource management system: animals, pastures, water

Case Study: The Navaho of the

American Southwest
Live as Pastoralists in Arizona and New Mexico
on the largest reservation in North America,
occupy land that overlaps with horticultural Hopi
Landscape is rugged mountainous terrain with
forests of pine and juniper, deep canyons, high
mesas and many valleys
Half of the reservation is desert with enough grass
for men to graze of sheep, overgrazing has caused
significant environmental degradation
Females dominant in politics with family
matriarch foremost decision maker
Conflict with Hopi over land rights and ownership