Subsistence strategies

A brief introduction to subsistence strategies around the world. This lesson is geared towards intermediate-advanced EFL students.

This lesson is not a comprehensive study of subsistence with full details , rather it's aim is to introduce students to big picture concepts, improve vocabulary, and activate critical thinking skills.

1. Subsistence Strategies By: Bryce Drachenberg

2. REVIEW

3. Beliefs Practices Symbols

4. Subsistence Strategies By: Bryce Drachenberg

5. Questions! How do people survive on this diverse planet? How did humans survive on Earth so successfully and for so long? How did we develop our current way of life? What are the different ways cultures cultivate food, and live as a community?

6. Think about the last meal you ate… Where did the ingredients come from? If it was a cheeseburger, where did the cow live and die? Now think about all the food you eat in a normal week. Do you know the where the ingredients came from? In other words, how much do you know about the trip your food took to arrive at your plate?

7. Beef Cheese Lettuce Tomato Bread Where does your food come from?

8. Vocabulary Foraging Subsistence Survival Nomadic Resources Produce Strategy Society Foodways

9. Subsistence Strategies If you are like me and you cannot say much about where your food comes from, then you are likely part of an advanced agricultural society. Which we will get to later! Subsistence is the set of practices used by people to acquire food. A means of supporting oneself and their family with food and other resources.

10. Eating is important. It’s one of the few things all of us share in common. But “ how ” and “ where ” we get our food is different. In a small fishing village, a person will catch a fish, bring it home to their friends/family, and will eat the fish on the same day. In a city, the person who eats the fish at a fancy restaurant is NOT the same person who caught the fish. They do not know who caught the fish, or where it came from! VS

11. 4 Modes of subsistence Foraging Pastoralism Horticulture Agriculture Each mode has the task of obtaining food, these tasks are influenced by environment and society.

12. Pastoralism Foraging Horticulture Agriculture relies primarily on wild plant and animal food resources relies on raising herds of domesticated livestock relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food relies on cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land

13. Pastoralism Foraging Horticulture Agriculture relies primarily on wild plant and animal food resources relies on raising herds of domesticated livestock relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food relies on cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land

14. “ Why should we plant, when there are so many mongongos in the world?” -a !Kung forager.

15. Where are foragers found today?

16. Foragers are also known as Hunter Gatherers Foraging relies primarily on wild plant and animal food resources Hunter Gatherer Collects plants and other resources Finds and kills wild animals

17. Foragers Foraging Today’s hunter gatherers are not primitive! It may be a simple lifeway, but it is not easy. This is by far the oldest strategy used by humans around the world to find food. It’s also the simplest way of subsistence. Until 15,000 years ago ALL humans were foragers! Humans have been foraging for over 200,000 years! And our primitive ancestors for over 2 million years!

18. Rely on natural resources to survive. Hunter Gatherers are Nomadic Meaning they will travel and go wherever they find food. Their environment is important it will determine strategy! Arctic (cold)  hunt large animals. - seals, walrus, whale Tropics (hot)  find a wide range of food. - Plants, berries, and small animals Does not cultivate the environment. No farming needed! Nature will always provide. Foraging Due to constant migration foragers populated nearly every livable place on Earth. How foragers survive….

19. What is a Foragers Community? They usually have small communities. Up to 100 – 150 people, most of them are related. Also have small families - 2 or 3 children. Gender Roles (Boy, Girl) Work is assigned by gender groups. Men will hunt animals Women (& children) will gather resources. Foraging Hunter Gatherer are egalitarian (men and woman share equal roles in society)

20. Activity Man’s best friend! Foraging Dogs were domesticated as early as 15,000 years ago from their wild ancestor the wolf. Dogs were not a source of food. Instead, they played a big role in subsistence by helping humans who hunte d large animals such as woolly mammoths! Some archaeologists believe dogs they may have been why the woolly mammoth went extinct . Dogs were also valued for their role as watchdogs capable of protecting the community from predators and invaders.

21. Question Let’s return to the original question we started with: Now think about all the food you eat in a normal week. Do you know the where the ingredients came from? Foraging If you know where and how to find food you can hunt and gather. So, if you were a hunter gatherer… W ould you know where your food comes from? How it is made? And who found it?

22. Pastoralism Foraging Horticulture Agriculture relies primarily on wild plant and animal food resources relies on raising herds of domesticated livestock relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food relies on cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land

23. “To us, a co-wife is something very good, because there is much work to do. When it rains … the village gets mucky. And it’s you who clears it out. It’s you who … looks after the cows. You do the milking … and your husband may have very many cows. That’s a lot of work… So Maasai aren’t jealous because of all this work.” – Maiyani , Maasai woman. Pastoralism

24. Where are pastoralist found today?

25. Vocabulary Pastoralism Domesticate Livestock Herding animal Animal Husbandry Beasts of burden Nomadic Egalitarian

26. Pastoralism relies on raising herds of domesticated livestock What is Pastoralism? Pasture -ism Pastoral The keeping or grazing of sheep or cattle Land covered with grass and plants suitable for grazing animals Practice System Philosophy

27. Raising livestock Pastoralism Animal husbandry is the breeding, long-term care, and use of these domesticated animals. Pastoralists raise and many different herding animals . Most often is cows, goats, sheep, and pigs. Pastoralism is a more complex lifeway than foraging. This is because raising animals is a tremendous amount of work!

28. Doing work Pastoralism Beast of burden is an animal that carries heavy things, or does hard work. Pastoralists rely on what is called beasts of burden . Which are camels, horses, donkeys, yak, and even alpaca and llama have been domesticated to work. Animals are your life. Every aspect of your day is caring for your herd! Chores, chores, chores….

29. What is the goal of a pastoralist? Pastoralism Their goal is to extend the life and value of an animal for generations The goal of many pastoralists is not to kill animals for their meat, but instead use other resources such as milk , which can be transformed into butter, yogurt, and cheese. They can also produce products like fur or wool, which can be sold. Even animal dung (poop!) is useful for fuel and building houses!

30. Pastoralist and Community Pastoralism Despite doing much of the daily work with cattle, Maasai women are cannot own cattle. In Maasai society, women do almost all of the work with the cows, from milking several times each day to clearing the muck the cows produce. Men make all decisions about slaughtering, selling, and raising the cattle . T he woman’s role in Maasai society is subordinate (lesser) to man’s. This practice is common among many pastoralist societies. “men care about cattle while women care about children.”

31. A Vanishing World Pastoralism Nomadic societies around the world are vanishing. Much like foragers, pastoralists are also nomadic . Meaning they travel to new areas in search for food or warm weather. Due to climate change many pastoralists and their herds cannot find new pasture . Large cities and government land are also a problem for traveling long distances. Less food, less water, and less land means this lifeway is threatened.

32. Pastoralism Foraging Horticulture Agriculture relies primarily on wild plant and animal food resources relies on raising herds of domesticated livestock relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food relies on cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land

33. It’s not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells you what kind of life you have lived. – Helen Walton Horticulture

34. You can find horticulture in many places

35. Vocabulary Crops Diet Gardening Farming Harvest

36. What is Horticulture? Horticulture relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food Did you ever have a garden in your backyard, or maybe your grandparents? How much time did you put into this garden? How much of your daily food came from this garden?

37. What is Horticulture? Horticulture relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food People whose gardens supply the majority of their food are known as horticulturalists. Horticulture differs in three ways from other kinds of farming. They move their farm fields periodically to use locations with the best growing conditions. horticultural societies use limited mechanical (like tractors) technologies to farm, relying on physical labor from people and animals. horticulture differs from other kinds of farming in its scale and purpose.

38. What do they grow? Horticulture relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food Horticulture must be flexible! Bananas, plantains, rice, and yams are additional examples of popular horticultural crops.

39. In conclusion Horticulture relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food Horticulture relies on cultivating crops for food. Animals make up a small part of their diet. They typically only need to feed their village. The variety of crops is usually small.

40. Pastoralism Foraging Horticulture Agriculture relies primarily on wild plant and animal food resources relies on raising herds of domesticated livestock relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food relies on cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land

41. The adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered. – Jared Diamond Agriculture

42. Where did Agriculture begin?

43. Vocabulary Cultivation Technology Harvesting Domesticate Civilization Surplus

44. What is Agriculture? Agriculture relies on cultivation of domesticated plants and animals, and using technologies. Agriculture is the hallmark of human civilization. It’s art. It’s science. It’s business. It’s government. There are many characteristics that came from the invention of Agriculture in Anthropology. Today we are going to talk about a few of them.

45. A Revolution and New Technologies Agriculture Technology isn’t just computers and cellphones. Simple things like a pencil is also technology. To begin cultivating and harvesting plants. We need technology ! Scythes, Hoes, Shovels, Axes, Plough, and extensive knowledge of plants. Without the invention of new technologies, agriculture would have been impossible.

46. New Technologies Agriculture Writing is also technology. One of our most important inventions. Agricultural societies also invented a little something called….writing! Writing was originally used to record how many crops a city had after harvest. It is said that writing was independently invented three times in world history. Once in Mesopotamia, once in Mesoamerica, and once in China.

47. Mesoamerica Mesopotamia Shang Dynasty

48. Mesoamerica Mesopotamia Shang Dynasty

49. The technology of Domesticated Plants

50. Staple Crops Agriculture What do you prefer, Rice or Noodles? To have civilization you need food. And a lot of it. The most important food source is called a staple crop . A staple crop is the backbone of subsistence. For example in China the staple crop in the south is rice, while in the north it is barley or wheat. This is because the south is rainy and wet, and the north is dry and arid.

51. What is surplus? = 100 Collected Food Farmed Plants Animals x 1000 150 People 150 - 250 People 500 – 1000 People 500,000 + People

52. An abundance of food. Agriculture Question : How do you think jobs like teachers, artists, scientists, politicians, construction workers, lawyers, and doctors came to be? As people farm, food resources increase. This will create surpluses. As a result, people don’t have to hunt and gather. It also means more people can begin to live in larger communities.

53. When there is surplus, cities are born

54. Social Structure (In ancient Egypt) Farmers & Slaves (people who make things) Craftsmen (people who sell things) Merchants (people who write things) Scribes Soldiers Government , Officials, Nobles, Priests King

55. Results and consequences of Agriculture Agriculture Agriculture may have improved our lives in many ways. But, it also came with new consequences. Large Wars – Due to larger populations, new technology, and competition for food and land wars became more common and more violent. Land Struggles – Agriculture requires lots of land, this might include your neighbors land. Which leads to war. Slavery – Farming can be difficult and expensive. Why farm yourself when you can force someone to do it for free? Rich vs Poor – The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. Kings – Kingdoms developed to protect precious land. Create nations, and expand into new territory. Government – Regulates and controls things within the city. Also collects taxes

56. Agriculture and Today Agriculture Question : What problems from agriculture do you think we face today or will in the future? We have been farming now for over 10,000 years. Our global population has increased to 7 billion people.

57. Pastoralism Foraging Horticulture Agriculture relies primarily on wild plant and animal food resources relies on raising herds of domesticated livestock relies on small-scale cultivation of crops primarily for food relies on cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land