Hunting and gathering as a way of life

FOH 1-3, Cambridge Encyclopedia,April 22

Four stages in the development of human societies?

Four stages in the development of human societies?

• Hunting and gathering• Agriculture• Preindustrial civilization• Industrial / modern society

Four stages in the development of human societies?

• Hunting and gathering (until c. 8000 BCE)• Agriculture (c. 8000 – 3000 BCE)• Preindustrial civilization (c. 3000 BCE –

1750 CE)• Industrial / modern society (c. 1750 CE ff)

Hunting and gathering (= foraging)

• How do people sustain themselves?• How do they relate to each other?

Sustaining themselves?

Gathering

• wild plants, fruits, tubers, seeds, nuts• eggs, honey, fish, small animals (lizards, etc.)

importance to diet? who does it? why? how much each day?

Hunting

• large animals (deer, mammoth, bison, etc.), small game (rabbits, birds), fish• for meat, skins, bones, feathers, etc.

importance to diet? who does it? why? how much each day?

Division of labor by gender and age

• Has to do more with traits of human infants

Division of labor by gender and age

• Has to do more with traits of human infants than with inherent abilities of adults:– Dependent on breast milk– Noisy– Cannot walk (fast/far)

• Women of childbearing age and anyone who cannot be quiet and travel far gathers foods

Nomadic = not permanently settled, moving from place to place

• Why?• What does this mean for how they live, what

they acquire and store?

• Surplus?

• Surplus = anything of value beyond what is needed for day to day survival

• What form would it take in H & G societies?

Orientation to work and natural world

• Gathering and hunting until daily needs are met

• Natural world as source of all good things

• Access to land/water is usually shared by a group or open to all (not “private property”)

How do they relate to each other?

• Live in bands = small groups of 15-50 people related by kinship– Relationships of partners, parent/child, siblings exist within those groups

• Bands may disperse and come together over year – as sustenance needs fluctuate

How do they relate to each other?

• Egalitarian?

How do they relate to each other?

• Egalitarian = treating each other as equals– Leadership “by example, not fiat”– People may “vote with their feet”

– Equal value attached to gathering and hunting

– Minimal surplus, little/no private property

How do they relate to each other?

• Egalitarian• Reciprocity/sharing = idea that people should

give to each other without expecting anything in return immediately– Sharing of food– Sharing of responsibilities– Cooperative endeavors

Hunting and gathering societies

• How do they live?– Subsistence through natural world– Nomadic– Little/no surplus

• How do they relate?– Bands– Egalitarian– Sharing

How do they relate to each other?

• Egalitarian• Reciprocity/sharing?

Questions about H & G societies?