THREE TYPES OF SOCIETIES P.I.E.C.E.S- Foragers, Pastoralists & Agriculturalists FORAGERS: (3.3 million years ago● (ENV) Human-Environmental Interaction○ For 95% of humans on earth, they spent it hunting and gathering. ○ Migration-(Know causations & consequences of Paleolithic Migration/ Note: thematic similarities with other human migrations throughout history) ■ Causes: ● (1) while populations were small & sparse, communities did slowly grown. As a result, as communities grew, small segments moved to new lands ● (2) search for the procurement of food ● (3) human curiosity→ (why do humans what to explore outer space??) ■ Consequences: when people migrate they carry their language, technologies, foods, pathogens, etc. ○ ○ Demography and disease: infectious disease & lack of medicine contributed to high child mortality rates, maternal mortality rates (childbirth) were also common; infacticide was common → as a result, population size was small & sparse. Surprisingly, there are societies that are still foragers in the 21st century. Although rare (less than 1% of the world’s current 7 billion people), indigenous societies such as the Aborigines in Australia, Amazonian tribes, tribes of Papua New Guinea, Sentinelese islanders, Aleutian Alaskan islands, Inuit people in NW Canada etc). ● (GOV) State Building, Expansion & Conflict ○ ○ ○ Foragers would have lacked formal political systems. They would have been organized into small kin based tribes/bands of roughly a dozen or so individuals. Leaders base on age, strength, courage & intelligence- organized hunts ■ With no real food surplus, they would have lacked the need for a system of writing ■ No need for a bureaucracy ■ They would not have recognized individualized property rights Looked to elders for wisdom, but decisions were typically made by community consensus; women’s voices were also respected at community meetings (see social) ● (SOC) The Development & Transformation of Social Structure ○ Family and kinship: kinship “family” tribes ○ Gender roles and relations: more egalitarian/ defined gender roles; while men typically hunted and women gathered, women usually provided most of the food calories consumed; meat was often the most desired, but was a less dependable food source. As a result, women provided economically critical roles for the society and as a result, their voices and opinions were respected at community meetings ○ Social and economic classes: more egalitarian; everyone worked on the procurement of food, whether that was hunting or gathering; the search for & prep of food consumed, therefore, societies would NOT have land property owners, merchants, artisans, etc. ■ Valued elders ● (ECO) Creation & Expansion of Economic Systems ○ Foragers/ labor system: hunted and/or fished (shellfish, fish, insects, reptiles birds, eggs) & gathered (plant leaves, tubers, sea grasses, berries & wild fruits, nuts & seeds, & honey (occasionally)) ■ Foods not available: dairy (except human), cereal grains, legumes ● (TECH) Innovations & Technology ○ ○ Since foragers were nomadic, there was rarely a need for pottery (storage) Stone tools- Paleolithic people created tools out of stone and animal bones. They created scapers, throwing spears, digging sticks & needles to name a few. ○ **Fire- the greatest innovation of the Paleolithic Era was the taming of fire. short 3 min video review ■ cook meat & kill bacteria ■ kept predators away ■ allowed for collective-learning (gathering & storytelling) ■ warmth, allowed humans to migrate into colder climates ● (CUL) Development & Interaction of Culture ○ ○ ○ ○ Religions/Belief systems/philosophies ideologies: since humans have been on earth, they have been aware of death. Each Paleolithic people had their own creation myths to explore how people came to be, why they were there and what happened after death. Evidence shows they buried their dead and tried to protect loved ones from scavengers by placing the dead inside caves or in the ground. ■ Polytheistic & animistic ■ The 1st religious leaders were probably shamans- ppl believed to have special abilities to cure the sick and influence the future. Ritual sacrifices to these gods & evidence of burial practices suggest a belief in an afterlife that dates back 100,000 year. Language- no written language, but did have a spoken language (led to a valuation of elders due to storyteller skills) Architecture: As nomads, foragers did not leave any lasting monumental architecture. Housing had to be portable. Art: despite the ethnocentric POV, that Paleolithic people were “uncivilized” and “savages,” there is evidence of art. PASTORALISTS: (aka- Herders) ● (ENV) Human-Environmental Interaction○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Environmental Settings: pastoralism is typically found in semi-arid: dry/little rainfall. Societies can not be foragers in semi-arid because of limited vegetation nor can they farm (little rain). While there are pastoralists in the Americas today, during the early history (pre Columbian/ pre 1492), pastoralists would have been in the Old World only. The largest included the Turks & Mongols of Central Asia, the bedouins of Arabia & the Tuareg of the Sahara region. Demography and disease: same as foragers Migration: herders had to be nomadic because animals need graze, Environmental impact: Overgrazing was possible. ● (GOV) State Building, Expansion & Conflict (similar to foragers) ○ ○ ○ Pastoralists would have lacked formal political systems. They would have been organized into small kin based tribes/bands of roughly a dozen or so individuals. Leaders base on age, strength, courage & intelligence- organized hunts ■ With no real food surplus, they would have lacked the need for a system of writing ■ No need for a bureaucracy women’s voices were also respected at community meetings (see social) ● (SOC) The Development & Transformation of Social Structure ○ Family and kinship: kinship “family” tribes ○ Gender roles and relations: more egalitarian/ defined gender roles; like foragers, women provided economically critical roles for the society by tending to the pack animals and as a result, their voices and opinions were respected at community meetings ○ Social and economic classes: more egalitarian; everyone herded,therefore, societies would NOT have land property owners, merchants, artisans, etc; little surplus other than animals which was divided & clan size grew ● Warriors & elders- would have been more elevated; looked to elders for wisdom ● (ECO) Creation & Expansion of Economic Systems ○ Herders ○ Since herders were nomadic, they facilitated trade between agrarian societies (once they began after the Neolithic Revolution) & aided in the diffusion of technologies, foods, etc ■ Tuareg, Bedouins, Turks & Mongols also all aided diffusion of technologies, food, language, etc during the Post-Classical Era. ● (TECH) Innovations & Technology ○ The domestication of pack animals did give pastoralists an advantage in warfare; when there was a shortage of food, pastoralists would raid nearby villagers. Technologies created included saddles, stir-ups. ● (CUL) Development & Interaction of Culture ○ Ideologies: warrior ethos; valued courage, more warlike, “eye for an eye,” rivalries with other pastoralists “kin” tribes developed ○ Religions/Belief systems/philosophies ideologies: since humans have been on earth, they have been aware of death. Each Paleolithic people had their own creation myths to explore how people came to be, why they were there and what happened after death. Evidence shows they buried their dead and tried to protect loved ones from scavengers by placing the dead inside caves or in the ground. ■ Polytheistic & animistic, placed a greater emphasis on the gods of fire and gods of war ○ Language- no written language, but had a spoken language (led to a valuation of elders→ storyteller skills) ○ Architecture: As nomads, pastoralists did not leave any lasting monumental architecture. Housing had to be portable. EARLY AGRICULTURALISTS: ● (ENV)- Human-Environmental Interaction ○ Environmental Settings (presentation): ■ Temperate: Not too cold (no harsh winters), not too hot ■ ■ (drought/fry crops) Near rivers: 1) Need fresh drinking water 2) need fresh water to irrigate crops when it doesn’t rain 3) before Miracle Grow, farmers needed regular flooding to add silt deposits to help fertilize the lands (also animal dung helps as well). Location next to viable to calories: There are currently 4,921 plant species. Only 5% are viable. They are fairly easy to digest (unlike bark), they are safe (unlike many mushrooms, berries and nuts) and they have enough calories to keep you alive (lettuce & other leafy green stuff will not keep you alive. You need carbohydrates (grains: oats, wheat, barely), rice, ○ Demography and disease: ■ Food surplus → population growth ■ Disease more common → agriculturalists were no longer nomadic and people began to settle in urban environments. Disease spread more readily because of the use of domesticated animals to aid with agriculture & the close proximity of people. ○ Environmental Impact- As the Neolithic revolution began, humans exploited their environments more intensively. Deforestation- cutting down trees for farmland; soil erosion (later in history terracing; once societies started to work with metals, bronze & iron smelting also contributed to deforestation since ore needed to be melting down; also unused metals were returned to the soil) ● (GOV) State Building, Expansion & Conflict- where some of the greatest changes took place ○ ○ When societies began to farm, they needed leadership to coordinate planting, harvest, building of irrigation systems & distribution of food surpluses. ■ formation of bureaucracies- while nomadic groups had some minor sort of leadership, systems of government had to become more formal, more complex. ■ writing systems- a system of record keeping was created to keep track of food surpluses. ■ law codes- food surpluses led to specialization of labor & the development of private property; as a result, law codes were created as a system of protection (Hammurabi’s code from Mesopotamia was the first Conflict: warfare becomes more common; as societies became more sedentary, they became more vulnerable to famine. As a result, when crops failed, villages were more likely to invade nearby villages. ● (SOC) The Development & Transformation of Social Structure ○ Agriculture led to food surplus, as a result, not everyone was needed for the procurement. As a result, agriculture led to job specialization. Job specialization led to social stratification. ■ creation of priestly class- religion became more organization & sophisticated; while early agriculturalists were still animistic, they became more dependent on the forces of nature for good harvests. This led to the creation of state organized/gov’t organized religion & the carrying of religious rituals carried out by priests. ■ creation of property owners ■ creation of artisans ■ creation of slavery- without modern technology, farming was extremely hardwork. Unfortunately, the birth of agriculture ○ Gender roles and relations: status of women declines (c. 3,000 BCE...birth of metallurgy) ■ Agriculture began c. 10,000 BCE; agriculture itself did not result in the decline in women’s status. However, the adoption of iron metallurgy (c. 3000-1500 BCE in the Middle East...later in other areas), the birth of plow agriculture led to the decline of women’s status. vs ● (ECO) Creation & Expansion of Economic Systems ○ ○ ○ Agriculturalists labor system: led to the creation of property owners, peasant class & system of slaves Trade: since agriculturalists were sedentary, their access to diverse plants & resources diminished. As a result, agrarian societies depended on trade to gain access to resources they lacked. ● (TECH) Innovations & Technology ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ pottery: food surplus led to the need for containers to store surplus foods. written language: need for record keeping calendars: needed to create calendars (to determine when to plant & harvest) wheel: invented in Mesopotamia, initially as a potters wheel to make pottery; diffused and became a wheel for carts & chariors (advantage in warfare) iron metallurgy (c, 3,000-1500 BCE)■ better agricultural tools → more food → more ppl ■ Better weapons → advantage in warfare -> expansion ■ coinage & currency → allowed for tax collection, & trade ● (CUL) Development & Interaction of Culture ○ ○ early agriculturalists were polytheistic/animistic (continuity), however, religion became more sophisticated; more state/gov’t organized. Innovation of written language for record keeping ○ Architecture: now that societies were sedentary, agrarian societies began to build permanent housing & monumental architecture. Most of the monumental architecture was religious centered due to rituals carried out ot animistic gods (note: during the Post-Classical Age, most architecture remained religious centered).
