Subsistence Strategies
Objectives
4/10
 Describe the typologies for subsistence strategies and
political organizations.
 Compare typologies.
____________________________________
Question
Is Woody High a macro or micro culture?
Why?
Subsistence Strategies
 The way people in a society make a living
 Provide for their basic needs
 Subsistence strategies and political organizations are
closely integrated
Subsistence Strategies
2 different kinds
Extensive
Involves large areas of
land and minimal labor
input per acre
Foraging
2. Horticulture
3. Pastoralism
1.
Intensive
Involves the cultivation
of small amounts of land
through the spending of
great amounts of labor
per acre
1. Agriculture
2. Industrialism
Weekly Plan
 Pick subsistence strategy
 Provide notes for each section
 Use books and provided information

Chapter 17 (p. 437-453)
 Write neatly
 Compile information for a master copy by Thursday
Objectives
4/11
 Understand foraging as a subsistence strategy.
 Describe specific aspects of foraging.
_____________________________________
Which group of subsistence strategies uses the most
amount of land?
Foraging
 Oldest strategy
 Only form until 10-12,000 years ago
 Kin based bands made up of 100 people, no more!
 Leader is typically not special but has more responsibilities

Speaks for the group
 Temporary encampments
 Men typically hunt large game
 Women gather and hunt small game close to camp
Foraging Cont.
 Least complicated form of government
 Own dogs
 Herding, watch-animals, camp scavengers
 Controlled burns
 Burn off old vegetation to grow new fresh vegetation
 Social conflict controls the group number
Misconceptions
 Short miserable lives
 Hard to find food
 Start work at a young age
Objectives
4/12
 Describe and identify horticulture and pastoralism as
subsistence strategies
 Form a comparison between the subsistence
strategies.
_____________________________________
Name a misconception of foraging societies.
Horticulture
 Small scale, low intensity farming
 Humid, tropical conditions
 Supplemented with hunting and gathering
 Higher densities
 1-10 people/square mile

Population size- 30 to several hundred
 Able to trade surplus
 Buy items that cannot be produced
Horticulture Cont.…
 Shifting pattern
 Unfertile soil- move to new field
 Controlled burn
 Clear away dead brush to make way for new vegetation

Ash acts as a fertilizer
 Labor intensive
 Pesticides are not used
 Harsh on the land
Misunderstanding
 Unproductive
 Tangle of wild vegetation
 Better growing season

Plant multiple seeds in same whole
Pastoralism
 Tends heard of large animals
 Horses are preferred in Central Asia
 Open country where farming cannot be sustained
 Droughts
 Spread out herd
 Animals are rarely killed for family use alone
 Preserving meat
 Sharing amongst members
Pastoralism
Transhumance
Nomadic
 Follow seasonal
migratory pattern
 Not permanent
 Self-sufficient
 Follow a cyclical
pattern of migration

Warm highlands in
summer /warm lowlands
in winter
 Regular encampments
 Rely less on animals
Personality/Social Life
 In East Africa, cattle herding societies also bleed
their animals. The blood is mixed with fresh milk to
make a protein rich drink.
 Men make important decisions and own animals


Act on decisions easily
Expanding territory at the expense of others
 Women perform domestic duties
Military Conquests
 Agricultural societies
 Established important kingdoms

Zulus defeated the Dutch in South Africa
 Operate in large societies
 Value extreme bravery
 Independent of lines of supply
Objectives
4/13
 Describe agriculture and industrialism as
subsistence strategies.
_____________________________________
What are “Use Rights”?
Intensive Strategies
 Use least amount of land with the most amount
being produced

Two Strategies:
Agriculture
 Industrialism

Agriculture
 Primary strategy use in large-scale societies
 Formed 5,000 years ago
 Population growth= new strategy
 Made possible by domestication of large animals and
irrigation systems
Ancient vs. Modern
Irrigation systems
Agriculture Cont.
 Ancient Civilizations
 Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Pakistan, North China,
Mesoamerica, Western South America
 Current Civilizations
 Primary food production pattern in all developed nations
 Social Changes
 Permanent settlements that would last for generations
 Evolution to the complexity of labor
Industrialism
 Involves production of goods through mass
employment in business/commercial operations
 Income used to purchase food, shelter, and other
products
 Complex social structures

Nation states=
 Division of labor is varied
 Based on gender, age and intelligence
Industrialism
 Dependence on fossil fuels
 Long work weeks
 Decreased family size