Food Energy Extraction Systems: I
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Food Energy Extraction Systems: I Hunting & Gathering • extracting t ti what h t the th environment i t produces d • through hunting, gathering, and fishing Horticulture (gardening (gardening, swidden or slash and burn) • • • • no fertilization or irrigation no major soil modification extensive use of land (short to permanent fallow) simple technology (ax, machete, and digging stick) Pastoralism • • • • dependence on herd animal for food (milk, milk products, blood, & meat) marginal agricultural land strong t trading t di relations l ti warlike & patrilineal Global Patterns in Foraging M bilit Mobility Diet Food storage l i ti logistic residential plants rare animals common Invention of agriculture led to Reduction in stature y Increase in infant mortality Reduction in lifespan Increase in infectious diseases Iron deficiency anemia Bone disorders (osteomalacia) Dental caries and enamel defects Inside the Rainforest River’s River s Edge and Meanders More Rainforest Interiors Yanomamö Swidden New Yanomamö Swidden Recently burned swidden Slash and Burn Cultivation: Michigan ca 1840 Slash and Burn Process Source http://www.uwgb.edu/galta/a100/s_and_l.gif Food Energy Extraction Systems: II Agriculture • h hoeing i and d plowing, l i ffertilizing tili i and d mulching l hi • irrigation and water control • traction animals Industrial Agriculture • petrochemical t h i ld dependent d t (f (fertilizers, tili iinsecticides ti id & fuel) • machinery • monocropping • severe landscape modification Rice cultivation in Indonesia: terraced paddy Rice Irrigation in Viet Nam Monocrop of wheat in eastern N b Nebraska k General Trends in the Evolution of Food E Energy E Extraction t ti Systems S t Increased landscape modification (e.g., terracing) Lowered biodiversity (lack L d bi di it (l k off conservation) ti ) Increased energy output per unit area Increased energy input per unit area } intensification Specialization and monocropping Decreased use of wild resources Greater energy input per unit output (through petrochemicals) Female Contributions to Primary Food Production From C. Ember, American Anthropologist (1988) Labor time allocation in various in economic formations Eco onomic c formattions Western From: R. Hames “Time, Efficiency, and Fitness in the Amazonian A i Protein P t i Quest”. Research in Economic Anthropology, Vol. 11: 43-85 (1989). Urban Industrial agriculturalists Peasants New Guineans Males Amazonians Females Adults Foragers 4 6 12 10 8 Hours/day labor 14 Variation in Food Extraction and Associated Demographic and Social Features FOOD COLLECTORS Foragers FOOD PRODUCERS Horticulturalists Pastoralists Intensive Agriculturalists Highest Population density Lowest Low—moderate Low Maximum community size Small Small—moderate Small Large (towns and cities) Nomadism/ permanence of settlements Generally nomadic or seminomadic More sedentary: communities may move after several years Generally nomadic or seminomadic Permanent communities Food shortages Infrequent Infrequent Frequent Frequent Trade Minimal Minimal Very important Very important Full-time craft specialists None None or few Some Many (high degree of craft specialization) Individual differences in wealth Generally none Generally minimal Moderate Considerable Some part-time political officials Part- and full-time political officials Political leadership Informal Table 16.1 in E, E, & P Many full-time political officials
