Making Living - Lecture Flashcards
What is adaptation?
A process by which organisms develop physiological and behavioural characteristics that allow them to survive and reproduce in their environment.
What is adaption an interception between?
- changes an organism makes in environment
and - changes the environment makes in organism
What is interaction between us and the environment?
Adaption
Why were lifestyles encountered by Europeans the way they were?
Because the environments had been the same way for a long time ~3000-5000 years.
-When the environment is stable, people don’t need to modify and adapt because their life is stable.
What are the two types of environment?
physical or anthropogenic
How is adaption of humans achieved?
- Achieved genetically and physiologically, like in other species by means of natural selection.
Yet, adaption in humans is mainly (not exclusively)___and this differs us from other species.
cultural
What are the three parts of human adaption?
- ecological adaption
- social adaption
- psychological adaption
What is a balance between environment and physiological response of humans to the environment
adaption
What do changes in environment introduce in humans?
introduce changes in humans at basic physiological level.
What differentiated us from other species?
culture
How do humans interact with environment?
through production
- patterned and organized activities by which people transform natural resources into things (products) that satisfy their needs/wants.
What 3 things does production (a social activity) involve?
- the division of labour
- patterns of cooperation
- allocation of rights to resources
What are the 3 components of production?
labour, technology, resources
Why do we interact with the environment?
for purposes of satisfying needs
What are the 5 patterns of adaption (aka patterns of subsistence)?
- foraging (hunting and gathering)
- horticulture (incl. slash-and-burn cultivation)
- intensive agriculture
- pastoralism (or herding)
- industrialism (including mechanized agriculture)
Describe the lifestyle of foragers? (4 points)
- move about a great deal
- seasonal congregation and dispersal
- small size of groups (bands)
- populations stabilize well below the carrying capacity of their land
What is the average size of foraging bands?
fewer than 100
What is carrying capacity?
Is the maximum population size that the environment can sustain at a given level of technology, without depleting itself.
What is the oldest subsistence pattern?
food foraging
How many people today are foragers?
half a quarter of million people today
Why do foragers need to move around a lot?
because their resources are limited, season nd climate change
What is an example of foragers?
Ju’ / hanse
How are foraging societies usually perceived?
Starving, malnourished, no social or cultural life.
What are foraging societies like in actuality?
They are well nourished, cultural (they meet each other often, visiting neighbours). Women spend more time in camps, whereas men hunt.
What is an example of an egalitarian subsistence pattern?
foraging
What is an egalitarian society?
sharing, everyone gets same amount of food/resources
How is wealth NOT viewed in foraging societies?
Not viewed as money and surplus of food.
What is their a low density of in foraging?
social relations
In foraging societies, and membership is___.
fluid
In foraging, gender___.
autonomy
What are rights to resources like in foraging societies?
flexible
What is the definition of egalitarian?
populations have few possessions and share what they have – reciprocal sharing (is normatively expected).
What is the original affluent society?
foragers
What are the three elements of human organization in foraging?
- division of labor by gender
- food sharing
- the camp
What is the the camp in foraging societies?
centre of daily activity and the place where food is shared.
What are two examples of food foragers?
- The Netsilik (Hudson Bay)
- Ju/hoansi (Kalahari Dessert)
In which way (4) the Ju/ the “original affluent society”?
- highly developed
- well balanced and ample diet
- plenty of leisure time
- rich in human warmth and aesthetics
During what period was the transition from foraging to production?
Neolithic period
Transition to Food production:
___middle east
___central asia
___New World (Mexico, Northern Peru)
- 11 000
- 9000
- 5000-6000
How does horticulture work?
People use mainly or only the energy of their own muscles to clear land, turn over the soil, plant, weed, and harvest crops.
What is shifting (swidden)?
cultivation (slash and burn)
What are the two types of horticulture?
- shifting (swidden)
- dry land gardening
What are 5 cultural consequences of horticulture?
- improves productivity of land
- modifies natural environment
- requires people to make labour investment into land
- rights to land are becoming better defined
- introduces sedentary lifestyle
When did the storing of possessions become possible?
With horticulture (not nomadic bands, but villages).
When did ownership of land begin to emerge?
With horticulture
What does intensive agriculture rely on?
relies on energy other than human
Why does intensive agriculture rely on other energy than human?
because fields are farmed more frequently
Which subsistence pattern utilizes substantial fertilization, crop rotation, and irrigation
intensive agriculture
What subsistence pattern was common at the time of contact (Old-New World)
intensive agriculture
What ist eh “single farm family unit” a consequence of?
intensive agriculture
What can the surplus from intensive agriculture be used for?
- exchanged for other goods
- traded (using money)
- collected to be used as payment for public work
- collected as taxes (used later for public purposes)
What was the result of intensive agriculture (specifically the surplus created)?
People become politically (inter)dependent
What led to the development of state (large-scale political organization)?
Intensive agriculture
What led to the development of a farming class of peasants?
Intensive agriculture
What is pastoralism?
Subsistence that relies on raising herds of domesticated animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats.
True of False: Pastoralists are usually nomadic.
True
What are the Bakhtiari, Baser, and Nuer examples of?
Pastoralists
What led to individuals being free to specialize full-time in distinct activities?
development of cities
What did non-industrial cities grow around? What did they develop from?
- non-industrial cities grew around the earliest most successful farming communities
- developed as intensified agricultural techniques created a surplus
What did the development of cities result in?
Increased social stratification
What is social stratification?
People are ranked according to gender, the work they do, and the family they are born into
when did social relationships grow more formal and centralized?
development of cities
When was the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan founded/
1235
The Tenochtitlan population in the 16th century was___times that of London.
five
How many square kilometres did Tenochtitlan cover? How many houses were there?
- 52
- 60 000
What was Tenochtitlan based on?
Intensive agriculture
Was diversification of labour with numerous specialists absent in Tenochtitlan?
no
What were the three main classes in Tenochtitlan?
serfs, commoners, and noblels
Who ruled Tenochtitlan?
a semidivine king ruled with a council of advisors
What oversaw public business in Tenochtitlan?
A large bureaucracy
What are the aztecs famous for?
temples, religion (human sacrifice) MILITARY
What did Tenochtitlan form around?
a big lake
Where did they build crops in Tenochtitlan?
floating in the lake
