Subsistence Strategies

Question 1

What is subsistence?

Answer 1

The manner in which a group produces its food

Question 2

How is food and population size interrelated?

Answer 2

The more food a culture produces, the bigger the population will be

Question 3

What are the main subsistence strategies? How much population can each subsistence strategy support?

Answer 3

1. Foraging- Smallest population
2. Pastoralism- Small population
3. Horticulture- Small to moderate population
4. Agriculture- Large population
5. Industrialism- Largest population

Question 4

What is unique or important about each subsistence strategy?

Answer 4

1. Foraging- hunting and gathering wild plants and animals
2. Pastoralism- herding large domesticated animals
3. Horticulture- small-scale, low intensity farming using non-mechanized technology (digging stick); slash and burn cultivation
4. Agriculture- large-scale, intensive farming; use of plow, draft animals
5. Industrialism-Mechanized production of food

Question 5

How does trade fit in with some strategies?

Answer 5

Pastoralism- Trading with neighboring farming communities to obtain a more balanced diet that’s not just meat
Agriculture- Since they produce large fields of a singular crop, it’s important to trade those crops (who wants thousands of pieces of corn?)

Question 6

What forms of knowledge are most important to hunter gatherer foraging societies?

Answer 6

Knowledge of the types of plants available in each season