scholarly journals The global geography of human subsistence

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 171897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Gavin ◽  
Patrick H. Kavanagh ◽  
Hannah J. Haynie ◽  
Claire Bowern ◽  
Carol R. Ember ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Strong Support ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Human History ◽  
Subsistence Strategy ◽  
Essential Characteristic ◽  
Global Pattern ◽  
Model Inference ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Human Subsistence

How humans obtain food has dramatically reshaped ecosystems and altered both the trajectory of human history and the characteristics of human societies. Our species' subsistence varies widely, from predominantly foraging strategies, to plant-based agriculture and animal husbandry. The extent to which environmental, social and historical factors have driven such variation is currently unclear. Prior attempts to resolve long-standing debates on this topic have been hampered by an over-reliance on narrative arguments, small and geographically narrow samples, and by contradictory findings. Here we overcome these methodological limitations by applying multi-model inference tools developed in biogeography to a global dataset (818 societies). Although some have argued that unique conditions and events determine each society's particular subsistence strategy, we find strong support for a general global pattern in which a limited set of environmental, social and historical factors predicts an essential characteristic of all human groups: how we obtain our food.

Transitional Figures: Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, James Madison

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Greenwood Onuf
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Final Stage ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Human History ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Human Reason ◽  
Mutual Exchange

Foucault’s sense of the modern epoch finds Kant everywhere in the background. If, for Kant, nature appears to accommodate our needs, human reason nevertheless has a purpose beyond ourselves; nature’s purpose dictates our use of reason. Kant had us use reason to progress from savagery to animal husbandry and the cultivation of the land, mutual exchange, culture, and civil society. Better known are Smith’s four stages of human history: the Ages of Hunters, Shepherds, Agriculture, and Commerce. Set back by nomadic barbarians, Europe belatedly developed a novel society of independent nations, ever vigilant (and often enough at war), committed to improving their productive capabilities and reaping the benefits of commerce. Rationalization and positivism marked the final stage, which in turn required a positive legal order grounded in unimpeachable sources of law. These James Madison definitively articulated when he was U.S. secretary of state.

scholarly journals Diversification and the adaptive radiation of the vangas of Madagascar

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1735) ◽  
pp. 2062-2071 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Reddy ◽  
A. Driskell ◽  
D. L. Rabosky ◽  
S. J. Hackett ◽  
T. S. Schulenberg
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Taxon Sampling ◽  
Speciation Rates ◽  
Dispersal Routes ◽  
Random Patterns

The vangas of Madagascar exhibit extreme diversity in morphology and ecology. Recent studies have shown that several other Malagasy species also are part of this endemic radiation, even as the monophyly of the clade remains in question. Using DNA sequences from 13 genes and representatives of all 15 vanga genera, we find strong support for the monophyly of the Malagasy vangids and their inclusion in a family along with six aberrant genera of shrike-like corvoids distributed in Asia and Africa. Biogeographic reconstructions of these lineages include both Asia and Africa as possible dispersal routes to Madagascar. To study patterns of speciation through time, we introduce a method that can accommodate phylogenetically non-random patterns of incomplete taxon sampling in diversification studies. We demonstrate that speciation rates in vangas decreased dramatically through time following the colonization of Madagascar. Foraging strategies of these birds show remarkable congruence with phylogenetic relationships, indicating that adaptations to feeding specializations played a role in the diversification of these birds. Vangas fit the model of an ‘adaptive radiation’ in that they show an explosive burst of speciation soon after colonization, increased diversification into novel niches and extraordinary ecomorphological diversity.

scholarly journals Environmental historical analysis of the Sarmatian and Gepids settlement of Rákóczifalva

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-156
Author(s):  
Beáta Tugya ◽  
Katalin Náfrádi ◽  
Sándor Gulyás ◽  
Tünde Törőcsik ◽  
Balázs Pál Sümegi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Migration Period ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Great Hungarian Plain ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Roman Age ◽  
Hungarian Plain

AbstractWe present the results of the environmental historical and geoarchaeological analysis of Rákóczifalva-Bagi- földek and Rákóczifalva-Rokkant-földek archeological sites in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County.1 They were discovered in the course of several hectares of archaeological excavations related to the Roman Age and Migration Period, especially the Sarmatian and the Gepids era. A significant number of Gepids sites and finds2 were found in both the investigated areas and the wider area of the site, in the middle reach of the Tisza valley. So the geoarchaeological and environmental historical analysis of the Sarmatian and Late-Sarmatian and Gepids sites in Rákóczifalva can also provide a model for the settling strategy and lifestyle of the Sarmatian and Gepids communities.3 The purpose of our work is to present how geoarchaeological and environmental historical factors impacted local settling and lifestyles in the Gepids communities and Sarmatian-Late Sarmatian communities as well4 during the Roman Age and the Migration Period. In addition, to demonstrate the relationship of the Sarmatian and Gepids communities and their environment in the Rákóczifalva site compared to other Gepids5 and Sarmatian and Late Sarmatian communities in the Great Hungarian Plain.6Based on the number of objects containing animal bones and the amount of bones found in them, we can reconstruct considerable settling in the Celtic, Sarmatian, Gepids, Avar and Arpadian periods. The number of objects from the Linear Pottery culture (Great Hungarian Plain) and the Bodrogkeresztúr culture is high; however, the number of animal bones is low. On the basis of the bones discovered, we can count on a smaller settlement during the Tiszapolgár culture, the Hunyadihalom group, the Halomíros culture, the Gava culture and during the Scythians period.In this paper, we present the results of the Sarmatian, Late Sarmatian and the Gepid findings since the largest number of animal bones (except the Avar period) turned up from these periods. Our aim was to compare the animal husbandry, meat consumption and hunting habits of the Oriental origin Sarmatians and the Germanic Gepids communities. Bone artefacts and bone anvils have been found in the archaeological material of both ethnic groups.

scholarly journals Archaeozoological Studies at Konoplyanka, the Southern Trans-Urals

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
A. Y. Rassadnikov
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Management System ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
Subsistence Strategy ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
High Level ◽  
Pastoral Economy ◽  
Draught Animals

Konoplyanka is a fortifi ed settlement associated with the Sintashta culture and dating to 1920–1745 cal BC. The faunal sample was studied with regard to standard traits and markers of pathology, rather recently adopted in Russian archaeozoological studies. The results are relevant not only to herd composition and age at slaughter but also to the animals’ state of health. The analysis of pathologies provides information about the herders’ skills and the housing of domestic ungulates. Ethnographic data relating to the modern grazing management system in the same area and information received from herdsmen were widely used. This makes it possible to assess the carrying capacity of the land and to arrive at a more accurate reconstruction of the pastoral economy. Markers of osteophagy among the domestic ungulates are analyzed and the phenomenon is discussed in the context of settlement archaeology. The study showed that animal husbandry was the predominant subsistence strategy. Markers of animal pathology indicate a high level of herding skills. The cattle were used as draught animals. Osteophagy attests to places where animals were kept. The predominant system was homestead herding, all or most animals being likely kept within the settlement throughout the year.

Igołomska terasa Wisły w VI tysiącleciu p.n.e. – czas pierwszych rolników Igołomia terrace of the Vistula River in the 6th millennium BC – time of the first farmers

2020 ◽  
pp. 73-91
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny ◽  
Robert Kenig
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Seasonal Migration ◽  
Left Bank ◽  
Human History ◽  
Middle Phase ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Vistula River ◽  
Peak Intensity

The introduction of an agriculture-economy based on the cultivation of plants and animal husbandry – known as Neolithization – was a breakthrough in human history. The lifestyle that had been led since the dawn of humanity, seasonal migration to search for sources of food, changed relatively abruptly. In Central Europe, including Poland, this process was associated with the appearance of the first farmers known under the archaeological term of the Linear Pottery culture (LBK). Intensive spreading and concentration of settlement occurred at the end of the first phase, reaching peak intensity in the middle phase. Most large, permanently inhabited settlements with longhouses are dated to this period, similar to in other centres in the Odra and Vistula basins. About half of the 1,600 sites associated with LBK in Poland are located in south-eastern Poland. Due to favourable environmental conditions, the Vistula left-bank terrace in the area of what is today Igołomia-Wawrzeńczyce commune, in Kraków district has been intensively populated since the beginning of the Neolithic.

scholarly journals Becoming Neolithic. The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition and its impact on the flint and stone industry at Swifterbant (the Netherlands)

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 131-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izabel Devriendt
Keyword(s):  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Subsistence Strategy ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Swifterbant Culture ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Grinding Stones ◽  
Stone Industry ◽  
Cereal Cultivation

The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition is traditionally defined by a change in subsistence strategy. New ideas are picked up, and animal husbandry and cereal cultivation are adopted as hunter-gatherers evolve. This article examines whether these economic changes stand on their own or lead to changes in other aspects of life. The study will illustrate the innovations in the flint and stone industry (including ornaments) during the Swifterbant period (5000–3400 BC). These include changing debitage techniques and preferences, and the abandonment of the micro-burin technique, but also the introduction of grinding stones, polished axes and amber ornaments. The significance of these new features will be investigated as characteristics of the changing identity of the Swifterbant Culture.

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