Culture What Is the Most

Culture

What is the most accurate description of the relative importance of hunting vs. gathering in foraging societies in terms of nutrition? In terms of place in society?

The basic nutritional rule is that it takes more energy to get energy out of plant based, as opposed to animal based, foods. The caveat is that hunting and scavenging are not always 100% successful, whereas, gathering of plants, roots and other vegetative materials are fairly reliable. Foragers maintain their caloric needs by constantly collecting edible plants and grains, but it was not until the advent of focused agriculture that there were enough surpluses to allow for more permanent settlements. Foraging also required moving from place to place as resources ran out. To hunt and scavenge, though, requires that humans not only travel longer distances to find game, but they must also compete against other predators (sometimes dangerous) in the process. This being said, many scholars believe it was the extra nutrition and fats that occur in meat that allowed the human brain to develop more, as well as the idea of cooperation, memory (location, technique, etc.) of the hunt pushing the idea of being successful more often than not. A modern approach from Jared Diamond notes that it is the extreme amount of time and energy to develop nutrition from plant-based diets in some areas (Borneo, for example) that kept certain civilizations from developing more technologically -- it wasn't that they were not smart, it was that all their time was spent in finding enough to eat (Diamond, 2005;Park, 2010).

2.Larger societies include groups whose organization can be categorized as bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states. What type of organizational structure would you argue that the Hutterites fall under? Please explain your reasoning.

The evolution of political systems varies from culture to culture, and developed at different rates depending on the physical and social needs of that particular society. Society may take on the form of a band, tribe, chiefdom, or a state -- representing varying degrees of organization and centralization, the size of the region of occupation, and their economic development. Since bands are uncentralized and equal, the Hutterites are probably chiefdom.

Chiefdoms are organizations in which size, centralization, and even stratification change -- small or large; usually with domestication of flora and fauna most important. They do produce surpluses, and are more sophisticated in what holds them together (beliefs, etc.). The Hutterites are male-dominated, and have a central leader (Chief) and two assistants. They stratify jobs into expertise (Hog Boss, Corn Boss, etc.), remain rural, and practice a near total community of goods -- everything is owned by the group (their interpretation of Acts 2-5). They do have a limit of about 20 families (around 250 individuals) until a daughter colony is produced. Genetically, we know that this number ensures a viability of population, but the Hutterites reasoning is more traditional. They remain together largely because of their belief in pacifism and the literal interpretation of the Bible (History and Information, 2006).