The global geography of human subsistence

Royal Society Open Science • Vol/Iss. 5(9) • Royal Society Publishing • London • Published In • Pages: 1-11 •
By Gavin, Michael C. , Kavanagh, Patrick H., Haynie, Hannah J., Bowern, Claire, Ember, Carol R., Gray, Russell D. , Jordan, Fiona M., Kirby, Kathryn R. , Kushnick, Geoff, Low, Bobbi S., Vilela, Bruno, Botero, Carlos A.

Abstract

In this article, the authors seek to determine cross-culturally valid predictors of dominant types of human subsistence around the world. They did this by formulating multiple models that incorporate different combinations of environmental, geographic, and social factors. These models were then used to test various hypotheses posed throughout the anthropological literature surrounding factors that determine dominant subsistence strategies.

Note

Most of the factors tested in this paper (environmental productivity, environmental stability, varied topography, political complexity, contact with neighbors) had contrary hypothesized relationships in the literature. For clarity, we list the hypothesized relationships that were supported if possible. The overall R^2 GLMM for the average model is 0.86.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Ethnographic Atlas (EA)by other researchersData on subsistence strategies and political complexity retrieved from D-PLACE
CCSM ecoClimate modelby other researchersHistorical climate data
Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Databy other researchersTopographic data

Hypotheses (8)

HypothesisSupported
Animal husbandry will be more likely to be a dominant subsistence strategy in regions with less productive environments (8)Supported
Degree of environmental productivity will be related to the likelihood of plant-based agriculture versus foraging (8)Not supported
Topography will predict the dominant subsistence strategy (8)Not supported
Degree of political complexity will be associated with more plant-based agriculture, more animal husbandry, and less foraging (8)Supported
Societies that are linguistically similar will be more likely to share dominant subsistence strategies (8)Supported
Food production focused on plant-based agriculture should be more likely in more environmentally productive locations (7)Not supported
Low levels of environmental stability will predict the adoption of animal husbandry compared with foraging (8)Not supported
Societies that are neighbors will be more likely to share dominant plant-based subsistence strategies (8)Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: dmccloskey103  anj.droe