This study seeks to investigate the little-understood intermediate region between farming and foraging subsistence strategies. The authors seek to evaluate the extent to which such "middle-ground" subsistence methods actually exist, whether there is any geographical patterning to them, and if different crop assemblages/dependencies make middle-ground subsistence strategies more or less likely. They find that agro-pastoral, cereal-based societies in Africa and Eurasia are more likely to be dependent on farming (defined here as including both cultivation and animal husbandry), whereas societies in North America and those reliant on root crops and arboriculture in the wet tropics incorporate both farming and foraging. They conclude that there is likely more of a "middle-ground" between foraging and farming than has typically been allowed for in the literature.

This study seeks to investigate the little-understood intermediate region between farming and foraging subsistence strategies. The authors seek to evaluate the extent to which such "middle-ground" subsistence methods actually exist, whether there is any geographical patterning to them, and if different crop assemblages/dependencies make middle-ground subsistence strategies more or less likely. They find that agro-pastoral, cereal-based societies in Africa and Eurasia are more likely to be dependent on farming (defined here as including both cultivation and animal husbandry), whereas societies in North America and those reliant on root crops and arboriculture in the wet tropics incorporate both farming and foraging. They conclude that there is likely more of a "middle-ground" between foraging and farming than has typically been allowed for in the literature.

In this article, the authors reconsider the polygyny threshold model in order to account for the "polygyny paradox." This paradox, as the authors define it, is the trend away from polygyny as societies adopt stratified agricultural economies. This is despite an increase in both the importance of material wealth and greater leaves of wealth inequality both of which would otherwise suggest increased polygyny. The authors develop a new model that does account for this paradox.

This article proposes that societal factors that cause anxiety concerning isolation and self-reliance leads to a preoccupation with dreams. Authors test associations between subsistence economy and marital residence and the use of dreams to seek and control supernatural powers.

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.

This study, primarily a review on the evolution of the human diet, also includes a small study on the distribution of meat-eating and its relationship with climate and cultural factors, namely subsistence type. The authors find that societies with subsistence strategies that prioritize fishing, hunting, or pastoralism also tend to consume more animal products, whereas those that focus on agriculture have more plant-based diets. The authors argue that these small-scale societies have a healthier approach to diet than industrialized societies regardless of their subsistence type or meat consumption.

This study examines the relationship between personality traits and subsistence type in mixed farming and pastoralists societies. Findings suggest that differences in child socialization do not significantly predict personality differences in mixed farming and pastoralist societies as much as one would expect. Adult experiences should be considered as better predictors of personality traits.

In this pilot study, the authors investigate the relationships between both subsistence types and environmental conditions, and various coping mechanisms for drought in 35 societies in Africa. Using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), they find subsistence strategies to have a more significant correlation with the distribution of coping strategies for drought than environmental conditions.

Using a cross-cultural sample of 91 societies, this paper draws on ecological theory to test if unpredictable environments will favor subsistence diversification. The general hypothesis is that societies with high climate unpredictability and resource stress would exhibit more subsistence diversity than societies in more stable climates. The authors examined four environmental and resource stress variables while controlling for temperature variance, subsistence activity, and phylogeny. Support was found for 2 of the 4 variables--chronic scarcity and environmental instability. In the discussion they suggest that more commonly observed events (e.g. annual hunger and climate unpredictability) may give people more motivation to change subsistence than rarer events (e.g. natural hazards and famine).

Using a cross-cultural sample of 91 societies, this paper draws on ecological theory to test if unpredictable environments will favor subsistence diversification. The general hypothesis is that societies with high climate unpredictability and resource stress would exhibit more subsistence diversity than societies in more stable climates. The authors examined four environmental and resource stress variables while controlling for temperature variance, subsistence activity, and phylogeny. Support was found for 2 of the 4 variables--chronic scarcity and environmental instability. In the discussion they suggest that more commonly observed events (e.g. annual hunger and climate unpredictability) may give people more motivation to change subsistence than rarer events (e.g. natural hazards and famine).