Which of the following are pastoral societies? These and other (not so easy) questions can be answered with eHRAF World Cultures, a unique online ethnographic database.

a) Amhara, Hazara, Hopi
b) Mbuti, Vedda, Mi’kmaq
c) Maasai, Kazakh, Basseri
d) Gusii, Semai, Jivaro
e) Ghorbat, Croats, Sea Islanders

In eHRAF World Cultures you can find the answer. Click “Advanced Search”; then click the “Add All” tab for cultures; click “Search”. This will take you to a screen with a list of region names. Click “Narrow Results by Subsistence Type and Sample” and there you can select pastoralists, intensive agriculturalists, horticulturalists, hunter-gatherers, commercial economy, and other subsistence types for the various culture names. That’s pretty cool!