Hunters and gatherers are an economic and cultural type characteristic of peoples who are at an early level of socio-economic development.
The society of hunters and gatherers is characterized by an appropriating economy ( appropriating economy ) and high horizontal mobility; Moreover, the ecological niche of human reproduction does not expand significantly, since there are no effective artificial means of expanding it. With this type of economy, providing a family of 10 people requires 5.6 square meters. km [1] .
For societies, the main occupations of which are hunting and gathering , a very low population density (usually noticeably less than 1 person per sq. Km), small community sizes (usually 20-30 people), and insignificant social differentiation are characteristic. However, according to the latter indicator, hunting and gathering societies show significant differences among themselves. So for Australian aborigines was characterized by pronounced inequality of men and women; such hunting and gathering societies are called "non-egalitarian." On the other hand, Africa's hunter-gatherers ( pygmies , bushmen , hadzas ) are characterized by a fairly definite equality of all members of the communities; in this case, it is customary to talk about “egalitarian” hunting and gathering societies.
Most of the ethnographically described hunting and gathering societies were represented by stray extensive hunter-gatherers. Significant differences from them are demonstrated by intensive specialized hunter-gatherers (the Indians of the Northwest Coast of North America are a classic example), which can be characterized by sedentary behavior, a relatively high population density (more than 1 person per sq. Km), and significant community sizes (about several hundred people), expressed by socio-economic inequality, relatively developed political leadership. Such societies appeared only in places with particularly rich natural resources and still had pronounced limits for their development, since they did not have effective means of expanding their ecological niche.
In history, primitive gatherers and hunters played a crucial role, although these methods of obtaining food did not differ much from representatives of the animal world. So, ancient people collected roots, fruits and seeds of trees, berries, snails, eggs of birds. The hunt helped them get meat. However, even in the early stages of the development of mankind, our distant ancestors managed to subdue the fire, which was carefully guarded by members of the tribe. It began to cook food, which turned out to be much tastier raw. The fire helped to keep warm, scared away wild animals and midges. And even though our distant ancestors still did not know how to make fire on their own, but still its use was an important step on the path of development of civilization.
The situation changes dramatically after the so-called Neolithic revolution , as a result of which people have at their disposal effective artificial means to expand their ecological niche.
See also
- Indigenous peoples
- Non-contact peoples
Notes
Literature
- Grinin L. E. Productive forces and the historical process. 3rd ed . - M .: KomKniga , 2006 .-- 272 p. - ISBN 5-484-00665-1 . .
- Cabo V.R. Primitive Dose-farming Community . - M .: Nauka , 1986 .-- 302 p. Archived April 29, 2007 on the Wayback Machine
- Korotaev A.V. , Malkov A.S., Khalturina D.A. Laws of history. Mathematical modeling of the development of the World System. Demography, economics, culture. 2nd ed . - M .: URSS , 2007 .-- 224 p. - ISBN 978-5-484-00957-2 . .
- Korotaev A.V. , Malkov A.S., Khalturina D.A. Laws of history. Centuries-old cycles and millennial trends. Demography, economics, wars. 2nd ed . - M .: URSS , 2007 .-- 255 p. - ISBN 978-5-484-00958-9 . .