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Patterns of Subsistence
Part I
Cultural Adaptation
A people’s cultural adaptation consists of a
complex of ideas, activities, and
technologies that enable them to survive
and even thrive and that, in turn, impact
their environment.
 Cultural adaptation occurs both as a
process and as the resulting cultural
changes.

Dani of Western New Guinea


The pig features very
strongly in their local
culture, being the most
important tool used in
bartering, especially in
dowries.
Because pigs are
scavengers, they can use
the food wastes of
humans, while dirty and
smelly; pig feces are also
an excellent fertilizer.
The Unit of Adaptation

Ecosystem: a system, or a functioning
whole, composed of both the natural
environment and all the organisms living
within it.
Adaptation in Cultural Evolution
Cultural evolution describes how cultures and
societies have developed over time.
 Throughout most of the 19th century and some
of the 20th century, theoretical approaches
argued that different societies are at different
stages of social development.
 Most 20th-century approaches focus on changes
specific to individual societies and reject the idea
of directional change, or social progress.

Adaptation in Cultural Evolution
(cont)
Convergent evolution is the development
of similar cultural adaptations to similar
environmental condition by different
people with different ancestral cultures.
 Agriculture:

– Developed at least 10,000 years ago
– Independent development of agriculture
occurred in northern and southern China,
Africa, New Guinea and several regions of the
Americas
Adaptation in Cultural Evolution
(cont)

Parallel evolution is the development of
similar cultural adaptations to similar
environmental conditions by peoples
whose ancestral cultures were already
somewhat alike.
Adaptation in Cultural Evolution
(cont)
Culture area is a
geographic region in
which a number of
societies follow similar
patterns of life.
 Examples:

– Vikings, Plains Indians,
Nuer and Australian
Aborigines
Cultural areas of North American people
at the time of European contact.
Adaptation in Cultural Evolution
(cont)
Culture core: cultural features that are
fundamental in the society’s way of making its
living, including food-producing techniques,
knowledge of available resources, and the work
arrangements involved in applying those
techniques to the local environment.
 Food taboos:

– Beef among some Hindu groups
– Pork among some Muslim and Jewish groups
– Insects among some Western groups