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Academic Year 2004/2005


Hunters, Gatherers, Fishers, Gardeners
ANTH 250 SP

Crosslistings:
ARCP 250

Almost all humans today derive their sustenance, directly or indirectly, from agriculture, but for over 90% of the existence of Homo sapiens, people subsisted by hunting and gathering, fishing, and gardening. We tend to think of hunter/gatherers as living like the "Bushmen" of the Kalahari of southern Africa, Australian Aborigines, or the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic. Ethnographic accounts of these and other peoples give us some insight into the hunter/gatherer way of life, but they describe populations existing in marginal environments. The hunter/gatherer/fisher/gardeners of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods of prehistory inhabited environmentally rich river valleys, lakeshores, and coastal areas in temperate and tropical climates. They were characterized by higher population densities, more productive economies, greater intensity of material production, and more complex regional social interaction. Using primarily archaeological sources, supplemented by ethnographic descriptions, the course will explore this "lost" period of human existence.

MAJOR READINGS

Kelly, THE FORAGING SPECTRUM: DIVERSITY IN HUNTER-GATHERER LIFEWAYS
Price and Brown, PREHISTORIC HUNTER-GATHERERS: THE EMERGENCE OF CULTURAL COMPLEXITY
Thomas, THE HARMLESS PEOPLE

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Three essays, plus a final paper.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS ANTH    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005


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