ANTH 3250 - Anth of Food Midterm Questions

Describe Brian Hayden’s feasting theory. Describe a brief scenario in which extra work and feasting may lead to political power.

• feasts create social obligations and build power

• feasts were one of the key ways that egalitarian societies became less equal

• people who throw feasts are giving the people who come to the party a “gift” and the people who come to the party become in debt to the feast-thrower (they feel compelled to do what the feast-thrower tells them to do)

• a person (Bob) may encourage extra farming to produce a surplus of food, then host a large feast to display their generosity and wealth → the people who attend will feel indebted to Bob, so when Bob asks them to farm for him they will do it → the food they farmed will be used for the next party → Bob will gain more power and process will keep repeating and he will eventually have political authority

What is the difference between a potluck and potlatch style feast? What is the purpose of a potluck feast? What is the purpose of a potlatch feast?

• potluck: casual gathering where everyone participates and brings things; purpose is to build social cohesion, sharing, social enjoyment

• potlatch: ceremonial feast, a single host provides all the food and gifts; purpose is to display wealth, assert status, create social obligations, build political power

• potluck may also build power because there has to be a host and people may feel indebted to the host

What are the four ways people can get food (modes of production)? Give an example of a culture (past or present) that practiced each.

• hunting and gathering: living off the land, search for food, moving around for resources

  • the Swinomish of the PNW (resource-rich area, easier to live off the land)

• pastoralist: breeding and managing large herds of domesticated animals, large amounts of movement

  • Saami of Europe (“Europe’s only Indigenous people”) (herd reindeer)

  • Nuer of Central/Northern Africa (men own cattle but only women can milk them)

• horticulture: production of plant foods with only the use of hand tools, small scale food production

  • The Adena, Hopewell, and Basketmaker cultures of the New World (past examples)

  • modern gardens (present example)

• agriculture: production of food on a larger scale, labor of large animals, production of far more food than you and your family can consume, irrigation and large-scale investment in plants and soil (landscape is vastly modified), domestication occurs fully

  • Mayan civilization (past example) (milpas = cultivation of multiple crops together, similar to the 3 sisters)

  • the Natufian culture (first to domesticate plants)

  • modern farming societies in the U.S (present example)

** Intensification (surplus and storage) is the transition from hunting and gathering to horticulture

** there was never a jump from one to the next, it was a smooth/slow/natural transition

** factors include resources around you, number of people in your band, how much you move, etc.

Describe how our early ancestors (pre-humans and early humans) developed regarding food. What elements of food did we seek and how did we develop (both evolutionarily and culturally) to gain those items?

• we sought protein (meat) and fat (bone marrow)

• moved from quadrapedalism to bipedalism when the Savanna dried up → freed up our hands to make better tools

• Oldowan tools to smash bones → bone marrow for fat from dead animals whose meat was already gone

• Acheulean hand axes (bifacial tool) → butchering and skinning animals for meat

• Stone tools were developed → hunting

• better tools over time → better hunting ability → able to get more protein and fat

• changing skull (bigger brains, shorter jaw, no more sagittal crest) = changing diet (no longer need to chew as much → less jaw muscle)

Describe the two ends of the continuum of hunter-gatherer mobility. How does this relate to material objects that gatherer-hunters may own? How does it affect the food they eat?

• residential: moving the entire base camp from one type of resource to the next (i.e camp with deer → camp with pine nuts → camp with lithic raw material and rabbits); limited material objects (everything must be easily movable); food is usually eaten fresh (can’t carry or store much), only one main type of food at a time (less variation)

• logistical: moving the base camp from one group of resources to the next and then sending out task groups to areas with different resources; can accumulate more material objects (i.e storage containers, cooking equipment, crafted tools); food can be processed and stored (i.e drying meats, preserving roots, think about the hunger-gatherer game we played where meat and plants could be stored with stone and clay pots, they were likely logistical); more strategic than residential I think

• for logistical, some groups in resource-rich areas (like rivers or coastal zones, think PNW) can stay in one place and send parties to hunt/gather (can go inland for gathering and along the coast/river for hunting)

How did the typical gatherer-hunter band in the past determine who eats what? How did that process work? What does this defend against and how?

• food was usually shared communally

• who got what was determined by relationships with kin, need, or reciprocity

• defended against hoarding (competition over resources) and inequality by ensuring everyone had access to resources → social cohesion, decreased risk

• often, the good hunter would be teased to keep them humble (and less likely to feel superior and feel like they “deserve” to be treated better or with prestige)

**latent and manifest functions???

Describe at least four of the six food study categories put forward by Atkas-Polat and Polat 2020. Give me an example of how you may study within each category.

Tell me how proxemics and public and private sphere influence eating and the language used during meals.

What happens to a plant when it becomes domesticated? What happens to an animal when it becomes domesticated? Is this “good” for the plant or animal? Why?

• plant: through natural selection the edible portion increases in size (i.e we plant the seed of a bigger banana instead of a smaller banana), loss of method of seed dispersal (we want plants to spend their energy growing bigger rather than spend their energy spreading their seed), reduction/loss of protective husks (we can protect the plants for them)

• animal: gets larger then smaller (portable/moveable), typically gets less violent, gains fat (tastes better, lazy/less movement), reproduces faster, becomes less intelligent (from the perspective of humans); dumb/pack/docile animals domesticate well (i.e cows)

• Good: higher survival rates (protection from predators), reliable food supply, fast population growth/guaranteed reproduction

• Bad: loss of independence/survival traits (dangerously high dependence on humans, less violent animals can’t defend themselves), reduced genetic diversity, health problems from selective breeding

What do agriculture and horticulture lead to? What effects do these things have on societal organization and culture?

** surplus → spare time

Physical consequences

• population growth: more kids = more hands to work

• physiological changes: wean earlier to gruels, hormonal suppression, less energy required, body fat increases

• health declines: diseases, nutritional declines, increased workload

• growth interrupted: hypoplasia (teeth), Harris lines (limbs)

• dental problems: cavities, carries

Specialization

• when someone grows/produces your food for you, you can do something else (they get really good at farming and you can get really good at a different skill, everyone gets a better product/higher quality, i.e soldier → better ability to fight → war)

• vital to the development of a state level society and social complexity in general → capitalistic society/market *** some people don’t want to do the work, so they tell other people to do it → ruling class

Population aggregation

• the best farming areas are few and far between (everyone wants to live in the same best farming areas) → everyone lives closer together

• everyone close together → political/government formation (if you want to be in charge of/control people, you have to know where they are)

• more people to talk to, learn from, get diseases from, buy things from, or trade with

Sedentism

• the opposite of being mobile

• limits the resources you have, but you can keep more stuff (more prestige goods → show off more power)

• if you grow your own food, you have to stay to monitor it and protect the crops