ANTH 307/ Ecological Anthropology
Midterm Review Sheet
Spring 2010/Minnesota State University Moorhead
Dr. Roberts

As stated on the syllabus the midterm exam will be given on March 10. It will be comprised of a combination of multiple-choice, true-false, matching, and essay. Please note that your review of Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya is due that night as well.

Theory and Concepts

• Please make sure you read Bates' chapter one thoroughly. It lays the groundwork for the remainder of the book. Even though, if you've had anthropology classes before, it may seem redundant he is VERY explicit about his particular view of culture. Pay particular attention to his discussion of "aspects of culture."
• Utilizing lecture notes as well as the on-line readings be able to distinguish the most important features of the following perspectives on human-environmental interrelations: environmental determinism; possibilism; cultural ecology; systems ecology; ethnoecology; evolutionary ecology; and political ecology.
• Be familiar with Julian Steward's role in the development of ecological anthropology.
• Be aware of how Roy Rappaport's book Pigs for the Ancestors fits into ecological anthropology and why it was so important at the time it was published.
• Bates' Chapter 2 covers a number of concepts that are extremely important for the study of ecological/environmental anthropology. I expect you to be familiar with them. This includes the following:    
  • What is ecology and what role does the concept adaptation play?
  • Be able to differentiate between the concepts of environment and ecosystem.
  • Be able to differentiate between the concepts of habitat and niche.
  • What is the concept carrying capacity used for and why is it always more difficult to establish with regard to humans?
  • How does Bates distinguish between stability and resilience as properties of ecosystems?
• Be familiar with the basic classificatory scheme of procurement systems that Bates introduces in his second chapter.

• What can be said about the role of foraging in human (pre)history? What caveats (warnings) need to be carefully considered before we try to extrapolate backward in time from contemporary foragers to the Paleolithic?
• Be familiar with the general characteristics of foraging societies identified in class and in Bates' textbook.
• Be familiar with the specifics of the ethnographic examples of foragers that Bates provides - i. e., the Dobe Ju/'hoansi, Inuit, and Batak. Think about both similarities and differences.
• Video: Vision Man

Horticulture

• What are some possible reasons why humans may have developed agriculture? Where did these processes of domestication and cultivation take place?
• What does Bates say is the objective of any form of agriculture?
• In an anthropological sense, what is horticulture and where is it typically found today?
• What kinds of techniques/methods distinguish horticulture from other forms of cultivation?
• What are the key aspects of social organization found in horticultural societies?
• Be familiar with the specifics of the three ethnographic examples of horticulturalists that Bates provides - i.e., the Pueblo and Yanomamo. Think about both similarities and differences.
• Video: The Samanthas

• What is pastoralism? Where is it normally practiced and why? 
• What kinds of management practices/techniques do pastoralists commonly employ in making a living?
• What are some common elements of the social organization of pastoral societies? (Hint - do not just memorize a list of traits: be familiar with how these principles function and how this relates to a pastoral lifestyle).
• What kinds of new challenges do pastoralists confront today and how are these factors changing the nature of their societies?
• Be familiar with the specifics of the three ethnographic examples of pastoralists that Bates provides - i.e., the Ariaal of Kenya and the Yoruk of Turkey. Think about both similarities and differences.
• Think about some of the similarities and differences between the procurement systems of foraging, horticulture, and pastoralism.
• Video: Keepers of the Genes: India's Pastoralists and Their Breeds.

• What are the means by which agriculture can be intensified?
• What kinds of differences exist between peasant farmers and horticulturalists?
• What role does risk play in the lives of peasant farmers? What are the various sources of risk they face?
• What kinds of impacts has economic development had upon peasants?
• Know general elements from the ethnographic cases of the Tamang of Nepal, the village of Cucurpe in Mexico, the Kofyar of Nigeria, and rural peasants in Egypt in Bates' chapter 6.
• Video: To be decided