Anthropology: Final
Agriculture (def)
"human efforts to modify the environment of plants and animals to increase their productivity and usefulness" - includes domestication of animals and plants
Domesticated animals
(in order) dogs, sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, cats (~10,000ya); later, llama, horse, camel, chicken, turkey, duck
How do anthropologists contribute to health studies?
*Development anthropology - holistic anthropological inquiries can yield insight into the underlying causes for health disparities - by identifying root problems, can influence policy changes to address issues
Earliest evidence for agriculture
- 11,500ya - tool kits for harvesting and grinding - intensive use of wild cereals - more permanent sites with more social complexity - found in modern Middle East
Sugar cane history
- 8000BC: domesticated in New Guinea - 6000BC: spreads to Philippines and India - 400BC: mentioned in early Sanskrit writings
Biocultural perspective vs biomedical perspective on disease
- Body is a starting point for biocultural analysis, but an endpoint for biomedicine - Biocultural analysis investigates the proximate AND ultimate causes for a disease, while biomedicine stops at the proximate causes
Geographically localized disease
Illnesses that are biologically explainable and geographically limited to certain populations: kuru, sleeping sickness, etc.
Macro/micronutrient deficiencies (result)
Impact health, affecting: - growth - physical & cognitive development - working capacity - reproduction - immune system & disease resistance - absorption of other nutrients
Food taboos (def and explanation)
The deliberate avoidance of a food item for reasons other than simple dislike (food preference) - usually culturally transmitted - either applies to all individuals, or to a subset of individuals (e.g. women) - most food taboos relate to animal resources (e.g. pig, cow, human) but can also involve plants, liquid/solid food, wet/dry, cold/hot
Biomedicine
The dominant ethnomedicine in Western societies today: applies principles of natural science and biology to diagnosing disease and maintaining health - not the only successful and widespread system of ethnomedicine; exchange of knowledge between biomedicine and other ethnomedicines is usually two-way
Modes of consumption
The dominant pattern, in a culture, of using things up or spending resources in order to satisfy demands
Medical Anthropology: theoretical approaches
- Ecological/epidemiological approach (examines how environment interacts with culture to cause and spread disease) - Interpretive approach (how people in different cultures label, describe, and experience illness): also understands how ritual systems provide meaning to "sufferers" - Critical medical anthropology (The way that economic & political structures shape people's health, access to health care, & prevailing health systems) - Clinical medical anthropology (medical anth applied to further the goals of healthcare professionals and improve doctor-patient understanding)
Health legacy of colonialism
- Global homogenization of infectious disease: pathogens moved across continents, syphilis, yellow fever, cholera, TB, all spread across the globe - Striking divergence in experience of infection: health of colonizers (Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand) improved beginning in 18th century, while health of colonized people became markedly worse - Improvement in health not (only) due to biomedicine - decline in mortality predates discoveries: in fact, it was likely improvements in nutrition and public sanitation that were responsible for improved health
Types of disease
- Injury (damage to some part of the anatomy due to accidents, dangerous environment, risky behaviour, or some combination thereof) - Infection (caused by microorganisms which spread from one individual to another, and cause some sort of challenge to the body's function) - Malnutrition (physiological disorders that stem from lack or surfeit of nutrients) - Genetic - mutations that contribute to some form of compromised function - Chronic: either from genetic factors or lifelong behaviours - Psychological or behavioural
Biological/medical normalcy
- Normal tends to get equated with healthy - Important to develop a range for what might be considered normal, and evidence supporting a relationship between a trait and an increased/decreased risk of disease across populations/environments
Dams and infectious disease
- Produce an increase in malaria prevalence (due to still water) - Dams also result in increases in schistosomiasis and onchocerciasis (river blindness)
Class
- a category based on economic position / socioeconomic status - based on income, education, occupational prestige
How did agriculture result in social stratification?
- allows for the production of resources that can be easily stored (like nuts, grains, cheese) - surplus food can be traded; allows for trade&exchange relationships - potential for increased wealth, which leads to social stratification
How are domesticated animals recognized archaeologically?
- by size (decrease) - geographic distribution - population characteristics (more females than males)
How do we categorize health issues?
- cause of the disease/illness - affected body part - symptoms experienced health labels/explanations in one system may differ from labels/explanations in another culture
How is globalization changing health?
- changing the distribution of diseases - allowing new diseases to emerge
What may have contributed to the change in subsistence methods (i.e. switch to agriculture)?
- climate change (climate fluctuated less in Holocene, meaning single food source was more reliable) - population and resource pressure (possibly saturation of h/g, decline of big game) - social and technological factors
Beliefs surrounding death and dying
- cultural variability in how people see the afterlife, often influenced by religious beliefs which dictate practices/behaviours -
Why might nutritional status decline with agriculture?
- dependency on one crop - change in texture/quality of food - uneven food distribution due to social status - waste accumulation due to sedentism - new opportunities for zoonoses (infectious diseases from animals) - high pop. density favours "herd diseases" like measles, smallpox, etc. - skeletal evidence for poor nutrition: linear enamel hypoplasia (growth arrests in teeth caused by deficiencies), bone loss due to anemia, hematomas that cause bone porosity (from scurvy) - also cavities (more prevalent!) - stature decreases - infectious disease / poor nutrition synergy - overall, increased fertility and increased morbidity
Arthur Kleinman
- developed an approach to help recognize the cultural influences on a person's experience, understanding, & reaction to their health - Explanatory models are often used to explain how people view their illness in terms of how it happens, what causes it, how it affects them, and what will make them feel better - Questionnaires are used so patients can define these things for the practitioner
How do we explain food taboos?
- ecological reasons - social cohesion - medical reasons - usually couched in religion, but that is not a sufficient explanation
How to identify ancient pathogens
- exchange between dead body and environment, so many contaminant pathogens (added after death) are present - of the endogenous pathogens, only a fraction may have contributed to death - degradation may have affected aDNA
Forager skill set
- gather various nuts, berries, roots, fruits, honey, insects, eggs - hunt or trap birds, fish, mammals - knowledge of water sources - tracking animals and avoiding predators - manufacture of tools for hunting, carrying, digging, processing
Biocultural health
- health is fundamentally influenced by culture: affected by social interaction, behaviours, food choices, etc. - social well-being is a critical aspect of a healthy life for humans - biocultural approach investigates biological outcome of social influences
How do we study infectious disease in the ancient past?
- historical record - art history - zooarchaeology (find animal remains) - archaeology - paleopathology (e.g. macroscopic analysis of bone)
Who benefits from changes associated with global demand?
- households with steady, predictable income: can diversify their diets and access more foods, improving nutrition - due to growing wealth disparities, some people benefit a lot, while others remain poor; poor communities often face declines in nutritional health because of increased dependence on market food
'Vampire' deviant burials
- human remains buried to prevent possible reanimation: e.g. held down by spikes, rocks, sickles, decapitated, legs cut off, or bricks placed in mouth
Prohibition of pork
- in the Quran and the Old Testament - religious explanation: 'because they are unclean' (symbolic/interpretive perspective)- but many other scavengers are not prohibited - medical explanation: associated with trichinosis (common explanation) - but other meats are also associated with diseases, often worse ones - ecological explanation: ruminants (cows, goats) can survive on grasses and foods humans can't eat, but pigs are omnivores and compete for food resources; also not well-adapted to climate/ecology of middle east, no protection from sun (materialist/adaptive perspective)
Marvis Harris ag theory
- increased human populations and decline in big game animals - more competition for resources
Sugar example
- known in places like India, Middle East, Arab Spain, Southern France in 8th-9th century; but rare and costly - sugar production is very labour-intensive: cane is chopped, ground, pressed/pounded/soaked, liquid is evaporated - popular among European aristocrats ~1700-1900 - Columbus introduces it to New World in 1493, brought to Canary islands in 1515, Brazil producing it by 1526, Barbados 1627/Jamaica 1665 - contributed to slave trade significantly: slavery ends ~1850 but sugar is established by then - sugar drives people to move around the world, e.g. Indians to Fiji, Japanese/Chinese to Hawaii for plantations - modern sugar plantations have bad working conditions - sugar began as a glamorous luxury, but slowly worked its way down the class hierarchy - shows up in skeletal evidence (caries in teeth): dental health universally poor in post-Industrial London, indicating that sugar was widely accessible - sugar is no longer glamorous, still has a few ritual meanings (wedding cakes)
Commemoration of deceased
- marking place of burial or death, provides place to return to and remember loved ones - grave markers reflect belief systems - ossuary, painted skulls - Other rituals in which individuals: a)Celebrate an individual's life b)Represent their (or the deceased's) role or status within a community c) interact with their ancestors, actually or symbolically - postmortem photography - Day of the Dead - Toraja: commemoration of the deceased
Sugar entered European consumption as...
- medicine and spice (used as a spice with other Medieval spices in many holiday meals - e.g. Eggnog (1700s), made from previously expensive milk and egg ingredients and newly available sugar and rum) - sculptures - jams, pastes, syrups - in tea and coffee, fruit drinks, in frozen desserts
World Systems Theory
- no place in the world is economically isolated - Core countries focus on higher-skill, capital intensive production - Rest of world (periphery and semi-periphery) contributes labour and raw materials - demand of core countries places pressure on other countries to supply; this makes peripheral countries reliant on core countries
Forager labour division
- not always gender-based - often younger individuals collect and hunt while older individuals help with child care
Food insecurity
- often a result of poverty - an individual's lack of access to healthy foods they enjoy and need for themselves and their family - stress about how to access food resources, or where to get them from - not having sufficient or safe food for future generations - occurs in Canada on a daily basis
Food classification systems
- people can classify food in different ways - e.g. edible-inedible, male-female
What can we tell about the people of the past by looking at their dead?
- physical attributes, such as size - population patterns (demography) - nutrition (what they ate + impact on their lives) - patterns of disease and trauma - burial practices and social status
What can aDNA contribute to the study of ancient pathogens?
- presence of pathogen, evolution of pathogen, impact on individual people - CAN'T contribute cause of death, cause of lesions, or lack of disease
6 main genera of plants domesticated
- rice - barley - wheat - millet - maize - potato
Tuberculosis in Victorian era (19th century)
- romanticized tuberculosis and its effects - thinness, pale (transparent) skin, rosy cheeks, red lips - beauty standards among Victorian wealthy mimicked the effects of TB for decades: makeup, corsets - although TB is a possibly fatal disease, elites may not have perceived it as a form of suffering
Richard III case study
- ruled England for only 2 years, 1483 - 1485 - last of the Plantagenet rulers - Killed in a battle against invading Tudors - described as a good king during his reign, but later vilified by Tudor propaganda - believed to be buried at Greyfriars - a grave was found in theoretical location, but too small for the body located: skeleton of a male, late 20's early 30's, gracile build -> matches profile of Richard III - scoliosis: likely mimicked a hunchback - perimortem injuries resemble battle wounds - mtDNA match with living female-line relatives! very high probability that this is Richard III
Village life
- sedentism - investment in architecture - decreased infant mortality = increased population - larger social groups, so potential for greater social complexity (>200 people)
Natufians
- show earliest evidence for transition to agriculture - 11,000ya in region that is now Israel and Jordan - site of Eynan in Israel: increased sedentary behaviour - mortar and pestle, permanent structures - high status burials show jewelry, decorated skulls, other unique ritualistic aspects - evidence of growing community ties, increasing social complexity
How can dental microwear tell us what hominins ate?
- soft, tough material, like plant leaves, is chewed by a shearing motion which leaves striations across teeth - hard, brittle material, like seeds or nuts, is chewed in a crushing motion which leaves craters and pocks
Schistosomiasis
- spread by contact with fresh water infected with the parasite, which is released from freshwater snails - caused by a helminth that reproduces in humans - symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, blood in stool/urine; eventually, even liver/kidney cancer, infertility, and kidney failure - in children, can cause poor growth and learning difficulties - common in children in developing countries who are exposed to infected water
How does the history of sugar tell us about status and power?
- sugar associated with different statuses at different times (e.g. upper class, middle class, everyone) - as well as power over supply/demand, work force, and people (slaves)
Impacts of agriculture
- surplus production - sedentism (one place) - social stratification - centralized governments - fundamental change in the way humans interact with the environment: from dependency on resources to control over domesticated resources - major diet changes -> health changes? - changes in demography, economy, urbanization - biocultural evolution: observable morphological changes in humans
Brian Hayden ag theory
- switch from "k" species (slowly reproducing, few young, susceptible to over-exploitation) like deer as food sources to "r" species (reproduce and reestablish easily, resist over-exploitation) like grasses
Fijian food taboos for pregnant women
- taboo to eat many fish species (rock cod, baracuda, etc.) - medical explanation: fish can be poisoned with ciguatera toxin (produced by dinoflagellate that lives on dead coral), which bioaccumulates in larger fish: toxins are practically undetectable and rates of ciguatera probably increasing due to global warming - in humans, causes neurological + physical symptoms (transient paralysis, diarrhea, vomiting) - can harm fetuses and pass through breast milk! - women face social repercussions, expect negative health outcomes for children (e.g. rough skin, smelly joints) - taboos are acquired before they learn about these consequences - taboo reduces a woman's chance of poisoning by 60% while breastfeeding, 30% while pregnant
Why do we eat?
- to survive and reproduce - to make ourselves and others happy - to alter/control our bodies
Modern foragers
- typically live in marginal areas: deserts, rainforests, circumpolar regions - exploit different resources in different environments
Consequences of breaking a food taboo
- usually harsher than breaking a food restriction - violation may be perceived to carry social or supernatural sanctions
Mesolithic
17,000-10,000ya - extinction of large game species - shift to broad-spectrum collecting - less nomadic populations
Why are emerging diseases an anthropological concern?
-> environmental change due to human interactions influences introduction -> different environmental conditions influence transmission -> population growth and economic development influences spread -> increase in human migration around the world spreads illness, dictated by socio-cultural factors -> human behaviour affects how we interact and treat emerging diseases
Medical anthropologists study...
... the relationship between health, illness, and culture - interaction of disease with natural environment and human culture - the ways human cultures react to and understand disease and illness - how political and social forces shape human health - cultural variation in conceptions of health, illness, and treatment
Agriculture evolved...
...independently, in many regions around the globe.
How do we know what ancient hominins ate?
1) Size, structure, and shape of teeth/jaws (e.g. dental microwear) 2) Cut marks on animal bones 3) Stone tools (only date to after 2.5mya)
Major processes of dietary change
1) Worldwide spread of domesticated plant/animal varieties (introduction or removal of species from a region; in the past, resulted in dramatic changes - e.g. potatoes in Europe = pop. boom) 2) Rise of increasingly complex international distribution methods (new foods are made available through commercial channels; facilitated by food processing, started with specialized foods) 3) Migration of people between rural/urban areas or between continents (exchange of dietary/cultural preferences)
Steps of forensic anthro
1. Determine that it is human 2. Number the skeletons (determine # of bodies) 3. Sex the skeleton 4. Racing the skeleton (ethnicity) 5. Aging the Skeleton (Epiphyseal union, pubic symphysis morphology, cranial sutures, dental aging) 6. Estimating skeletal structure` 7. Establishing cause of death
In the Upper Paleolithic...
50,000-10,000 years ago - groups of foragers/h&g roamed the earth - small groups of up to 75 individuals - nomadic; no long-term settlements, fairly egalitarian / no status distinctions and little conflict
Humans were foragers for ____ of human history.
99%
Culture-specific syndromes
A collection of signs & symptoms that are restricted to a particular culture (or few cultures) - must be categorized as a disease in the culture, must have widespread familiarity in the culture, lacks biochemical or tissue abnormalities, usually recognized and treated by folk medicine of the culture
Subtlety
A sculpture for the wealthy made of sugar - idea borrowed from Muslim world, Sultan of Egypt made giant tree out of 73k kg sugar at Ramadan in 1040 - decoration between courses at Medieval royal feasts, by 16th century merchants had them too - modern wedding cakes are influenced by subtleties! fancy sugared cakes were originally only for the wealthy, but slowly moved down class hierarchy
Levelling mechanism
A societal obligation compelling people to redistribute goods so that no one accumulates more wealth than anyone else - e.g. !Kung criticizing and teasing their peers and their hunt to keep them humble, maintain egalitarianism
Why can rituals be useful healing tools?
A song, ritual, or chant may not initially do anything biologically, but it can give a sense of hope, understanding, & meaning (which can then evoke biological changes) -> known as the placebo effect in Western biomedicine
Health (WHO definition)
A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
Ebola
A virus that targets immune cells and causes hemorrhaging (fever, rash, vomiting, diarrhoea, internal and external bleeding) - Infection through close contact with blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected animals - 25-90% fatal - transmission facilitated by traditional/cultural burial practices (touching face, moving body between villages, delayed burial); 365 ebola deaths caused by one funeral, increased exposure/risk
Epidemic
A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease.
How did agriculture lead to biocultural evolution?
Agriculture, a subsistence system (something social/cultural), resulted in observable morphological differences in individuals - reduced toughness of food resulted in less masticatory stress, changing shape of skulls and jaw
Food desert
An area characterized by a lack of affordable, fresh and nutritious food - usually in poorer urban neighbourhoods - residents are less likely to have access to transit, healthy food is usually more expensive - e.g. Jane and Finch neighbourhood
Anorexia nervosa
An eating disorder in which a fear of weight gain leads people to starve themselves - most common in white, middle-class women - a Western culture-bound syndrome, implicated by a culture which idealizes thinness and dieting
Pandemic
An epidemic that is geographically widespread over a large region
Zoonosis (def and examples)
An infectious disease that is transmissible from animals to humans - brucellosis (cattle) - hydatid disease (dogs) - hantavirus (rodents) - cowpox (cattle)
Disease
An objectively measurable and universal pathological condition/lesion of the body - abnormality of function of the organs of the body - something a doctor can identify and attempt to treat: measurable and quantifiable
Funeral
An observance held for a dead person, usually before burial or cremation
Who popularized sugar?
Catherine of Braganza, married to King Charles II, popularized tea with sugar in 1662 - sugar became a sign of wealth, security, and status
Burial types
Coffin, casket, sarcophagus, ecoburial, shroud, masuoleum, ossuary, mound/barrow, sky burial, hanging coffins, communal tombs, fantasy coffins, cremation, bone picking, mummification, burial at sea, cryonics, space burial, body donations, etc.
Cash crops
Crops grown by developing nations to supply First World demand; usually non-food and non-nutritive crops (tobacco, sisal, coffee, tea, sugar) - an example of changing consumption/production patterns - households switch from subsistence food production to cash crop production, which force them to purchase food instead of growing it (depersonalized consumption)
Ethno-etiology
Cross-cultural explanations for the underlying causes of health problems and suffering
Social construct
Cultural meanings assigned to objects, events, practices, institutions
Illness
Culturally specific perceptions and experiences of a health problem - perceptions: how it is 'seen', experiences: how it makes people feel/react - "encultured" view of disease
How is consumption culture?
Culture dictates the availability, production, distribution, and desirability of a good or service - taste preference, trends/fashion, trade all depend on culture - culture also dictates where we get goods from and who is 'entitled' to what - meanings attached to goods are socially constructed
Food preferences
Degree of liking for a food item
Kuru
Disease suffered by the Fore population of Papua New Guinea - means 'tremors' in the Fore language - started in Northern villages in the 1900s - mostly afflicted women and children <8 - characterized by unsteady gait, tremors, loss of muscle and emotional control, death within 3m to 2y - Fore believed it was caused by witchcraft or ghosts - Australian patrol officers thought it was psychosomatic, caused by trauma of Western colonialism - med anths determined that the cause was the funerary practices of the Fore: the dead would be eaten by their loved ones - found to be caused by prions, affecting nervous system: transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, transmitted by ingesting neurological tissue - Fore were informed and modified funerary practices
Oasis hypothesis
Domestication began in oases during dry period
Food, consumption (def)
Food: the item & its meaning Consumption: the process of eating
Foraging
Foragers use food that is available in nature: e.g. by fishing, gathering, hunting - foraging is the oldest and most common way of production in hominin history
What is "the original affluent society" and why?
Foraging: - minimal labour required - <5h/week 'working' - lots of free time for socializing, crafts, and other activities - much easier than agriculture
Evil eye
Found in former Roman Empire and Central/South America; caused by when a person of greater strength gazes upon a weaker counterpart with envy or admiration; results in bad luck or inexplicable health problems - cures/preventative measures vary by culture
South America (agriculture)
Highland/coastal Andes, ~7500-4500ya - domestication of llamas, alpacas, guinea pigs, quinoa, and potato
How might status be communicated through food and eating?
How/what/when/where we choose to eat food is performative: may reflect or signal aspects of our social, cultural, or individual identities - various socio-cultural factors shape consumption patterns, including class, gender, race, age, type of society, and interactions between these - e.g. our choice of where to shop is determined by our individual values
Factors that could cause a pathogen to emerge
Human demography and behaviour Ecological changes, including those resulting from economic development and land use International travel and commerce Tech and industry (e.g. globalization of food, food processing, drug use) Microbial adaptation and change (e.g. antibiotic resistance) Breakdown of public health measures
Mark Cohen ag theory
Hunter gatherer population saturated around 10,000 B.P. (difficult to prove)
Resignation sickness
In Sweden, affects children who are asylum seekers - unexplained coma - thought to be related to previous trauma combined with migration insecurity; only resolves when they begin to feel secure
Why were many diseases blamed on 'vampires'?
In the past, the cause of diseases was unknown; blaming the dead was as logical as anything else - linked to misunderstandings about disease (e.g. TB, vampires are pale, thin) - lack of knowledge about decomposition (natural processes may be mistaken for activity: no rigor mortis, decomposing fluids forced into mouth by bloat and mistaken for fresh blood)
Why could Europeans and Asians be considered "immunologically sophisticated"?
In these regions, epidemics of TB, plague, and smallpox were very common during the Middle Ages; many individuals contracted diseases as children, and those that survived to adulthood had immunity. Since these populations were exposed to more infections for longer, they have a much higher immunity to them than populations who have never been exposed
Epidemiological transition
In wealthy countries, by mid-20th century, infectious diseases appeared to no longer be a major threat to health - Reveals hubris of Western medicine, and lack of concern for many of world's citizens who still suffer from infectious diseases
Delocalization of food
Increasing proportion of the daily diet comes from different places: less control over food networks and choices
Ethnomedical system
Indigenous healing systems which vary cross-culturally - elements in common: theories of etiology (disease causation), diagnostic criteria, therapeutic measures, formalized interactions between patients and caregivers, and mechanisms for training new healers - vary in whether they ascribe the causes of ailments to within or beyond the patient
Three bodies to consider in the analysis of health and disease
Individual body: locus of disease in biomedicine Social body: the seam between the physical body and the social world of the individual; unstable social world = worse health Body politic: the control exerted by social/political forces on the body
Deviant burials
Individuals who did not adhere to the 'norm' in death may have also been treated 'differently' in life - sometimes evidence of fear of vampires
Emerging (infectious) diseases
Infections that have recently appeared within a population or those whose incidence or geographic range is rapidly increasing - can be newly ID'd species/strains, evolutions of a known infection, diseases introduced in a new region or one that is disturbed, reemerging or resurgent infections
Medicalization
Labelling an issue as a problem needing medical treatment for economic/political reasons - deviant behaviour + life processes are often medicalized (e.g. menopause, hyperactivity, grief&depression)
Was agriculture the natural "next step" for human evolution?
NO! - many populations did not adopt agriculture - in some places, ecology is more suited to foraging; e.g. Inuit, Ju/hoansi - other modes of subsistence are going on today
Virgin soil epidemics
Occur when a new pathogen enters a new population; akin to epidemics of emerging infectious diseases
Food restrictions
Periodic denial of certain foods (e.g., pregnant women)
Poverty and food insecurity cycle
Poverty -> food insecurity, hunger, malnutrition -> poor physical/cognitive development -> low productivity ->
Food swamp
Region where the food options are overwhelmingly unhealthy
Mortuary archaeology
Subfield of archaeology concerned with understanding the practices and beliefs surrounding death
Diseases that manifest on bone
Syphilis, tuberculosis, leprosy
Embodiment
The biocultural idea that social factors like race, gender, and socioeconomic status (poverty), and others, can influence our physical body - e.g. consistent link between children living in poverty and negative brain development
Are food taboos universal?
The idea of certain foods being taboo is present in virtually all known human societies; however, the food taboos differ greatly between societies
Ethnomedicine
The investigation of health-related beliefs, knowledge, and practices of specific cultural groups - term is often incorrectly and ethnocentrically associated with non-Western health systems (folk medicine)
Subsistence strategy (def + examples)
The primary means of getting food - e.g. Pastoralism, Horticulture, Agriculture, Foraging/Gathering
Somatization
The process through which the body absorbs social stress and manifests symptoms of suffering
Social status
The relative rank that an individual holds in a social hierarchy; based on: - power: control of resources in one's interest - wealth: accumulation of material resources or access to production - prestige: social honour or respect
Sickness
The socially recognized set of expectations for a "sick" individual: sick role is sometimes stigmatized, which may cause additional suffering for sick individual
Poverty
The state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support - low socio-economic status - linked to both obesity and undernutrition in North America
Natural Habitat Hypothesis
The theory that the earliest domesticates appeared in the area that their wild ancestors inhabited
How is domestication a form of mutualism?
There is a mutually beneficial relationship between animals and plants: - humans receive food - humans help disperse seeds, facilitate fertilization/mating, etc. - we rely on each other for survival
Culture and causes of death
Various cultural factors contribute to patterns of morbidity and mortality in a society - spread of disease influenced by behaviours and practices - social factors determine who has access to nutrition and healthcare - culture may determine capital punishment and interpersonal violence rates
How is food culture?
What we eat and how we eat can become an expression of our ideas and beliefs - a single food can have many meanings and associations
Domestication
When plants and animals become dependent on human intervention for survival - a form of mutualism: mutually beneficial relationship between humans and animals/plants - plants and animals change through selection, but not because of any real "intention" by humans - e.g. wild vs. domestic wheat, strawberries, watermelon, peach, banana,
China (agriculture)
Yangtze/yellow river ~8000ya - rice and millet
Local cultures ___________ outside First World influences/market forces
adopt, adapt to, or resist - in variable ways
Nutrient and infection cycle
malnutrition -> lowered immunity, epithelial barrier damage, weight loss, growth faltering -> infection -> appetite loss, nutrient loss, nutrient malabsorption, altered metabolism ->
Food is a form of...
material culture (MC = anything made or modified by humans)
Agricultural demographic transition
pop. increases, disease also increases (infectious diseases): disease decreases as healthcare improves, population increases due to improvements in healthcare (two 'periods of growth')
Mesoamerica (agriculture)
~7000ya, domestication of maize, beans, and squash - e.g. teosinte -> corn
