Subsistence Types in eHRAF
In eHRAF World Cultures, your search query can be filtered by subsistence type. This is done after a Basic or Advanced Search on the Region and Culture Results page. The following are the subsistence types that you will find in eHRAF.
| Database | Subsistence Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| WC | hunter-gatherers | also called foragers; depend almost entirely (86% or more) on hunting, fishing, and gathering for subsistence |
| WC | primarily hunter-gatherers | depend mostly (56% or more) on hunting, fishing, and gathering for subsistence |
| WC | pastoralists | depend mostly (56% or more) on herding or pastoralism |
| WC | horticulturalists | depend mostly (56% or more) on simple agriculture (extensive or horticulture) |
| WC | intensive agriculturalists | depend mostly (56% or more) on intensive agriculture (with more or less permanent field cultivation and/or irrigation) |
| WC | agro-pastoralists | intensive agriculture/horticulture and pastoralism combined contribute 66% or more to the economy, with agriculture contributing at least 36% but less than 56%, and pastoralism contributes at least 16% but less than 56% |
| WC | other subsistence combinations | other combinations of hunting, fishing, gathering, pastoralism, and horticulture or intensive agriculture |
| WC | commercial economy | at the time of description people did not make their living mostly by hunting, fishing, gathering, pastoralism or agriculture, but mostly made their living by working for wages, selling products, or in business |
| Both | not assigned | not enough information |
| A | hunter-gatherers | also called foragers; depend almost entirely (76% or more) on hunting, gathering, and fishing for subsistence |
| A | hunter-gatherers to food producers | during the tradition the people began as hunter-gatherers and became dependent on food production (56% or more) by the end of the tradition. Food production includes combinations of hunting, gathering, fishing, pastoralism, horticulture, and intensive agriculture. It differs from other subsistence combinations in that there was a clear change over time |
| A | primarily hunter-gatherers | depend mostly on hunting, gathering and fishing (56% percent or more) |
| A | horticulturalists | depend mostly (56% or more) on simple agriculture (extensive or horticulture). Horticulture frequently requires a long fallow period. This category includes any type of agriculture that is not primarily (56% or more) intensive. |
| A | agro-pastoralists | depend mostly (56% or more) on a combination of horticulture/agriculture (36% or more) and pastoralism (16% or more)” |
| A | pastoralists | depend mostly (56% or more) on herding or pastoralism |
| A | horticulture to intensive agriculture | at the beginning of the tradition, people depended mostly (56% or more) on horticulture and by the end of the tradition they depended mostly (56% or more) on intensive agriculture |
| A | intensive agriculturalists | depend mostly (56% or more) on intensive agriculture. Intensive agriculture means a variety of techniques are used so that fields can be permanently cultivated. These techniques can include irrigation, terracing, crop rotation, plows, and/or some sort of fertilizer that restores nutrients to the soil. |
| A | other subsistence combinations | other combinations of hunting, fishing, gathering, pastoralism, horticulture, and intensive agriculture |
For more information on how to filter by subsistence type, see Filtering search results in eHRAF.