Ethnologie de l’alimentation, généralités

The global geography of human subsistence [Texte]
Gavin et al.
Royal Society Open Science, 2018

Although some have argued that unique conditions and events determine each society’s particular subsistence strategy, we find strong support for a general global pattern in which a limited set of environmental, social and historical factors predicts an essential characteristic of all human groups: how we obtain our food.

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We found that the nature of the NPP-PD relationship varied by subsistence type, and that foragers did not occupy significantly lower net primary productivity habitats compared to other subsistence types. These results do not support the MHH. We conclude by discussing the limitations of using modern ethnographic datasets to address the MHH and suggest alternative ways in which it may still be relevant.

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Hunter–gatherers have less famine than agriculturalists [Texte]
Berbesque et al. (Marlowe)
Royal Society Biology Letters, 2014

Here, we analyse famine frequency and severity in a large cross-cultural database, in order to explore relationships between subsistence and famine risk. This is the first study to report that, if we control for habitat quality, hunter–gatherers actually had significantly less—not more—famine than other subsistence modes. This finding challenges some of the assumptions underlying for models of the evolution of the human diet, as well as our understanding of the recent epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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Our results show that foraging societies worldwide do not inhabit significantly more marginal habitats than agriculturalists. In addition, when the warm-climate subsample is used, foragers occupy habitats that are slightly, though not significantly, more productive than agriculturalists. Our results call into question the marginal habitat criticism so often made about foragers in the ethnographic record.

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