art

1a) I think the art was meant to be a form of instruction or records or story that could be passed down. It showcased the life they lived and in doing so recorded their day to day activities and showed instruction for it and other things, like rituals.

1. There were more paintings of animals than people because it could have recorded the killings of animals. Or it could have been a form of showing off for them, like a trophy for their victory.
2. The cave paintings tell us that Paleolithic people then also had other things in mind than simply survival. It shows a people of more than just people who hunted, ate and slept. They had forms of recreation, of story telling, and art.
3. Challenges they could have faced in their cave paintings was the height problem and the light problem. The art was done inside caves so light would have been ver important for them and although fire could have solved the problem it still would have it’s limitations. Most of the art was done on ceilings so reaching would have been difficult. Another difficulty would have been that the would have needed to first find material they can use to paint. All in all, this tells me that painting was not an easy task, like it is now. They had to overcome various things to paint.
4. The three things that come to mind for the reasons behind the cave paintings is it could have been used as a form of instruction/record keeping, a hobby, as trophies.

1. A similarity I find in between the Lascaux Caves and modern art is that both are a form a communication. Both are trying to broadcast a message, whether it be instructions of day to day life or about emotion.

1. a) My favorite form of art is music and more specifically hip hop. Many use this style of music to depict their harsh truths of life and how they see it. It serves as a tool to express their thoughts and ideas through quick lyrical prose. 

1. Their is a culture surrounding hip hop and most that do belong to this dress, act, and live a certain way. Although before this group could have been said to wear baggy clothes, like flashy and over the top jewelry, and curse a lot this group is now changing. Hip hop has turned into something more than the poor ghetto man’s music. It has sophistication now, I think. And the usual baggy clothes don’t encompass the entirety of the hip hop culture. Now hip hop lovers wear all sorts of things. Although, one thing that has remained in the hip hop culture is flashy jewelry.

1. I think this art form helps people because it gets kids off the streets and out of gangs. Many rap artists say music was their outlet and was the reason they stayed out of trouble. It helps young kids express emotion and develop creativity. Some detrimental effects is that hip hop does tend to focus on over the top living and sometimes glamorizes drugs, violence, and gangs.

Yanomamo

In Western culture killing is wrong and although deaths resulting from defense is sometimes accepted revenge killings are not. But for the Yanomamo revenge killings are acceptable and encouraged. A man and their family can be killed if certain crimes are committed including those that have to do with infidelity, appropriation of women, and other crimes having to do with disputes over women. Although, there are other crimes that result in revenge killings most do have to do with women. Revenge killings are common among their culture and the killings are done by the family’s themselves. Unlike, in the Western cultures any sort of acceptable killing is done by the government but never is it for a woman. Responses to killings are revenge raids. Once a family or community has someone that dies they are allowed to retaliate with their own raid against another family or community. This is done in steps that include shouting matches, chest pounding, slapping, clubbing, and fighting with axes, machetes and bows and arrows. When someone is killed then the raids start, and the other group retaliates, then the previous group can retaliate again. The faster the retaliation the better though because it shows strength of the group. Showing how strong they are instead of showing their weakness in the end can keep them safe because it can deter other groups from going after them and their families.

Unokais are those that have killed someone among the Yanomamo. They are considered to be the strong ones in a tribe because the have killed and lived through it. Aside from being known as the strong one of the group, a benefit for being known as an Unokais is that the reputation of one can keep him and his family safe. In fact, it is a good thing for a tribe to have one because the others will fear the tribes with Unokais.

On the other side os this is the non-Unokais. They are considered weak and cowards. Their reputation makes them easy targets because others know that non-Unokais will not retaliate if their women are taken from the. So although they might be safe from being pulled into a raid they also leave their own tribes vulnerable to those who think they are stronger.

The type of political system that exists among the Yanomamo is that of kinship. This is why revenge killings are frequent. Most tribes are all somehow related to the leader of the group because they tend to be the ones with the biggest family. So, hurt one then it means you’ve hurt them all. Retaliation in this way is almost inevitable because they are related to the leader.

The relationship between revenge killing and The social structure among the Yanomamo is one that considers the Unokais as the top tier. This is so because being a Unokais is highly favorable because of the attached reputation and so marriages are a plenty for them. Next, the relationship between revenge killings and kinship exist because the reason for revenge killings is because someone’s kin of another tribe was wronged and they feel it their need to retaliate. Of course, the killings can’t take place without enough people agreeing to it but because they are related they will have enough people for the raid.

Marriage and reproduction is also related to revenge killings. Women are taken during raids by those that participated, the Unokais. Unokais, on the other hand, are also able to appropriate them from other because maybe by their mere reputation or by strength. In any case, they have a better chance of marriage and reproduction than non-Unokais because of either their brute strength or because it is more favorable for women to join Unokais.

Laws are in place so that multiple unnecessary killings don’t take place. Laws protect those against revenge. Victims of any crime are not permetable by law to take revenge on others like what the Yanomamo did. Revenge only serves to perpetuate the cycle which is seen again by the Yanomamo. Instead, the Law is set up so that the government is the one to take action against those that commit crimes. It is therefore, the government’s place to punish them not individuals or family members of victims. Laws like these also serve to protect the wrong doers family. The entire family wouldn’t need to be punished but instead just the individuals who do a crime. If the Yanomamo had a system like this then revenge raids wouldn’t be as important to their survival as it is now.

Subsistance and Economy

Part 1

The lifestyles of a hunter-gatherer and of agriculture subsistence patterns are different. First, Hunter-gatherers have the advantage of having a close nit group and avoid diseases more effectively. Hunter-gatherers move constantly and because of the nature of their lifestyle of highly depending on each other for food, team building within groups are created. Also, because they move around a lot they eat food that are fresh and so, in that way, it helps avoid disease.

They don’t need to worry about spoiled food or contaminated food. On the other hand, their subsistence pattern while keeping them healthy and close to one another also has its risks. One of them being that because they do move around a lot food is never a guarantee. They are always on the move because they need to find new sources of food once they exhaust an areas resources. In effect, this group although close does not leave room for other improvements such as technological ones or complex forms of permanent institutions.

An agriculture subsistence pattern on the other hand provides a more reliable and sustainable food source. They have more of a guarantee of food and as food worries go away the group can focus and thrive on what the hunter-gatherer could not. They can establish cities because they don’t need to always be constantly on the move. Different areas of study can be further developed.Their population would grow in size as food supply grows to accommodate them while hunter gatherers need to stay as small groups to survive. Their disadvantage though is that as the population grows they are also more susceptible to disease. They need more food so storage for it is used and this can cause food to spoil when not done properly. Also, if the population grows at a rate faster then their advancements then they can eventually have problems with food and waste.

I would have to think that the hunter-gatherer had a healthier diet because they moved around a lot so they had a more well rounded diet of available foods while the agriculture people stuck to what they already had. The hunter-gatherer would have had more nutrient.

The move from hunter-gatherer to agriculture could have come because agriculture provided a security hunting and gathering couldn’t. They can plant for food and expect it while the other alternative didn’t always guarantee food. 

Part 2

There is a direct relationship between the availability of surplus and the ability to trade. Because people had surplus of things they could afford to let it go and trade it for something else with others. Whereas if they did not have a lot of something or had just enough of it then they would not be willing to trade what little they had. But because they had a surplus then trading was made possible. They could barter for other things they needed or were in low supply of.

A social benefit of trading is that groups become open to one another. Peace can be attained when open trade is established and in effect trust is obtained. Another is that as trade prospers so does sharing. They can learn and develop tools from each other. They can make advancements  due to another groups openness to share what they know.

A negative aspect of trading between groups is that hostilities between groups can arise  when a group wants more than another or have what another has. In this case, people will cheat or fight to have what they want. A second disadvantage is that people can go from sharing for the benefit of everyone to taking for the benefit of self. So you have people taking advantage and exploiting others for their benefit even if it means another’s worst nightmare.

Without the development of agriculture the development of trade wouldn’t be possible. The hunter-gatherer had just enough for survival so trade for them wouldn’t be as huge as it is as it was with the agriculture group. What the hunter-gatherer had they would have kept and surplus for them would have been a rarity or not as consistent as it would have been for agriculture. Agriculture made it possible to have surplus and with surplus people were able to trade what they didn’t need for what they did or wanted.