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Key Terms
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agriculture  Nonindustrial system of plant cultivation characterized by continuous and intensive use of land and labor.
balanced reciprocity  See generalized reciprocity.
band  Basic unit of social organization among foragers. A band includes fewer than one hundred people; it often splits up seasonally.
correlation  An association between two or more variables such that when one changes (varies), the other(s) also change(s) (covaries); for example, temperature and sweating.
economy  A population's system of production, distribution, and consumption of resources.
generalized reciprocity  Principle that characterizes exchanges between closely related individuals. As social distance increases, reciprocity becomes balanced and finally negative.
horticulture  Nonindustrial system of plant cultivation in which plots lie fallow for varying lengths of time.
market principle  Profit-oriented principle of exchange that dominates in states, particularly industrial states. Goods and services are bought and sold, and values are determined by supply and demand.
means (or factors) of production  Land, labor, technology, and capital—major productive resources.
mode of production  Way of organizing production—a set of social relations through which labor is deployed to wrest energy from nature by means of tools, skills, and knowledge.
negative reciprocity  See generalized reciprocity.
nomadism, pastoral  Movement throughout the year by the whole pastoral group (men, women, and children) with their animals. More generally, such constant movement in pursuit of strategic resources.
pastoralists  People who use a food-producing strategy of adaptation based on care of herds of domesticated animals.
peasants  Small-scale agriculturist living in a state, with rent fund obligations.
potlatch  Competitive feast among Indians on the North Pacific Coast of North America.
reciprocity  One of the three principles of exchange. Governs exchange between social equals; major exchange mode in band and tribal societies.
reciprocity continuum  Regarding exchanges, a range running from generalized reciprocity (closely related/deferred return) through balanced reciprocity to negative reciprocity (strangers/immediate return).
redistribution  Major exchange mode of chiefdoms, many archaic states, and some states with managed economies.
transhumance  One of two variants of pastoralism; part of the population moves seasonally with the herds while the other part remains in home villages.







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