In a previous post, Ruediger Hoeflechner, wrote:

"How important is hunting for human subsistence? It depends on the
environment.

Hunter-gatherer diet is systematically related to environmental
characteristics, especially the effectice temperature and primary plant
production. There is no question that many tropical and subtropical
hunter-gatherers rely primarly on plant food (with women bringinging
home most of the food).

But the colder the environment, the more food is derived from hunting
and fishing (and the more food is directly procured by men). I do not
believe that Homo sapiens would have been so successfull in northern
latitudes without hunting large animals. What else than big game
provides enough food for a hunter and gatherer in a long and cold
winter? In these regions hunting is not primarily a ritual or religious
exercise but a matter of death and life."


        This  issue (the relationship of food subsistence types to
latitude in hunter gatherer societies) has been poorly examined from an
objective basis in the anthropological literature.   It is commonly
assumed, but rarely quantified, that the relative amount of food derived
from hunting increases with increasing latitude (i.e. a positive
correlation).   In one of the few citations, I am aware of (I qualify
this statement because eagle eyed Andrew may slip in an additional
citation), Foley (1) proffered data showing a moderate to weak
correlation of hunted food resources to latitude (r = 0.45; r squared x
100 = 20%).   Foley used Richard's Lee's compilation (2) of the
Ethnographic Atlas (3) to make his calculations.    As I have pointed
out in a number of previous posts, and has been pointed out elsewhere
(4), Lee's compilation of the Ethnographic Atlas is incomplete and
therefore erroneous because he has only included 116 of the 181 hunter
gatherer societies.   Further, he did not consider animal foods derived
from fishing (including shellfishing and the pursuit of large aquatic
mammals).
        We have re-analyzed the original data from the Ethnographic
Atlas utilizing all 181 Hunter Gatherer Societies and have included all
three subsistence categories available to hunter gatherers (gathering,
hunting, fishing).   The relationship of foods derived from hunting
yields a non-significant (p>0.05) "r" of 0.08 and a shared variance of
0.6%, meaning that latitude has almost zero influence upon food calories
derived from hunting.   However, this does not mean that hunted animals
were not important components of hunter-gatherer diets, it simply means
that latitude had relatively little influence upon the mean estimated
(26-35%) hunted animal food intake for all 181 Hunter Gatherer
Societies.   Therefore, calories derived from hunted animal foods
remains relatively constant in all hunter gatherer societies regardless
of latitude.   Obviously, variables other than latitude need to be
considered when evaluating variations in hunter gatherer caloric intake
derived from hunted animal food.
        Despite a relatively constant animal food intake in hunter
gatherer societies, there is a moderate to strong inverse relationship
(r = -0.67; p<0.001) between gathered plant foods and latitude (meaning
as latitude increases, the total amount of plant derived food
decreases).    So, if plant food decreases with increasing latitude and
hunted animal food doesn't increase, what makes up the difference.   Ah,
I can see Andrew beaming as he guesses this one correctly - Fishing
derived food? Yep!   The relationship of fished animal foods to latitude
is a moderate correlation (r= 0.48, p<0.001).   So, presumably more and
more aquatic based animal foods are included in the diet to replace
plant foods which decrease in frequency with increasing latitude.
        I hope to publish our complete analysis of the Ethnographic
Atlas as it relates to the diet of hunter gatherers in the near future.

                                References

1.      Foley R.  A reconsideration of the role of predation on large
mammals in tropical hunter-gatherer adaptation. Man 1982;17:393-402.

2.      Lee RB.  What hunters do for a living, or how to make out on
scarce resources. In Lee RB, DeVore I, (Eds). Man the Hunter. Chicago:
Aldine, 1968:30-48.

3.      Murdock GP.  Ethnographic atlas: a summary. Ethnology
1967;6:109-236.

4.      Ember CR.  Myths about hunter-gatherers. Ethnology
1978;17:439-48.


                                Cordially,


                                Loren Cordain, Ph.D.
                                Professor, ESS Dept
                                Colo State Univ, Ft. Collins, CO 80523
                                (970) 491-7436
                                (970) 491-0445