PRIMITIVE PRIMARY

ACTIVITIES
 ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

◦Any action that involves producing, distributing, or

consuming products or services is an economic activity.
In other words, any activities involving money or the
exchange of products or services are economic activities.
◦Primitive economy is an underdeveloped economy in
which communities use primitive tools and methods to
harvest and hunt for food, often resulting in little
economic growth.
Primitive People

◦People can be considered primitive when their

material culture is simple in form and function.

◦Another way to recognize primitive people as being

almost completely preoccupied with securing food
and other necessities of survival.
◦TYPES OF PRIMITIVE ECONOMY
◦
There are three types of primitive economy

◦ Primitive Gathering Gathering

◦ Primitive Hunting
◦ Primitive Nomadism
Activit
ies
Nomadic
Hunting
Herding
Primitive Gathering

◦Lowest order of economic activity.

◦Primitive gathering is the oldest economic activities in
which human being supported themselves by collecting
a variety of products provided by nature.
◦People collect fruits, nuts, berries, roots leaves, and
fiber from trees, shrubs and smaller plants.
◦They plant few seeds and spend no time for
cultivating the soils.
◦They don’t try to improve and control their habitat.
Primitive Gathering
◦Gathering requires the least amount of capital
investment and effort, but considerable space is
required.
◦A very low man land ratio occurs in such areas, not
more than 2 persons per square miles
◦Written language is unknown.
◦Overall health is generally poor.
◦ Their life expectancy is short.
◦Only a few thousand people currently practice this form
of livelihood.
Location: Primitive Gathering

◦Isolated pockets in low

latitudes areas, Amazon basin
(Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and
Venezuela), few stretches of
tropical Africa, northern fringe
of Australia, interior of New
Guinea, Burma, Thailand,
China.

◦For Example: Semang

People of Malaya
Location: Primitive Gathering
Primitive Hunting

◦Primitive hunters share many characteristics with the primitive

gatherers.
◦Both groups know how to use fire, prepare food,
manufacture tools and implement the tools.
◦Hunters know how to construct shelter.
◦Both groups generally don’t know how to domesticate food
plants, domesticate animals and permanent settlement.
◦Hunters differ from gatherers in that they employ more
sophisticated methods to secure foods and depend much
more on animals.
Location : Primitive Hunting
◦Occurs in high latitudes area, particularly in Arctic,
where temperature is very low and summer is very short.
◦For Example: North American Eskimos, Yukaghirs of
Siberia
Location : Primitive Hunting
Nomadic Herding (Pastoral Nomadism)
◦It is a more advanced economic activity than either
gathering or hunting.
◦They depend on domestication of animals.
◦Animals supply food (milk, cheese and meat), materials
for clothing (fibers and skin), shelter (skin), fuel and
tools (bones).
◦Make at least some investment to enhance natural
production
◦Product is animal and investment is labour.
◦Migration is a basic feature of this people.
Nomadic Herding (Pastoral Nomadism)

◦Nomads started the first economic activity.

◦Started their activities near the river valley and started
settled down.
◦Started agriculture 15000 years ago near river valley.
◦This agriculture known as primitive agriculture such as
shifting, burn, jhum cultivation.
◦They started barter or informal trade near the river valley
areas.
 Location: Nomadic Herding
◦Less precipitation area (mainly grassland)
◦Grasses and shrubs comprise the natural vegetation.
◦The region extends from 5 degree south latitude (On
the east coast of Africa) to 50 degree north latitude in
central Asia.
◦A lesser region of herding is found in northern Eurasia,
extending into Alaska. In the southern hemisphere, too
there are small areas in south west Africa and on the
Island of Madagaskar.
Location: Nomadic Herding
Location of Gathering, Hunting and Herding
Thank
You