Six Culture Types Based on Economy

In this post I am going to describe the six major types of culture types based on economy: foraging, horticultural, agricultural, pastoral, industrial and communication-based cultures.

Foraging Cultures

In a foraging culture, people take from their natural environment. They pick up wild berries and fruits, and hunt for wild animals. Once there isn't enough resources for them to survive, they would move to a new area; they are nomadic. Also, since foraging is hugely dependent on the natural environment, people in old foraging cultures may have suffered starvation during harsh times.

Horticultural Cultures

In a horticultural culture, people farm and domesticate animals, and only move to a new area once the farmland is no longer fertile. In this fashion, people can produce much more food and as a result the population would be able to grow, allowing more complex forms of decision making to develop. Also, since the people are settled, they would have more free time to make pottery and tools.

Agricultural Cultures

Agriculture cultures are similar to horticultural cultures, except that they have better farming techniques that can sustain farmlands (thus people can settle permanently in one place). Agriculture allows populations to grow, which would result in the growth of towns and cities.  Also, political organizations would become more complex, and differences in wealth and power would become more apparent.


Pastoral Cultures

In a pastoral culture, people make their living by domesticating herds of animals. They would move around and find more fertile pastures (they are nomadic), and they would trade products of the animals with nearby farmers.

Industrial Cultures

In an industrial culture, people would live in cities and work in factories, and goods would be produced by machines. This would create more wealth, but also problems such as overcrowding and  inequalities.

Communication-Based Cultures

In a communication based culture, computers and electronics would be a huge part of people's lives. Education, work and data would be transformed by these technologies, and people would be able to communicate with each other much more easily, even if they live far away from each other.