A Study of the Contribution of Cultural Ecology to the Construction of Cultural Independence

Abstract

In the book “Theories of Cultural Change” written by anthropologist Juliet Stewart (1902–1972), the Theory of Cultural Ecology was introduced to describe the discipline that emphasises how people adapt to different environmental conditions. It is emphasised here that cultures are formed by centering the settlements that occur on any land and that cultural ecology affects the emergence of cultural diversity in those settlements. The research problem is to investigate how the geophysical environment affects the emergence of subcultures within the main cultural groups. The research objective is to study the diversity of subcultures that are built around these basic geographical regions. An isolated area in the central highlands and a dry zone plain area were used as study areas for this purpose. These studies were conducted on how the environment affected the creation of the cultural environment in these areas, and the emergence of cultural diversity in different environmental conditions was investigated here. The methods used for data collection included Participant Observation, Interviews, Literature Study, Map Study, etc. In the data analysis, it was confirmed by the cultures and geographical factors that influenced the emergence of subcultures in different ways, abstracted from the main culture. As a result of the research, it was possible to understand the relationship between the elements included in the natural environment and the inner operation of the culture belonging to that environment. In this study, it was found that due to the environmental conditions, the sub-cultures of the main culture were born, and they showed different characteristics due to the influence of this geophysics. It was possible to identify distinct characteristics of those subcultures. This confirmed that the special adaptation shown by man to the environment has been achieved through historical genetics. It was found that it includes living in a certain environment and using technology. Through this study, it was concluded through the Theory of Cultural Ecology that the influence of land where a certain settlement is located and other settlements affect the formation of the culture, and then the culture adapts to the relevant environment to create an independent culture.