lifeways

Lifeways are the patterned ways in which a group lives, including the routines, practices, and resources that shape daily existence. The concept emphasizes how people organize subsistence, housing, family, work, social relations, religion, language, technology, and knowledge in particular environments and historical moments. Lifeways are dynamic and can change in response to ecological, economic, or cultural pressures.

Subsistence strategies—foraging, horticulture, pastoralism, intensive agriculture, fishing—often anchor lifeways, but adjacent domains such as kinship, political organization, law, education, gender roles, art, and ritual also interact with the economy to form a coherent pattern. Cultural beliefs and technologies adapt to local resources and constraints, and migrations or trade can introduce new elements that reshape lifeways over time.

Anthropologists and archaeologists study lifeways through ethnography, participant observation, comparative analysis, and the interpretation of material remains. Lifeways provide a framework for understanding cultural diversity, historical change, and the connections between environment, economy, and social life. Examples include hunter-gatherer lifeways, agrarian lifeways, coastal or maritime lifeways, and urban or industrial lifeways.