Nolan and Lenski, Diamond’s Theory of the Mayan Collapse, and Anasazi Collapse

Student’s Name
Lecturer’s Name
Unit
Due Date
Global Sociology
1 According to anthropologists studying the Rapa Nui, how did religion impact their relationship to the environment?           
According to anthropologists studying Rapa Nui (Easter Island), religion encouraged deforestation, which led to the extinction of plants and animals in Easter Island. However, Rapa Nui believed that their ancestors’ spirits came to the aid of their heirs if they needed it. As such, they practiced deforestation to make carvings and sculptures, which they believed had solid spiritual powers of the ancestors (Diamond 106).
2 Discuss how the Population Theory of the horticultural revolution can be incorporated into Nolan and Lenski’s theory or Barbara Bender’s theory.
The population theory of the horticultural revolution can be incorporated into Nolan and Lenski’s theory by examining sequentially the types of societies whose dominance in successive periods has defined the upper limits of technological advancements (Nolan and Lenski 78). It is because the rise of technologically more advanced societies led to the fall of the less developed societies. 
3 According to Nolan and Lenski, what are ‘environmentally specialized’ societies? Provide brief descriptions of each.
           Nolan and Lenski (202) defined environmentally specialized societies as societies adapting to less common environments. They include fishing societies, herding societies, and maritime societies. Fishing and maritime societies are adapted to aquatic environments, while herding societies are adapted to grasslands and arid environments. According to Nolan and Lenski (202), fishing societies are societies where fishing is the most important subsistence activity. A herding society is any form of society whose primary subsistence comes from tending flocks and domesticating animals (Nolan and Lenski 205). A maritime society is a society whose subsistence mainly originates from overseas trade and commercial activity (Nolan and Lenski 207). 
4 How is Diamond’s theory of the Mayan collapse similar to or different from his theory of the collapse of Anasazi society?
     Diamond’s theory of the Mayan collapse is similar to his theory of the Anasazi community’s collapse. The two theories explain the collapse of society and the key contributing factors to the collapse (Diamond 136; 157). In his two approaches, Diamond explains that environmental factors such as deforestation, climate change, pollution, soil erosion, and hostile neighbors are the primary factors that contribute to the collapse of society (Diamond 136; 157). 
5 What are the proximate and ultimate factors that lead to the collapse of the Greenland Norse society, according ...