Clipped from QUORA
Human culture is shaped by an interaction with the natural environment. What we eat and how we dress is part of our culture. But our diets and our clothing habits are also very much determined by our environment. If the environment is cold and vegetation is scarce (for example, around the Arctic circle), human cultures that arose in these types of environments were less likely to depend on agriculture, but on hunting land and marine mammals (caribou, whale, seals) and fishing.
Igor Ryabov
Ph.D. in Sociology, Bowling Green State University (Graduated 2005)
Distinct topographical sites, like mountains, cliffs, shores, dunes, lakes, rivers etc., can become important cultural sites and spaces imbued with the meaning of legends, history or worship. Think about the Olympus mountain for example.
Topography also defines how we orient ourselves in space as well as how we move in it. A lot of our perception of the world comes through how we experience the world through our bodies. Peoples who live in Amazonian rainforest, the deserts of Sahara, the islands of the Pacific and the mild terrain of central Europe will all have different ways of orientation. This also translates into their culture.
Proximity to the ocean will make the people into sailors which will in turn become a part of their identity and life. Life in the rainforest will make them hunters and acutely aware of their environment (plants and animals). The desert defines ways of clothing and makes partnering with animals (camels) crucial. Europeans have to adapt their way of living to harsh winters.
That’s just scratching the surface.
In short, each culture has to learn to live in a certain environment by knowing it inside-out and adapting to it.
Master's Degree in English Language and Literature & Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
