of production tells how the society chooses to produce economic goods. In low level organizations, economic goods may be confined to those items necessary for life: food, clothing, and shelter. As a society becomes more integrated sociopolitically, the modes of production usually become progressively more complex. The mode of production will usually change from hunting and gathering of naturally found foodstuffs to small scale farming and then to full production agriculture.
A society's settlement pattern is also affected by the limits which the physical environment places on the population. In areas with poor prospects for hunting, gathering, or agriculture, the population will remain small and usually scattered. Where the environment is extremely poor in resources the population will be forced to move locations every season or every few years or face starvation from resource depletion. When an area is capable of supplying an excess of production, enough to supply the needs of a group of people, in a sustainable manner the population will tend to develop a permanent village. In environments which can supply an excess of production without requiring the labor of the whole village or society, subsistence is assured and the development of a stratified society can result.
Production in stratified societies is of a larger scale and can become intensive agriculture. This type of production can support a class of people who are not required to be employed in the production of basic needs. Societies which have the environmental ability to produce a surplus and do produce this surplus a differentiated system of settlements is possible. Larger centers for important functions and smaller cites can coexist. Monumental architecture can begin to be seen in the larger settlements.
The mode of reproduction is also a factor related directly to the physical environment. The ability of the environment to support a given populat...