Karo

• Traditional Culture (1892)
  • Isolation
    Isolation

    Question	Response	Source
    Pre-Austronesian population	Present: Clear evidence of human occupation prior to Austronesian settlement	Bellwood 1995: 109
    Christian influence on supernatural belief	No evidence of influence but in a region where contact is likely (No evidence of Christian influence on supernatural belief, but culture is known to have had (or is likely to have had) contact with Christian societies at or prior to the time focus in question.)	Rae 1994: 18-58, 27
    Hindu / Buddhist influence on supernatural belief	Evidence of influence (Evidence of Hindu / Buddhist influence on supernatural belief.)	Rae 1994: 21, 24, 25-27
    (Low) contact with other societies (SCCS v 787)	Frequent, through trade, warfare, travel, etc. (e.g. yearly or most years)	Rae 1994: 67-68
    Islamic influence on supernatural belief	Evidence of influence (Evidence of Islamic influence on supernatural belief.)	Rae 1994: 29
    Distance to closest landmass inhabited by a different culture (km)	0	Rae 1994: 8
    Distance to nearest continent (km)	246.3	Calculator 2014; Rae 1994

  • Physical Environment
    Location

    Question	Response	Source
    Longitude of culture’s location (°)	98.3	Rae 1994
    Latitude of culture’s location (°)	3.5	Rae 1994

    Geographical Range of Culture

    Question	Response	Source
    Number of islands inhabited by culture	One	Rae 1994: 7

    Features of Island with Largest Culture Population

    Question	Response	Source
    Island type (island with largest culture population or largest island if unknown)	Continental island (an island situated on a continental shelf, e.g. Taiwan)	Shelf 2016
    Maximum elevation (meters)	3800	Sumatra 2017
    Island Size (km²)	480793	Sumatra 2017

  • Social Environment
    Social Environment

    Question	Response	Source
    Estimate of culture population size at relevant time focus	120000	Rae 1994: 86-87
    Importance of Matrilateral descent (V.2)	Medium (Matrilateral descent plays an important role in determining social status and / or group membership, but is not the most important form of descent.)	Rae 1994: 9-11
    Importance of Patrilateral descent (V.2)	High (Patrilateral descent plays an important role in determining social status and / or group membership, and is more important than any other form of descent.)	Rae 1994: 9-11
    Marital residence (SCCS 69)	Neolocal - separate from kin	Rodgers 1993: 40
    Estimated population of largest political community	100-999	Rae 1994: 85-87
    Political Authority	Supralocal (encompasses multiple local groups)	Rae 1994: 85

    Conflict

    Question	Response	Source
    (No) conflict (social or political) within the local community (SCCS v 767)	High (Conflict is frequent and often violent, but is not a pervasive aspect of daily life.)	Loeb 1974: 37, 40
    (No) internal warfare (between communities of the same society) (SCCS v 773)	Common, at least every five years	Loeb 1974: 30-34; Rae 1994: 16
    (No) external warfare (with other societies) (SCCS v 774)	Common, at least every five years	Rae 1994: 16, 63-64, 72-73

  • Subsistence and Economy
    Land-based means of subsistence

    Question	Response	Source
    Animal husbandry as a source of food	Medium	Sibeth 1991: 32, 34; Rae 1994: 16
    Land-based hunting performed by individuals	Minor	Sibeth 1991: 32, 34
    Land-based gathering	Minor	Sibeth 1991: 32-35, 33
    Land-based hunting performed by one or more groups	Minor	Sibeth 1991: 32, 34
    Agriculture / Horticulture	Principal (more important than any other source of food)	Sibeth 1991: 32

    Water-based means of subsistence

    Question	Response	Source
    Water-based gathering	Absent	Sibeth 1991: 32-35; Rae 1994: 16-17
    Fishing and water-based hunting performed by one or more groups	Absent	Sibeth 1991: 32-35; Rae 1994: 16-17
    Fishing and water-based hunting performed by individuals	Absent	Sibeth 1991: 32-35; Rae 1994: 16-17

    Commercial Activity

    Question	Response	Source
    Trade / wage labour as a source of food	Medium	Sibeth 1991: 34

• Post Contact History (1892-1940 - 2014)
  • Religious History
    Conversion

    Question	Response	Source
    Was a foreign religion adopted through a top-down (those high in the social hierarchy converted first, followed by the general population) or a bottom-up (the general population converted first, followed by those high in the social hierarchy) process?	Mixed / Neither (e.g. Both high-status individuals and the general population converted at the same time, or the religion was adopted through a mixture of top-down and bottom-up processes.)	Rae 1994: 88-228
    Use of force in conversion	Medium (e.g force was threatened or implied during the conversion process; some communities agreed to conversion but others were forced to convert)	Rae 1994: 79-228, 79-87, 169, 185; Kipp 1995: 868
    Adoption of a world religion	Present and major (At one time or another during the post-contact period more than 25% of the indigenous population practiced a world religion, but this figure never exceeded 75%.)	Kushnick 2013: 269
    Resident missionary involvement in conversion process	Present, and from non-Austronesian societies (Resident foreign missionaries, at least one of whom was from a non-Austronesian society, played an important role in the conversion process.)	Rae 1994: 88

    Syncretic Movements

    Question	Response	Source
    Syncretic religious movements	Present, and survived to the present day	Rae 1994: 194-195, 295

  • Secular History
    Demographic and Social Changes

    Question	Response	Source
    Replacement-level immigration	Absent (Replacement-level immigration did not occur – an immigrant culture was never present in the area, or was present but had a population size less than 10% of that of the indigenous culture.)	Kushnick 2010: 64
    Language shift	Medium (The indigenous language remained an important means of communication for the duration of the post-contact period, but at one time or another the indigenous population used a non-indigenous language to roughly the same extent.)	Kushnick 2010: 64
    Foreign education systems	High (At one time or another during the post-contact period over 75% of children received some at least a basic non-indigenous education.)	Rae 1994: 138-140
    Foreign government systems	Present, and of high importance (At one time or another during the post-contact period the culture was subject to a foreign government system that controlled most important decisions.)	Rae 1994: 84-86

    Economic Changes

    Question	Response	Source
    Changes in means of subsistence	Medium (Principal and major means of subsistence have changed from their indigenous states (e.g. through gain or loss of major and / or principal means of subsistence), but at least one of the major or principal means of subsistance has persisted.)	Kushnick 2010: 64
    Exportation of goods to other cultures	Present and substantial (At one time or another during the post-contact period, exports were a primary focus of economic activity for over 10% of the population.)	Rae 1994: 17, 138

    Modern Infrastructure

    Question	Response	Source
    Vehicles and roads	Present and widely used (At one time or another during the post-contact period, motor vehicles were used by a substantial proportion of the population.)	Sibeth 1991: 217; Rae 1994: 84-85
    Air travel	Absent (At no time during the post-contact period did most members of the culture have access to an airport or airstrip.)
    Sea port	Present (At one time or another during the post-contact period most members of the culture had access to a sea port.)	Rae 1994: 84-85

    Loss of Autonomy

    Question	Response	Source
    Loss of autonomy during postcontact period	High (On at least one occasion during the post-contact period, the culture came under the political dominance of a foreign power, and this event resulted in considerable loss of autonomy.)	Rae 1994: 84-87
    Nature of loss of autonomy – voluntary vs. forced	Largely involuntary (autonomy was lost largely as a result of external force)	Rae 1994: 79-87, 82-83, 111-134