![]() ![]() Typically, a mountain farm used no more than ten to 15 acres to produce crops to feed its people and animals. Patterns of self subsistence were less common in less rugged areas, where commercial agriculture was able to establish itself from an early date. To a greater or lesser degree the pre-industrial family farm was a largely self-sufficient economic unit, especially in the more mountainous parts of the state. This lifestyle served as the focal point for the development and diffusion of West Virginia’s material folk culture. West Virginia’s material culture varies in different parts of the state, but in most places agriculture, centered around the family farm, dominated the cultural landscape until the late 1800s and in some cases much later. The material culture includes the built landscape, the houses, barns, bridges, fences, and so forth, as well as the tools and the knowledge that make possible the creation of these things and the furnishings and other equipment that allow their use and enjoyment. ![]() Material culture refers to the material products of a society, those things that can be touched, as well as the knowledge, traditions, expertise, and infrastructure that allow the production of those things. E-WV | Material Culture | Back to e-WV The West Virginia Encyclopedia ![]()
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