Final answer:
Chiefdom subsistence systems are primarily based on intensive agriculture, allowing for the concentration of power in the chiefs, who manage land, control labor, and intertwine economic practices with religious and military activities.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subsistence systems most identified with chiefdoms are those based on intensive agriculture. Chiefdoms, where economic, political, religious, and military power are concentrated in the position of the chief, developed on the basis of agricultural surplus, which allowed the accumulation of power and control. For example, in Hawaiian chiefdoms, chiefs controlled land distribution and used communal labor to advance agricultural productivity, which played a significant role in their society's religious beliefs and military practices.
Chiefdoms in the Polynesian Pacific, such as Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, and Tonga, as well as the Maori of New Zealand, developed sophisticated forms of intensively cultivated agriculture like taro with irrigation and terracing. These practices not only supported the livelihood of the communities but also reinforced the political and religious power of the chiefs, who in some cases were considered god figures responsible for agricultural prosperity. The chiefs of these chiefdoms would use their position to command labor for building infrastructures such as roads, irrigation systems, and religious shrines.