The Hunters; Scarce Resources in the Kalahari Essay

The !Kung bushmen of the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa are one of the few bands of hunter-gatherers left in the world. They survive by foraging for their meals while traveling, never settling in one specific area. Hunting and gathering was the primary mode of survival until about ten thousand years ago. Anthropologists have made assumptions about the hunting and gathering lifestyle of current populations because it seems like a precarious method of living. Moreover, the Kalahari area where the !Kung live in was perceived to be baron because it is a desert. However, a study done over a period of years beginning in 1960 led by Richard Lee disproved the common misconception of the life of these foragers, proving that they were not†¦show more content†¦There was a six-mile radius near each of the waterholes that had copious vegetation and an assorted source of meat. This suggests that in order to obtain food, the people only needed to go a certain walking distance. I t was not necessary to travel for long periods to get a small portion of food, as anthropologists thought. However, there was never a surplus of food, which could allude to the fact that there was not enough food for a surplus. This was a misconception because the bush people had more than enough food to live off, so there was no need to obtain a surplus because there was no need to store food when it was readily available. Another misconception anthropologists had was that the bush people had to hunt often for sustenance but this was invalidated. The Bushmen go out to collect food around every third day throughout the year. Anthropologists thought when they went out to get food, the !Kung people went hunting. This was not the case. It was proven that around 60 to 80 percent of their diets were comprised of vegetation from the area surrounding the camp. This can be partially attributed to the fact that the men are not always successful when they go to hunt, and it also involv es the fact that there is a large variety of vegetation available to the people. Previously, anthropologists thought that in a hunter-gatherer society,Show MoreRelatedNanda and Warms, Bodley, Lee Study Guide1662 Words   |  7 PagesAnthropology 03 Readings- Nanda and Warms:   Chapters 1-3,5 Bodley: Chapters 1-2 Lee: entire book (including Appendix A and B) Videos:   â€Å"First Contact† â€Å"Bushmen of the Kalahari† â€Å"N!ai†Ã‚   Topics: Concept of culture- The learned, symbolic, at least partially adaptive and ever-changing patterns of behavior and meaning shared by members of a group. - Almost all behavior is learned - Cultural norms and values are shared by people - All Cultures change Pidgin English- A simplified languageRead MoreCompare and Contrast Dobe/JuHoansi1863 Words   |  8 Pagesmarriage and sexuality, and conflicts, politics, and exchange. With the help of Richard Lees case study of these hunters and gatherers, our society can become more cultural relative and get a peak into the way of life of a dying breed. The Ju/hoansi are a hunting and gathering society who are located on the border of Namibia and Botswana. These two countries are in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. In the 1950s Richard Lee wanted to research these people because he wanted to dispel twoRead MoreHunting Essay3907 Words   |  16 Pagespercent of the U.S. population hunts, hunting is permitted in many wildlife refuges, national forests, and state parks and on other public lands3  where almost half of all hunters slaughter and maim millions of animals every year (by some estimates, poachers kill just as many animals illegally).(4,5)  The vast majority of hunters do not kill for subsistence.(6) Municipalities and other entities often resort to hunting in an attempt to reduce urban animal populations, but lethal methods never work inRead MoreSoc 290 Final : The Gods Must Be Crazy3362 Words   |  14 Pagesstudy of Lenski focused on Lenski’s division of the history of society into five society types, and how the advancement of technology led to social inequality. In The Gods Must be Crazy, the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert would fall into Lenski’s Hunter-Gatherer society type. Lenski defines a Hunter-Gatherer society as a small, nomadic group of people who make use of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation for food (Lenski 90). The Bushman use simple tools made of wood and bone. The video