The Hunters; Scarce Resources in the Kalahari
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 the uncultivated society that they were perceived to be. The ! Kung people live in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa where there is minimal rainfall, and they are physically isolated from any agricultural societies in the area. They do their fieldwork in an area with eight permanent waterholes that were about 125 miles away from a river. They do not cultivate agriculture, nor do they have livestock nor are under any heavy government authority.
The ! Kung people rely solely on hunting and gathering for their survival because in the area that they live in, there is no other logical means of survival. Because of all of these observed setbacks, anthropologists of the 1960’s saw these bush people as a group living solely to find food for survival. This was not the case however. When anthropologists of the 1960’s went to study these people, they found that their perceptions were wrong. Although the people lived far away from other societies, and although they did not cultivate the land, they lived meaningful lives.
Despite not having close neighbors from other societies, there was a relatively large population of other camps of hunter-gatherers that were associated with the waterholes. In addition, although the desert is arid, there are many sources of vegetables that the people live consume. Despite what anthropologists believed, the author proved that the people did not have to live for the sole purpose of finding food. 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.
It 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 involves the fact that there is a large variety of vegetation available to the people.
Previously, anthropologists thought that in a hunter-gatherer society, there was primarily hunting done to sustain the population because not much waste was found in the camps, however, the primary types of animals hunted are small and vegetation does not leave much waste. There is never a shortage of food for the ! Kung, they have their pick of what types of vegetation they wish to consume, partially based on the season, and they occasionally eat meat. The people do not have to scour for food and settle for whatever they can find, as anthropologists thought.
There is actually an assorted variety of foods the ! Kung people choose from. And not every type of edible food is consumed. The people are selective in the types of food they want to eat, and sometimes settle for certain unpopular foods due to reasons such as drought. There is always food for the people to consume, but during certain times of year, the bush people have to travel farther to get to it. There is a shorter commute in the summer while in the spring, there is much more distance that needs to be covered to get food.
The mongogo nut is a staple in the diet of these people because of its good nutritional value. This nut is attributed to around 50 percent of their diet of vegetation based on weight. This is a staple to the bush people, compared to rice or corn of other societies. The nut is hardy and drought resistant so it is always abundant throughout the year, and only of a fraction of it is actually cultivated. This is because of how selective the ! Kung people are with the types of food they consume. The more favorable fruits are usually consumed first, and then staples such as the mongongo nut are eaten.
Anthropologists and others also believe these people eat animals such as rodent and insects because they are included in literature about the people, but the bushman actually despise these animals as food and do not consume them. Moreover, gathering never results in all of the available vegetations’ depletion. There is always food available, so the bush people do not go long without food. It was once thought that the people were malnourished because of their location, but that was not true. The bushmen eat relatively balanced diets that include enough of each food group to be healthy individuals.
It was believed that the hunting and gathering way of life was harsh and rigorous, so the people who followed this lifestyle were quickly worn out and died at an early age. Some anthropologists even assumed that the average age a bush person would reach before they died was around 45. This was definitely not the case after research was conducted. It was also perceived that the bush people abandoned their old and sick members because they cannot provide for themselves or for the camp therefore were deemed useless. The ! Kung bush people do not adhere to any of these prior assumptions.
In the population of bush people, there were a percentage of people over the age of sixty that was comparable to the percentage of those over sixty in industrialized societies. Elders were respected and were considered leaders of the camp, they were not abandoned and considered futile as once thought. Senile individuals were rare but they, along with crippled and disabled individuals were cared for and valued for skills they had. The elderly were taken care of by their children when they could no longer provide by hunting or gathering.
Anthropologists also had the notion that people began hunting and gathering at a young age, so that enough food could be provided. It was discovered however, that there is a late age of assumption of adult responsibility, and that young people were not expected to provide until marriage. There was a large portion of the population that does not provide food by hunting and gathering, and there was a small population that provide for themselves and those that do not work. It was discovered that children and the elderly lead considerably simple lives.
Although there is a small population of people that actually search for and gather the food, their time is not completely preoccupied with finding food. It is true that finding food is the most important activity, but that is also important to most other societies, especially agricultural societies. The people devote around twelve to nineteen hours of a traditional seven day week in search for food. The other time is used for leisure and recreation. As stated earlier, the Bushmen do not have a surplus of food, so there is no need to have rigorous seasons of work in search for food because it is usually always readily available.
They obtain food to appease their necessary caloric intake and after that, their time is used for other purposes besides the search for food. Woman spend their time doing activities such as embroidery, resting, taking care of her children, visiting other camps, or entertaining visitors. A woman would also be required to take care of the home and kitchen routines. These activities include cooking, or collecting water. Men usually are involved in visiting, entertaining guests or dancing. Hunting is irregular and it is influenced by the hunter’s luck.
For example, if a hunter is having bad luck for a certain period of time, they could stop hunting and participate in leisurely activities. It was assumed that everyone has to go out to get food, but that is not the case because some men can go longer than a month without hunting if their luck does not get better. Although they have large periods of time devoted to leisure, there is usually always a steady supply of vegetation and meat. Based on prior assumptions of a hunting and gathering lifestyle, anthropologists of the 1960’s thought hunter-gatherers lived “brutish” lives where all they did was search for food.
With Richard Lee’s research of the ! Kung through the 1960’s he disproved these assumptions. Foragers were not barbaric individuals that lived solely off of meat and they lived for more than just finding food. Lee suggest that the “view of both modern and ancient hunters ought to be reconsidered. ” And that hunting and gathering was “a persistent and well-adapted way of life. ” The ! Kung of the Kalahari were an example of a set of foragers who lived lives with more meaning than just to survive through hunting.
