Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
widowed mother in law into his group. Clearly, this division of labor meant women also
gathered small amounts of forage fairly easily but that required considerable processing cost to
make edible. Men however were required to take on high risk pursuits of game, both from a
point of view of personal risk and success, but at a low processing cost as discussed earlier.
Men socialized with other men and bonded with them and thus a man's wife was protected,
including her gathered food, by his circle of bonded men. The hunting process resulted in tight
bonds between men, not only because of the success of the culmination of the intricate
cooperative planned hunts, but also because they backed each other up in tight and dangerous
spots. This tight bond is seen in many areas, for example mountaineering, team sports, and
obviously military units. Much of this bonding took place cooking food around the “camp” fire
at night. It thus of interest that modern men have returned to cooking again as reflected in the
many TV cooking shows and rib cookout competitions shows. During the gilded age of the
Newport mansions, there were giant basement kitchens that cooked for the rich but now the
tables have turned. Sons of rich families who may struggle in business now aspire to become
celebrity chefs. Indeed, it can be said that when a man tires of cooking barbecues, he is getting
tired of life. The reason is that like hunter gatherers, it is part of our psychology but it takes
energy to obtain and time to cook meat for one's family. Furthermore, the Joie de Vivre of
cooking adds meaning to life, as it does for Bruce in hunting the food he cooks.
The simple life of the hunter-gatherers has been called luxurious living (“affluent society”)
since on average only two to three hours a day were required for collecting food and the rest
spent socializing and entertainment. The further luxury of this lifestyle was that no property
was owned. The lack of goods in a society meant that it was mobile and did not need to carry
much when moving camp. Similarly, the Plains Indians, such as the Crow and Cheyenne,
disdained accumulating objects with the exception of owning horses because it slowed their
mobility. Similar to how the Bantu traded in units of cows, the Plains Indians used horses for
trade and settling disputes, even for infidelity. Look just how much money and research is
spent these days on making camping equipment as light and efficient as possible, with “tools”
serving multiple functions at a time. Furthermore, if goods were not needed, and in fact
deplored, there was less fighting because goods and land had no value. The fighting among the
Hadza men in northern Tanzania, who are probably not related to the San Bushmen research
suggests, was more about women. Furthermore, clan structure was strengthened in that a father
was bound to obtain wives for his sons and brothers before acquiring another for himself and
then only if he could provide for the rest of his family.
They also did not need to worry about “bad times” since even in severe droughts the
wildlife and land provided all their needs, as long as water was available from artesian wells
and melons and tubers. Indeed, during a severe drought in Botswana, the Nguni based tribes
came to the Bushmen for help as their own cattle died off from the drought and they no longer
had a food source. Because of the belief of sharing food with others, many Nguni people thus
survived.
At night there was nearly always a party that involved retelling of a story of the hunt,
discussing an arrow or poison that worked, dancing, music, mimicking animals, acting,
Search WWH ::
Custom Search