First published in 1979, this is a classic study of the
population of the Bushmen of the Kalahari Deselt of Botswana. Using
methods that are simple and fully illustrated, the author presents
empirical descriptions of the fertility, mortality, and marriage
patterns of the now famous Kung hunter-gatherers.
The King "Bushman" people of the Kalahari desert in Africa
occupy an anomalous position in the world of science. They have
been selected for intensive study precisely because they are
geographically, socially, and economically removed from modern,
industrialized society, living in a sparsely settled and remote
portion of an enormous semidesert. The Kung maintain the language
and culture of a fully develop hunting and gathering society with
(until very recently) no dependence on cultivated plants, no
domesticated animals other than the dog, no stratification system
based on kinship or occupation, no power or authority structure
extending further than the local bands composed of a few related
families, no wage labor, no use of money, and no settled sites of
occupation.
At the same time, the Kung have become well-known figures to
students--both undergraduate and professional--of Western social
science. The faces of Kung informants gaze from the covers and the
illustrations of many texts in anthropology and sociology.
Why has all this attention been developed around the Kung
people? Part of the answer lies in the people themselves. The Kung
are a physically attractive people, with slender, graceful bodies
and open small-featured faces that are appealing and photogenic.
Their culture is simple and has its striking features. The struggle
for subsistence, the click language, the emphasis on sharing and
humility, the drama of the curing dances in which individuals go
into trance and speak directly to spirits to cure sickness, and the
pervasive humor, teasing, and playfulness of the Kung style are all
features that are relatively easy to convey and interesting to l
earn about.
This work covers areas such as marriage, fertility, disease,
mortality, history, and the projected future of the Kung. This book
will be of interest to students of demographic studies,
anthropology, and African studies.
General
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