12 Modes of Human Adaptation in pre-state societies: hunting and food gathering

Rongnyoo Lepcha and K.R. Rammohan

Contents:

    1.  Introduction

2.  Historical Origins

3.  Levels of Adaptation

4.  The Hunting and Gathering Society

5.  Modes of Adaptation in Hunting and Gathering

6.  Summary

Learning Objectives:

• This module will help the learner to understand the concept of adaptation
• It will help the learner to understand the Hunting and Gathering societies around the world
• The module presents an array of examples helping in the deeper understanding of the topic.

    Introduction

In some parts of the world there are some societies who are still dependent upon hunting wild animals, fishing and gathering all varieties of vegetables and fruits to support their dietary needs. Human beings began to domesticate varieties of plants and animals roughly around ten thousand years ago. Today, only few communities still subsist on hunting and gathering. It is reported that the few societies who subsist on hunting and gathering mode of livelihood are found in relatively isolated, inhospitable environments, such as dense rain forests, deserts and the frozen Tundra. From an ecological perspective, there is a close relationship with the hunter-gatherers and their given environment. By studying hunting and gathering societies, anthropologist seek to understand the development of social structures of the communities.

A community’s cultural pattern, sometimes regarded as undeveloped, is often termed as ‘primitive’ due to their lifestyle pattern, in broadest terms, can be considered as those communities which are in harmony with nature in its purest form. Given this form of living these communities live upon hunting animals, gather the wild plants and any other source of food material available for them. Considering the archaeological evidences, the hunting and gathering communities were the basis of early, middle and late stone age societies. These societies inform us about the fundamental component of human development and history.

It is widely accepted that hunter-gatherer societies have existed in all continents. The communities which are hunters and gatherers survive mostly in tropical forests, semi desert areas, boreal forests, the Tundra, and the Arctic.

One perspective about these communities is that they settle in all environments where agricultural colonization and other forms of displacement have not yet occurred. These societies are defined principally according to their dependence on non domesticated resources, subsistence through hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering. In many societies cultivation or herding coexists with the hunting and gathering (HG) mode, and exchange often provides people with some items not available from local sources. Typically, these societies are small scale, egalitarian, and live in low population density areas, although not in all cases. Their patterns of energy flow, including diet, labour use, mobility, and optimizing behaviour, have been used as models for understanding past hunter gatherer societies in areas that are now agricultural, and also to illuminate the behaviour of other hominids, because hunter gatherer subsistence has been dominant for about ninety percent of the history of Homo sapiens sapiens and about ninety nine percent of the time since hominids first evolved.

From an ecological understanding human societies have coexisted with the environment around them. Human beings have survived and have thrived through time and we will continue to do so. Today if we look around us, in general there are many modern ways that help us adapt and make our life easier, but this was not the case for our ancestors.

Historical Origins

Hunting and gathering was the first and the most successful adaptation by humans, this was later followed by agriculture. The environment provides for all but it also challenges organisms and eliminates the weak known as “Natural Selection” by Darwin. Adapting to these different environmental conditions have made survival possible for every organism and also helped them to climb the ladder of evolution.

Fig 1: pre-historic wall paintings showing hunting activities

Source: pinterest

“Adaptation is the evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes better able to live in its habitat or habitats” (Dobzhansky 1970)

Adaptation has been defined as “… the ability of an organism to adjust to a changing environment such that survival and reproduction are enhanced” (Little 1995 )

“Humans are a product of natural evolution and in their genetic make-up would reflect the outcome of adaptations to their respective environments.” (Schutkowski 2006)

Levels of Adaptation

Behavioral Adaption is the most rapid response that an organism can make and is based upon learning rather than genetic inheritance; it is also the most flexible. Anthropologists focus more on the adaptive responses made by individuals and groups by means of cultural behaviour. Cultural behaviour is patterned, shared and traditional and the most distinctive feature of Human species. For example, when in cold climate we immediately put on warm cloths to shelter ourselves from the cold.

Physiological Adaptation is another level of adaptation that an organism goes through. It is activated slower than the Bihavioral Adaptation. It is the physical responses to the climate or environment of any organism. For example, in hot climate our body sweats which helps us in cooling the body and in cold climate our body starts to shiver to generate heat in the body.

The third level of adaptation is the Genetic Demographic Adaptation, this takes a very long time to be activated, if the environmental perturbation continues over a long period of time, behavioural and Physiological responses are supplemented. It has a slow rate of activation taking several generations and effect groups rather than individual. (Hardesty 1977)

For example, bipedalism among Homo Sapiens. Due to the constant use of stretching the neck for food the Giraffe eventually evolved with a long neck so that it can reach for food easily.

Fig 1. The different stages of Adaptations

The Hunting and Gathering Society

Societies that rely primarily on hunting wild animals, fishing, and gathering wild fruits, berries, nuts, and vegetables to support them for survival. Until humans began to domesticate plants and animals, all human societies were hunter-gatherers. Today, only a tiny fraction of the world’s populations support themselves in this manner, and they survive only in isolated, areas, far from the modern world such as deserts, the frozen Tundra, and dense rain forests. Given the close relationship between hunter-gatherers and their natural environment, hunting and gathering tribes may provide valuable information for anthropologists as well as many scientists seeking to understand the development of human social structures and also to understand how societies existed in the ancient times.

Hunting and Gathering is the most important part of the human culture at one point of time and we all started out as Hunters and Gathers. Hunting for food was specially carried out by the men of the society because of their physical power and the task of gathering fruits, nuts, berries and yams, etc. were mostly done by the women and children. Hunting and Gathering goes hand in hand as our ancestors could not rely only on Hunting as Hunting needed more time and more energy and sometimes the men have to return empty handed after days of hunting. In simpler terms Hunting had a 50-50 chances, while on the other hand gathering was always successful, a 100 % success every time. Thus, they never have to go hungry even if the Hunting would go wrong as the Fruits and the berries were always served as their backups.

“To date, the hunting way of life has been the most successful and persistent adaptation man has ever achieved” (Lee and Devore, 1968). Hunters and Gatherers were “the original affluent society” because they had abundant resources to satisfy their relatively limited wants and needs (Sahlins 1972).

Fig 1: hunting as a mode of adaptation in pre state societies

Source: worldciv1team3.weeldy.com

Hunters and gatherers live in small groups known as local bands. These are groups of about 30 to 50 women, men, and children who cooperate with each other in the quest for subsistence. Since hunter-gatherers are food collectors rather than food producers, they wander over wide geographic areas. This gives them the nomadic nature whereby permanent settlements are highly unlikely.

The hunting and gathering societies are identified for their egalitarian nature as these societies had almost equal gender equality. The role of women in gathering, which made up most of the diet, ensured their high status in hunting and gathering societies.

Fig 2: gathering as a mode of adaptation

Source: worldciv1team3.weeldy.com

Modes of Adaptation in Hunting and Gathering

Modes of adaptation can be distinguished by the different reaction velocities they show towards environmental changes (Moran 2000) or by whether they spread biologically or culturally (Irons 1996). Both aspects are connected by the fact that successful adaptations can be measured by reproductive success in the long run (Alland 1975).

As we discuss about the Hunting and Gathering societies or the Pre-state societies generally we imagine ancient pre-human societies, where humans were still in its ape features trying to evolve into what we are today. But this conception is quite not very right as there are to this date societies that depend on their Hunting and Gathering instincts and still live their lives in a pre-state situation.

We can take the example of the Bushman of the Kalahari Desert. They are living in a hostile environment where they have adapted to their environment very well biologically and functionally. The Bushman have lean and thin bodies which does not allow water loss from the body and through decades of evolution their genetic code allow them to go without water for more than any average non-Kalahari resident.

The Kung bushmen adults spend only an average of about 12 to 19 hours per week in food gathering activities, and thus they have a great deal of time available for resting and for visiting (Lee, 1968).

Fig 3: Bushman preparing the tools for hunting

Source: worldciv1team3.weeldy.com

They have adapted tools that help then to hunt efficiently and also they have adapted to different hunting ways like camouflaging self into the tall dry grasses of the semi-desert, use of poison arrows that ensures a kill whenever hit and it kills faster. They also have a better understanding of their surroundings as living in a dry region they know which tuber to eat that will provide them with water and the only tools they use are their bare hands to dig up the tubers from the ground and a small stick scraper to scrap the tuber to get the moisture out.

We have many other tribes like the Masai of Africa, even in India tribes like the Chenchu, Bhils, etc. still live as Hunters and Gatherers though the situation is fast changing.

Their hunting techniques lead to adaptation of bows and arrows, spears. That helps them hunt more efficiently in among the bushes.Tools are simple, generally made of stone, wood, bone, or other natural materials.

There are usually few or no techniques for storage, and food is generally consumed immediately. Spears, bows and arrows, nets and traps, digging sticks, needles, pins, antler, hammers, axes, etc. are some of the tools used for hunting and gathering.

Fig 4: prehistoric tools as adaptation materials

Source: shutterstock

Adaptation in cold areas would be different as the cold environment has different adaptation requirements. The extreme cold regions demand warm cloths, our ancestors covered their bodies with animal skin specially animals like seal and artic fox, or even the polar bears as these skins help in preventing heat loss from the body and the fur add on to provide more heat. They depend on these animals for food as the land is constantly covered with snow and the only food they were to depend on was meat which provided them with protein and fat that helped them resist the severe cold. Hunting in these environmental conditions is very difficult. Oour ancestors adapted to harpoons and fishing techniques which were more efficient for these regions. To this date tribes like the Inuit or Eskimo tribes still follow this mode of subsistence.

Through the course of evolution the genetic modification of people living in the cold region have resulted in some physical adaptation like short stature, bulky bodies as to restore the fat that is essential as stored energy, and small nostrils that helps in minimising the entry of cold air in the body.

Summary

Anthropologists study societies including the hunter-gatherers. They also study societies that are agricultural and industrialized. The view of the anthropologists is often biased if he/she happen to belong to the particular area of study. When studying a particular area, there is an inclination to judge it based on particular standards or based on comparisons.

Thus, hunter-gatherers are said to be living on the edge as they are able to survive in the most extreme environment. In addition, the notion that hunter-gatherers being “primitive” and somehow inferior compared to others is very wrong in their classification based on unilinear evolutionary principles. Many also tend to believe that the life of a hunter-gatherer is/was very difficult and that it is/was very hard to make a living. This has led to the notion that hunter-gatherers are living a savage life on hostile land, walking around, gathering things, and surviving on them, and subsisting on the edge of starvation.

Adaptation is the process of creating beneficial relationships with the environment by means of behavioural, physiological and genetic/demographic changes (Hardesty 1977). Scientist and theorists have given many theories of evolution and how people moved forward from the pre-state societies to the modern era of urbanisation and governed societies. We understand very well the concept of evolution and how we passed from walking on four limbs to bipedalism.

We can still see the way of life of the tribes like the Bushman and the Inuit and imagine how they live in such extreme environmental conditions. They provide valuable information about the Hunting and Gathering societies. This helps Scientists and the Social Scientist reconstruct the past based on the behavioural patterns of these groups of people.

References

• Alland, A. 1975. Adaptation. Annual Review of Anthropology 4:59–73
• Anthropology. New York: Holt.
• Dobzhansky, T.1970. Genetics of the Evolutionary Process. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Gowdy, J.M. 1992. The Bioethics of Hunting and Gathering Societies. Review of Social Economy Vol. 50, No. 2. Taylor &Francis Ltd.
• Hardesty. D .L, 1977. Ecological Anthropology. London: John Wiley & Sons.
• Irons, W. 1996. Adaptation. In: Levinson D, Ember M (ed) Encyclopaedia of Cultural
• Lee, R and Devore, I (ed). 1968. Man as the Hunter. Chicago: Aldine
• Moran, E.F. 2000. Human Adaptability. An Introduction to Ecological Anthropology. Boulder. Westview.
• Sahlins, Marshall, and Elman Service. 1960. Evolution and Culture. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Schutkowski, H. 2006. Human Ecology Biocultural Adaptations in Human Communities. Germany: Springer.

    Suggested Readings

• Colinvaux,P. 1973. Introduction to Human Ecology. John Wiley & Sons.
• Conkin, Paul K. 1988The Southern Agrarians. Knoxville, Tennesse.
• Frison, George C.1991 Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains 2d ed.(San Diego: Academic Press
• Harris, D. R. (1996). Introduction: themes and concepts in the study of early agriculture. In “The Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism in Eurasia” (Harris, D. R. Ed.), pp. 1-9. UCL Press, London.
• Ingold, T.; Riches, D.; Woodburn, J. (eds.). (1988). “Hunters and Gatherers. Vol. 1, History, Evolution and Social Change”; “Hunters and Gatherers. Vol. 2. Property, Power and Ideology.” Berg, Oxford, and St Martin’s Press, New York.
• Lee, R. B.; DeVore, I. (eds.). (1968). “Man The Hunter.” Aldine, New York
• Lucas Hilderbrand. Adaptation Film Quarterly, Vol. 58
• Orlove, B. S. 1980. Ecological anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology 9:235–273
• Panter-Brick,C.; Layton,R.H.; Rowley-Conwy, P. (eds.). (2001). “Hunter-Gatherers: An Interdisciplinary Perspective.” Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge
• Winterhalder,  B.; Smith, E.A. (eds.).(1981). “Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies: Ethnographic and Archaeological Analyses.” Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago.