HUNTER-GATHERER FORAGING STRATEGIES IN TROPICAL GRASSLANDS - MODEL-BUILDING AND TESTING IN THE EAST-AFRICAN MIDDLE AND LATER STONE-AGE

Hunter-gatherer adaptations to moist tropical grasslands are not well known from either the ethnographic or the archaeological record. This is unfortunate as grassland adaptations are clearly significant to hum an biological and behavioral evolution. ?he most effective strategy fo r remedying this problem is to develop models for grassland exploitati on based on strong understandings of the ecological similarities and d ifferences between cold, temperate, and tropical grasslands. Cold, tem perate, and tropical grasslands are similar in that water and raw mate rials are often scarce and the most abundant large mammals are gregari ous and mobile. Tropical grasslands differ from cold and temperate gra sslands by having a greater diversity and biomass of edible above-grou nd plants and plants with underground storage organs, making carbohydr ate availability greater and less seasonal. Large mobile mammals and r esident large mammals are more diverse and have greater biomass in tro pical grasslands. Overall, tropical grasslands are a richer and less s easonally punctuated environment than either cold or temperate grassla nds. A comparison of ethnographic data regarding variation in foraging strategies in different cold,temperate, and tropical settings lead to the construction of three models for hunter-gatherer exploitation of tropical grasslands: a Generalized Grassland Model (no specialized tac tical hunting-considered the favored model given modern African grassl and conditions), a Seasonal Grassland Model (only seasonal use of spec ialized tactical hunting techniques-considered unlikely for Africa), a nd a Specialized Grassland Model (regular use of specialized tactical hunting strategies-considered highly unlikely for Africa). A prelimina ry test of these models shows the Athi-Kapiti Plains Holocene archaeol ogical evidence is most consistent with the Generalized Grassland Mode l. The Last Glacial Maximum is most consistent with the Seasonal Grass land Model. A single MSA occupation also suggests that specialized tac tical hunting strategies were used. These differences in hunting strat egies were probably due to the differences in ecological conditions be tween the Holocene and the Last Glacial Maximum. (C) 1997 Academic Pre ss.