FORAGING RETURNS OF KUNG ADULTS AND CHILDREN - WHY DIDNT KUNG CHILDREN FORAGE

Citation
Nb. Jones et al., FORAGING RETURNS OF KUNG ADULTS AND CHILDREN - WHY DIDNT KUNG CHILDREN FORAGE, Journal of anthropological research, 50(3), 1994, pp. 217-248
Citations number
43
Categorie Soggetti
Anthropology
ISSN journal
00917710
Volume
50
Issue
3
Year of publication
1994
Pages
217 - 248
Database
ISI
SICI code
0091-7710(1994)50:3<217:FROKAA>2.0.ZU;2-J
Abstract
Children of the hunting and gathering !Kung San seldom foraged, especi ally during the long dry season. In contrast, children of Hadza forage rs in Tanzania often forage, in both wet and dry seasons. Because we h ave argued that the economic dependence of !Kung children has importan t consequences, we must try to understand why they did not forage. !Ku ng Experimental data on foraging by !Kung adults and children show tha t children would have had to walk far from dry season camps to acquire much food. interviews suggest that !Kung children risk getting lost i f they wander unsupervised into the bush. Thus, foraging without adult company was a poor option for !Kung children. Foraging with adults mi ght have been a better strategy. We calculate the benefits to a !Kung mother if her oldest child accompanied her to the nut groves. Because of the high processing costs, a child's work time was most profitably spent at home cracking nuts.