TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > Anthropology > Hunters and Gatherers- (Aborigines and Kung San Bushmen)
Band - a group of hunters
These are societies which depend on hunting, fishing, or the gathering of wild plants to provide their basic food needs. The hunting and gathering economy demands extensive land, and permanent settlements are rarely possible as people have to keep moving whenever the local food supply becomes depleted. Possessions are limited to what can be carried, and dwellings are very simple huts and tents.
- Everyone in the band has a role
- They are egalitarian
- Comprehensive knowledge (e.g. bugs to make poison)
- Children socialised in all roles; involved in everything (except making poison- this is taboo)
- Gathering is done more frequently/ hunting is sporadic (depends on availability of game)
- Sex-division of rituals (e.g. Menstruation- women only, or healing ceremony - male healer; men and women included).
- Environment- harsh, drought affects their hunting.
- Sex-division of labour: Men- hunting/scraping skins
- Women - Gathering/ child rearing /dancing
- Availability of game depends on: - Availability of grass.
- Urban areas + industry getting bigger
- The increase in size of urban areas and industry in the areas where !Kung live also causes less space, pollution, new types of people, and tourism (causes change).
Social Organisation
- Headman has formal authority over the disposition of a band's resources and movements but has limited political power; symbolic leadership
- Once married, a person may join the band of a spouse and enjoy equal rights
- Bands made up of families
- Each band has limited territory
- They are exogamous
- Husband works for wife, when first married
In settled Hunter and Gatherer societies, houses become larger and more elaborate over time. Surplus products from each household are passed to the chieftain, who gives a large feast (potlatch) during which he distributes gifts to those who need them. This redistribution encourages the division of labour.
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