· 2017· Book chapter
The Importance of Flux in Two Hunting Societies
- 72citations
- 2017year
Short summary
Two East African hunting societies, the Mbuti Pygmies and the Ik, demonstrate that social organization is highly flexible, with individuals and families constantly circulating between residential units, adapting resource exploitation to their specific environments.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- The Mbuti Pygmies and the Ik exhibit flexible social organization as hunter-gatherers.
- Residential units in these societies are dynamic, with constant circulation of individuals and families.
- Resource exploitation methods vary based on environmental conditions.
- Social flux may reinforce a recognition of the environment as a constant, life-giving force.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This chapter examines the flexibility of social organization characteristic of two East African small-scale societies, the Mbuti Pygmies of the tropical rain forest of the northeast Congo and the Ik of the dry, open mountains near the borders of Uganda, Kenya, and Sudan. Both the Ik and Mbuti, as hunters and gatherers, work within their respective environments rather than attempting to alter them. The residential units of both net-hunters and archers constantly change in composition as individuals and families circulate between the territorially based bands. Naturally, the methods of exploitation of the resources vary according to the environment, as does the hunting organization and the gathering pattern. Function of flux might be said to be religious, for, by deemphasizing stability in interpersonal relations, the process throws the people into closer recognition of the one constant in their lives, the environment and its life-giving qualities.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source., 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Archeology (Social Sciences)
ArcheologySocial Sciences