Demography of the Tjimba of Northwest Namibia

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

0343198 Josephson Humans presumably lived in small-scale hunting and gathering groups for most of our history, but few do so today. Modern human behavior was shaped in circumstances far more like those seen in modern foragers than in economically complex, densely populated groups. While the ethnographic record is comparatively rich in descriptions of the social and cultural lives of foragers, few of these groups have also been studied quantitatively. Recent theoretical developments have focused attention on the economics of foraging and its influence on demographic and social patterns, but opportunities to study this are rapidly vanishing. This research is a pilot study of a Namibian group called the Tjimba, who have experienced only sporadic contact and little study over the last century. The Tjimba live in northwest Namibia in one of the last remaining wilderness areas in Africa, and apparently make their living through foraging, some rudimentary gardening, and occasional wage labor. This project will conduct a census of the Tjimba, collect reproductive and genealogical histories, and compile information about subsistence behavior, seasonal movement, and settlement pattern. The objective is to examine how subsistence affects such things as where people live, when and whom they marry, how many children they have, and how long they live. This will form the foundation for a long-term study of this group. The broader impact of this study will be to expand our understanding of the economics of foraging and how acquiring food influenced the development of our species.