Hadza Foraging, Food-Sharing, and Family Formation, Part 2

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project continues longitudinal research on one of the world's last remaining hunter-gatherer societies. About 160 Hadza in four nomadic camps are being observed by a behavioral ecologist, along with anthropology graduate students from Harvard and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The researchers are collecting data on foraging activities, food consumption and sharing patterns, the division of labor between male and female foragers, and child health and survivorship. A special research focus is the energetic costs of female activities and the amount of help they get from others, particularly during their childbearing years. It has been found that women are primarily responsible for the subsistence of themselves and their children. The foods that men provide are shared widely with the group as a whole, while women's foods are eaten by themselves and their children. The researchers want to see if this general pattern varies and if the variation affects child survivorship. Do some men provide more food to their families than other men? Does this vary depending on the age of the children? Are the children of such men more likely to survive? The answers to these questions will help us understand the benefits of men's provisioning on child mortality, time to weaning, and fertility. More generally, this knowledge will further our understanding of the costs and benefits of human pair bonding and the parameters of human health under naturalistic conditions. By supporting students in extended field settings, the project also combines education and research.