Changes in Juvenile Foraging Behavior among the Hadza of Tanzania during Early Transition to a Mixed-Subsistence Economy

Pollom, Trevor R.; Herlosky, Kristen N.; Mabulla, Ibrahim A.; Crittenden, Alyssa N.

doi:10.1007/s12110-020-09364-7

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Maize and other domesticated grains, donated by missionaries and/or aid organizations, provided as payment by ethnotour companies and/or researchers, acquired by trade, or purchased from neighboring pastoralists are increasingly available in bush camps (Crittenden et al 2017 ; Gibbons 2018 ; Yatsuka 2015 ). Despite the recent integration of domesticated grains into a historically wild-food-based diet, children continue participate in food collection (Pollom et al 2020 ). Bush-dwelling Hadza have access to cell phones, small solar panels, bicycles, and market goods such as cooking pots, beads, knives, nails, blankets, and clothing (Crittenden 2019 ).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Life History of Learning Subsistence Skills among Hadza and BaYaka Foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo

Lew‐Levy

Ringen

Crittenden

et al. 2021

Hum Nat

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Aspects of human life history and cognition, such as our long childhoods and extensive use of teaching, theoretically evolved to facilitate the acquisition of complex tasks. The present paper empirically examines the relationship between subsistence task difficulty and age of acquisition, rates of teaching, and rates of oblique transmission among Hadza and BaYaka foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo. We further examine cross-cultural variation in how and from whom learning occurred. Learning patterns and community perceptions of task difficulty were assessed through interviews. We found no relationship between task difficulty, age of acquisition, and oblique transmission, and a weak but positive relationship between task difficulty and rates of teaching. While same-sex transmission was normative in both societies, tasks ranked as more difficult were more likely to be transmitted by men among the BaYaka, but not among the Hadza, potentially reflecting cross-cultural differences in the sexual division of subsistence and teaching labor. Further, the BaYaka were more likely to report learning via teaching, and less likely to report learning via observation, than the Hadza, possibly owing to differences in socialization practices.

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Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These goods are purchased by Hadza themselves or are gifts from researchers and aid workers. A recent study found that 82% of bush-dwelling Hadza children reported having attended school (Pollom et al 2020 ). Data for the present study were collected in bush camps when children were not attending school.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Life History of Learning Subsistence Skills among Hadza and BaYaka Foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo

Lew‐Levy

Ringen

Crittenden

et al. 2021

Hum Nat

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“…In 2005, data were collected in four bush camps (wild food diet) and one village (mixed-subsistence diet) from March to April and July to December. In 2017, data were collected in three bush camps and two villages from July to August; all camps consumed a mixed-subsistence diet, but village camps had access to substantially more domesticated foods (see Pollom et al, 2020). In 2005, wild foraged foods included game meat, baobab fruit, berries, tubers, and figs; domesticated foods included meat from cattle as well as maize, wheat, and barley.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Hadza of Tanzania have historically engaged in hunting and gathering with limited access to domesticated cultigens. While substantive ecological and political changes over the past 10 to 20 years have increased access to market foods (Crittenden et al, 2017;Pollom, Herlosky, Mabulla, & Crittenden, 2020), approximately 150 to 200 individuals (out of a total population of 1000) continue to reside in bush camps and consume a primarily wild-food diet. 1 The remaining 700 to 800 individuals reside in villages and consume a mixed-subsistence diet.…”

Section: Study Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a mixed‐subsistence diet on the growth of Hadza children

Pollom

Cross

Herlosky

et al. 2020

American J Hum Biol

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Introduction: We investigated the preliminary effects of dietary changes on the anthropometric measurements of child and adolescent Hadza foragers. Methods: We conducted a cross‐sectional study comparing height and weight of participants (aged 0‐17 years) at two time points, 2005 (n = 195) and 2017 (n = 52), from two locations: semi‐nomadic “bush camps” and sedentary “village camps”. World Health Organization (WHO) calculators were used to generate standardized z‐scores for weight‐for‐height (WHZ), weight‐for‐age (WAZ), height‐for‐age (HAZ), and BMI‐for‐age (BMIFAZ). Cross tabulations were constructed for each measurement variable as a function of z‐score categories and the variables year, location, and sex. Results: Residency in a village, and associated mixed‐subsistence diet, was associated with favorable growth, including greater WAZ (P < .001), HAZ (P < .001), and BMIFAZ (P = .004), but not WHZ (P = .717). Regardless of residency location, participants showed an improved WAZ (P = .021) and HAZ (P < .001) in the 2017 study year. We found no sex differences. Discussion and Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that a mixed‐subsistence diet may confer advantages over an exclusive wild food diet, a trend also reported among other transitioning foragers.

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“…Far from the romantic notion that such populations are uncontacted and living in harmony with the natural environment, in reality, they are impacted by ecological, social, and political changes from outside/globalizing forces (24). Studying contemporary communities as referential models of ancestral lifeways not only acts to further marginalize these societies, but can also lead to erroneous scientific conclusions --for example, about ancestral patterns of diet or cooperation (see [25][26][27][28].…”

Section: Study Site Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating cross-cultural research: methodological and ethical considerations

Broesch¹,

Crittenden²,

Beheim³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The intensifying pace of research based on cross-cultural studies in the social sciences necessitates a discussion of the unique challenges of multi-sited research. Given an increasing demand for social scientists to expand their data collection beyond WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations, there is an urgent need for transdisciplinary conversations on the logistical, scientific, and ethical considerations inherent of this kind of scholarship. As a group of social scientists engaged in cross-cultural research in psychology and anthropology, we guide prospective cross-cultural researchers through some of the complex scientific and ethical challenges involved in this type of work. Such challenges involve (a) study site selection, (b) culturally appropriate research methods, and (c) community involvement. We aim to shed light on some of the difficult ethical quandaries inherent in of this type of high-profile research. Our recommendation emphasizes a community-centered approach, in which the desires of the community regarding research methodology, community involvement, results distribution, and data sharing are held in highest regard by the researchers.

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Changes in Juvenile Foraging Behavior among the Hadza of Tanzania during Early Transition to a Mixed-Subsistence Economy

Cited by 27 publications

References 37 publications

The Life History of Learning Subsistence Skills among Hadza and BaYaka Foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo

The Life History of Learning Subsistence Skills among Hadza and BaYaka Foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo

Effects of a mixed‐subsistence diet on the growth of Hadza children

Navigating cross-cultural research: methodological and ethical considerations

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