essay
The social organization of resource exploitation
Turkana herders of the dry savanna : ecology and biobehavioral response of nomads to an uncertain environment • Oxford • Published In 1999 • Pages: 68-86
By: Dyson-Hudson, Neville, Dyson-Hudson, Rada.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document discusses the social organization of resource exploitation among the Turkana which is characterized by astonishing flexibility to adaptively cope with unpredictably varying environmental conditions. The document identifies three major reasons that led to this flexibility and flux. One is the mobility and divisibility of livestock herds, which are virtually the only economic resource of Turkana pastoralists. A second reason is the environment knowledge of herders, gained through years of experience. A third reason concerns the willingness of Turkana pastoralists to endure the physical hardships which this way of life requires.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Environmental quality
- Land use
- Pastoral activities
- Annual cycle
- Domesticated animals
- Functional and adaptational interpretations
- Cultural participation
- Diet
- Exchange transactions
- Labor supply and employment
- Collecting
- Property in movables
- Mode of marriage
- Social relationships and groups
- Community structure
- Settlement patterns
- Household
- Dwellings
- Friendships
- Adolescent activities
- Inter-community relations
- Real property
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Turkana
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2009
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1980-1996
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1980-1999
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Turkana, Kenya
- NotesAdditional notes
- Neville Dyson-Hudson and Rada Dyson-Hudson
- For bibliographical references see document 24: Little and Leslie
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 99219983
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Turkana (African people)