Subsistence, activity patterns, and physical work capacity

Curran, Linda S.; Galvin, Kathleen A.

essay

Subsistence, activity patterns, and physical work capacity

turkana herders of the dry savanna : ecology and biobehavioral response of nomads to an uncertain environment • Oxford • Published In 1999 • Pages: 146-163

By: Curran, Linda S., Galvin, Kathleen A..

Abstract
This document discusses interrelationships between health, nutrition, activity patterns, and physical work capacity among Ngisonyoka Turkana pastoral nomads. It shows that the Turkana suffer from relatively inadequate nutrition and low body fat. Yet they accomplish the hard tasks of herding in a very difficult environment by responding on two levels. First, they use day-to-day behavioral strategies to minimize exposure to heat and dehydration. Second, they use long-term cultural mechanism, tied to relative age and physical capabilities, to manage and distribute nutritional and work-related stress. Some age and occupational groups expected to, and did, bear a greater share of the stress than others.

Diet

Pastoral activities

Division of labor by gender

Gender status

Nutrition

Labor and leisure

Descriptive somatology

Anthropometry

Disasters

Instigation of war

Preservation and storage of food

Functional and adaptational interpretations