Book
Gathering among African woodland savannah cultivators: a case study: the Gwembe Tonga
Manchester University Press • (5) • Published In 1971 • Pages: xi, 50
By: Scudder, Thayer, University of Zambia. Institute for African Studies.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study is part of a long term (14 year) study in collaboration with Elizabeth Colson focusing on continuity and change. Begun in 1957, it covers the period of actual resettlement after the building of the Kariba Dam, and the effects of, and adjustments made, as a result of relocation. Using comparative data from both hunter-gatherer and other woodland savannah cultivators, Scudder shows how the Gwembe Tonga are distinctive in their exploitation of wild plants. When crops fail, the Gwembe Tonga step up their gathering activities to supplement their diet. Unlike other people whom Scudder compares them to, the Tonga also collect plants which are potentially toxic and must be subjected to lengthy and elaborate processing to make them edible. In 1959, 54 people died after relocation in the Lusitu zone. Scudder speculates that the deaths were caused by vegetable poisoning resulting from experimentation in gathering in the new habitat.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Topography and geology
- Mortality
- Comparative evidence
- Collecting
- Tillage
- Cereal agriculture
- Food preparation
- Gratification and control of hunger
- Diet
- Ethnobotany
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tonga
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2014
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- 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
- Marlene Martin ; 1975
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1956-1970
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1925-1970
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- middle Zambezi river valley, eastern Southern province, Zambia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Thayer Scudder
- Published on behalf of the Institute for African Studies, University of Zambia by the Manchester University Press; Distributed in the USA by Humanities Press, New York
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-50)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- sv 89087959
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tonga (Zambezi people)