Book
Hunter and habitat in the central Kalahari desert
Cambridge University Press • Cambridge • Published In 1981 • Pages:
By: Silberbauer, George B..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source is a study of the interrelationships between population, sociocultural organization, and habitat among the Gwi San of the central Kalahari Desert in Botswana. The study begins with a brief history of the Gwi and an interesting account of the author's fieldwork experience among the Gwi. Following this, the author discusses in detail the nature of the Kalahari environment, the features of Gwi religious beliefs and ideas about nature, man, and society, the features of Gwi social organization, and the characteristics of Gwi economy. More specifically, the discussion of Gwi social organization examines band organization and composition, band politics and leadership, kinship and marriage, household organization and relationships, and interband relationships. In the discussion of Gwi economy the author examines band territoriality and Gwi subsistence pattern, material culture and industrial arts, exchange, and work and leisure. The study concludes with the author's synthesis of the above material and his understanding of and conclusions about Gwi socioecology.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Topography and geology
- Soil
- Flora
- Ethnozoology
- Fauna
- Grammar
- Logic
- Techniques of socialization
- Puberty and initiation
- Informal in-group justice
- Social control
- Ingroup antagonisms
- Inter-community relations
- Community structure
- Kin relationships
- Collecting
- Hunting and trapping
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- San
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2005
- 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 TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnographer
- Government Official
- 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.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Gerald Reid ; 1988
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1958-1966
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1958-1966
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Gwi, Ghanzi District, Botswana
- NotesAdditional notes
- George B. Silberbauer
- Most of the information in the conclusion is indexed for subjects 105 and 182 and other pertinent categories, such as 164, 181, 222, 224, 361, 571, 592, 621, and 628. Theoretical background material for the author's synthesis and his conclusions about hunter-gatherers based on his analysis of the Gwi (primarily pp. 258-260, 298-299, 300-304) are indexed for Category 121. Information on the Kalahari ecosystem (pp. 260-264) is filed in Category 13. Information on Gwi nutrition (pp. 274-275) is indexed for Categories 182 and 146 and information relating to Gwi physiology (pp. 275-277) is filed in Category 147. Information on Gwi marriage and demography (pp. 285-291) is indexed primarily for Categories 182 and 582 and the 160 categories.The Gwi live in the Kade area, where Sugawara and Tanaka also carried out their fieldwork (See documents nos. 23, 25, 27, 41, and 42.)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 305-317) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 80016768
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- San (African people)