Baobab : the Hadza of Tanzania and the baobab as humanity's tree of life
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Baobab : the Hadza of Tanzania and the baobab as humanity's tree of life
Springer, c2023
Available at / 1 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 333-374) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Modern humans, descendants of a founding population that separated from chimpanzees some five to eight million years ago, are today the only living representative of a branching group of African apes called hominins. Because of its extraordinary size and shape, the baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) has long been identified as the most striking tree of Africa's mosaic savanna, the landscape generally regarded as the environment of hominin evolution. This book makes the case for identifying the baobab as the tree of life in the hunter-gatherer adaptation that was the economic foundation of hominin evolution. The argument is based on the significance of the baobab as a resource-rich environment for the Hadza of northeastern Tanzania, who continue to be successful hunter-gatherers of the African savanna.
Table of Contents
Part I: THE BAOBAB
Chapter 1. The distinguishing features of the tree of life and the baobab
Chapter. 2. The Hadza and studies that document their use of the baobab
Part II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Chapter. 3. Hominin adaptation as the development of a gendered forager division of labor
Chapter. 4. Correlated handiness and bipedality as the outcome of the multidimensional selective pressures of the forager way of life
Part III: MATERIAL CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
Chapter. 5. Africa's premier fiber tree
Chapter. 6. The baobab and container
Chapter. 7. The baobab and fire in hominin evolution
Part IV: ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
Chapter. 8. The baobab and Hadza acquisition, management and use of water
Chapter. 9. Baobab seasonality
PART V: BAOBAB RESOURCES: FOOD, HEALTH, AND EXCHANGE BENEFITS
Chapter. 10. The Hadza preeminent fruit tree
Chapter. 11. Baobab beverages
Chapter. 12. Africa's honey tree
Chapter. 13. The baobab and birds
Chapter. 14. The Hadza diet and the baobab as a source of other animal foods
Chapter. 15. The baobab as a hunger-time tree of life
Chapter. 16. The baobab and health
Chapter. 17. The baobab and exchange
Part VI: THE INSPIRATIONAL VALUE OF THE BAOBAB
Chapter. 18. The baobab in Hadza inspirational life
Chapter. 19. The baobab as a fertility tree
Chapter. 20. Other inspirational uses of the baobab
Chapter. 21. The baobab and danger
Chapter. 22. The baobab and death
Part VII. THE HADZA AND BAOBAB REGENERATION
Chapter. 23. The baobab and Hadza central-place residential camps
Chapter. 24. Hadza influence on baobab regeneration
Chapter. 25. The Hadza baobab retreat
Literature cited
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"