Human Variations in High Altitude Populations

Human Variations in High Altitude Populations


Jessyca Caumo
26 november 1996

Thesis:The purpose of this paper is to describe the high altitude stresses and
the general adaptations made by the Tibetan population in the Himalayas and the
Quechua in the Andes.

I Introduction
    II   Background
A Quechua People
B Tibetan People
  III   General Adaptations
A Physical
  1 Growth
  2 Development
  3 Core temperature
    4 Extremity temperature
B Non- Physical
    1 Clothing
  2 Houses
  3 Schedule
V   Conclusion


"Some ten to twenty-five million people (that is less than 1% of the
earth's population) currently make it[high altitude zones] their
home(Moran,143)." The adjustment high altitude populations must make are firstly
physical and secondly cultural. Although most people adapt culturally to their
surroundings, in a high altitude environment these cultural changes alone aren't
enough. Many physical adaptations that reflect "the genetic plasticity common to
all of mankind(Molinar,219)" have to be made to survive and even more than that
thrive in this type of environment.
    In this paper I will describe the high altitude stresses. Along with
adaptations made by the populations living in them. The two high altitude
populations which I will examine in this paper are the Tibetan people of the
Asian Himalayas and the Quechua of the South American Andes.
    The Quechua are an Indian people who inhabit the highlands of Peru and
Bolivia. They speak Quechua, which is a branch of the Andean-Equitorial stock.
They show many remnants of Inca heritage by their houses, music, and religion
which has pagan rites under the Roman-Catholic surface. Their villages consist
of kin groups . Their marriage partners are taken from within each village.
    Agriculture is the dominant subsistence pattern in the central Andean
region but the Nunoa region where the Quechua reside can only support a few
frost-resistant crops. Which... [continues]

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