Sutton And Anderson's Case Study: The Twa Children Of The Forest
The Twa "Children of the Forest" may be small in stature but they are believed to have inhabited the Ituri Forest in the African Equatorial Congo Basin for millennia. Sutton and Anderson's (2010:165-175) case study outlines the cultural ecological adaptations of the Mbuti's hunter/gatherer subsistence strategy in a region of minimal seasonal variation and low productivity old growth forest, in the early 1900s, based on multiple research sources.
The Ituri forest is believed to have had an extremely low population carrying capacity until the arrival of Bantu farmers approximately four thousand years ago. Their arrival is suspected to have instigated cultural adaptations among both the Twa and the Bantu, in such a way, that by the 1900s the two populations had developed a mutualistic relationship that still exists today. Sutton and Anderson (IBID) concentrate on the co-dependency that exists between the Mbuti, a hunter/gatherer Twa group and an associated group of Bantu farmers, the Bila, as a general example of the relationship between these groups in many parts of the region. …show more content…
Thus, the primary food source of the Mbuti are wild plants which is why net hunts will typically occur in an area where the women can also gather. Valuable wild plants are commonly found in the secondary growth resulting from the fields that the Bila have cleared for agriculture and then abandon when they were no longer productive. Over thousands of years this practice of clearing and abandonment has created a mosaic within the Ituri Forest of old and secondary growth areas, increasing both the diversity and productivity of the forest. The increased productivity likely increased the forest's carrying capacity allowing the Mbuti populations to rise, but it also assisted in the creation of the co-dependent relationship that exists between the Mbuti and the
The Ituri forest is believed to have had an extremely low population carrying capacity until the arrival of Bantu farmers approximately four thousand years ago. Their arrival is suspected to have instigated cultural adaptations among both the Twa and the Bantu, in such a way, that by the 1900s the two populations had developed a mutualistic relationship that still exists today. Sutton and Anderson (IBID) concentrate on the co-dependency that exists between the Mbuti, a hunter/gatherer Twa group and an associated group of Bantu farmers, the Bila, as a general example of the relationship between these groups in many parts of the region. …show more content…
Thus, the primary food source of the Mbuti are wild plants which is why net hunts will typically occur in an area where the women can also gather. Valuable wild plants are commonly found in the secondary growth resulting from the fields that the Bila have cleared for agriculture and then abandon when they were no longer productive. Over thousands of years this practice of clearing and abandonment has created a mosaic within the Ituri Forest of old and secondary growth areas, increasing both the diversity and productivity of the forest. The increased productivity likely increased the forest's carrying capacity allowing the Mbuti populations to rise, but it also assisted in the creation of the co-dependent relationship that exists between the Mbuti and the