Nomadic Hunters Research Articles

Rethinking Wear Rate Analysis: a New Dentin Exposure Proxy and its Applications to Ancient Chinese Populations

Assessing age through dentin exposure often leads to underestimated age due to assumptions of constant molar wear rate. New methods for age-related dentin exposure accrual could facilitate cross-population comparisons independent of dietary habits and sociocultural strategies. We analyzed 3D dentin exposure surfaces in four Chinese archaeological samples to reveal variations in dentin exposure rates linked to socioeconomic practices. Linear regression models of dentin exposure areas across molar rows showed significant correlations, with the first molars exhibiting steeper slopes and smaller intercepts compared to the second molars, which had intermediate values, and the third molars showing the highest intercepts and lowest slopes. The first molar contributed most to overall dentin exposure in the molar quadrant, while the second molar wore faster post-eruption. Among populations, Banlashan, predominantly agriculturalist; Houtaomuga, focused on fishing; and Jiayi, a nomadic hunting society, displayed similar wear rate patterns. In contrast, Dunping, a Bronze Age nomadic settlement situated on a high-altitude plateau, exhibited distinctively lower wear rates. These observed dentin exposure rates aligned with ecological and dietary constraints, enabling interpopulation comparisons using the proposed 3D dentin exposure proxy. Moreover, the statistical model allows for comparing wear rates across populations relative to dietary habits and potentially estimating age at death for isolated archaeological specimens, whether humans or animals. The precision of this physiological age estimation depends on the regression models used, necessitating further research with specimens of known age at death.

Birhor Society and Culture: A Study on Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of Jharkhand, India

A significant portion of the Indian population consists of tribal communities. The world's highest concentration of tribal people with diverse cultures is found exclusively in India. Tribal people are those who inhabit a specific region, have uniform cultural characteristics, and use basic technology. Tribes are recognized for their unique ethnic and cultural characteristics, but they are losing their unique identities as a result of massive and rapid urbanization and industrialization. Since the beginning of ethnographic research on Indian tribes, scientists have been interested in the unique livelihood practices of the Birhor, a particularly vulnerable tribal group (primitive tribal group) in Jharkhand. They have historically lived in forests and had a nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyle. Large-scale deforestation brought about by urbanization and industrialization has an impact on the entire culture and civilization. Their language and unique socio-cultural structure are undergoing rapid changes as a result of their increased exposure to modern culture through different government initiatives for tribal development, the modern educational system, etc. It is therefore necessary to investigate the evolving sociocultural patterns of the vulnerable "Birhor" tribe and to put appropriate strategies and programmes in place for the self-initiated preservation of indigenous tribal culture and identity. Keywords: Oral tradition, Social life, Economic life, Birhor, Jharkhand.

The concept of «movement» in Evenki phraseology

The publication is devoted to the description of the concept of «movement» in the ethnic picture of the world that is reflected in Evenki phraseology. The relevance of the research is the decline in the functionality of the native language in the conditions of globalization and is determined by the insufficient knowledge of Evenki phraseology. The aim of the research is to demonstrate the potential of figurative speech and the correlation between language and ethnic worldview on the example of a linguistic concept. The basic concept of the Evenki worldview is considered through the prism of the mentality bearer of ethnic culture that is based on the ethnographic traditions of the nomadic way of life. The theoretical basis of the research are the studies devoted to the phraseology of the Russian language and interdisciplinary developments at the interface between linguistics and ethnography. The research material are studies on the language, ritual culture, folklore and literature of the Evenki. The analysis of the used material and cultural traditions indicates a close correlation between the composition of phraseological units and the economic and worldview traditions of the Evenki. Because of the research, the author concludes that the concept of «movement» is one of the basic symbols of the traditional Evenki worldview, formed in the process of historical adaptation of the cultural complex of a nomadic hunter in the conditions of the mountain taiga landscape. In the ethnic picture of the world, this concept is comprehended in connection with the process of human life and is embodied in a significant amount of phraseological units formed from verbs denoting various forms of movement. The most common phraseological units are formed from the verbs ngaenaemi – «to go» and girkumi – «to walk». In the Evenki language, the concept of «movement» is represented in the form of phraseological units with different meanings, among which the most common are phraseological units meaning «to live», «to overcome», «to achieve», «to catch up.» In the Evenki language picture of the world, movement is contrasted with the static condition of objects in the world. The phraseology of the Evenki language reflects the ethnographic, social, moral traditions of the ethnic society and the system of acquired knowledge. The prospects for further research on the topic are associated with attracting interest in the Evenki phraseology from specialists in linguoculturology.

Different Blowing Techniques for Palaeolithic Aerophones: Animal Calls, Clarinets, and Flutes

This article examines how individual approaches in experimental music archaeology may produce different results in reconstructing Upper Palaeolithic aerophones. The paper reveals how sound tools have been used by both prehistoric and modern hunters to imitate animal calls or to chase their prey in a specific direction. The best examples of such practices are the phalangeal whistles and a possible scraper, which have been found along with the remains of Neanderthals in Europe. A possible scraper was recently discovered in the Middle Stone Age African Border cave. Early percussion instruments like drums or different kinds of idiophones might have had multiple functions for the nomadic hunters. From the 1990s to 2009 a number of new finds of possible Palaeolithic aerophones initiated various experimental studies. Unfortunately, many important questions could not be resolved. I intend to revive the discussions on playing techniques on one hand, and to contribute to the arguments for the non-human origin of some finds on the other. After discussing sound production techniques of simulated animal calls and summarising the possible use of sound-producers as hunting tools, this article briefly presents two possible reconstructions with reeds and two different techniques of blowing a flute without any mouthpiece.

Mantras Shown in Sangam Literature

Achamuga defining the sanga tamil community organization the standard of living of the people who lived in the system climate economic status and How was the cultural condition and how much civilization did the people live during the sangam period? The postion also indicated by sangam literary evidence From nomadic hunter – gatherer. Society to the Mughal rululers,Tamil society was an agricultural civilization. Sangha literature expresses a developed attitude to social conditions

The “Social-Friendly Learning-Instructional Theory”

The advanced “Social-Friendly Learning-Instructional Theory” (ST) is based on (and employs use of): 1) the Mebir innate response, and on 2) “The Peaceful Composure Theorem” (PCT) that shows humans to be loving, non-competitive and non-aggressive. (PCT) is derived from a) two new theories of evolution, b) the study of the egalitarianism of nomadic hunters and gatherer society, and c) the common bottlenose dolphins peaceful composure between conspecifics and unique exceptional evolutionary freedom.

A Taxation in Old Turkic States. Part 1: Türkic Qaghanates and Their Local Successors in Relations with Nomadic and Hunting Tribes

Due to the limited found of sources there are different views of researchers on fiscal practices in political formations created and headed by the tribes of the Early Turkic group. The present paper is an attempt to summarize summarizes all direct and indirect evidences of any taxation in the Türkic Qaghanates, as well as in the regionally successive political formations are headed by qaghans from the Xuē-yán-tuó 薛延陁 / 薛延陀 and the Uyghur tribes in Inner Asia, Türgish in Central Asia, Qïrqïz in the Khakass-Minusink basin. A special attention should be paid to the evidence concerning the possessions of the Western Türkic dynasties with settled agricultural population on the territory of Central Asia and Afghanistan. As a result of the summation of disparate sources data, it became possible to identify the certain patterns, which are generally predictable, given the accumulated experience of comparative studies of nomadic societies. First, there is no evidence that the nomadic population, which belonged to the dominant tribal group, was exploited in any way (which, of course, does not exclude the existence of any other practices of internal redistribution). Secondly, from the nomadic and forest hunting tribes were in a subordinate position, all the collections were subjected to taxation of natural products, however, but this was without any regularity and depending solely on the discretion of the representatives of the dominant tribe were directly at their head. Thirdly, the fiscal levies for the conquered sedentary agricultural people were carried out according to the practices prevailing earlier in a particular locality. The agents of the central (qaghanal) government were appointed over such subordinate peoples to exist on a par with the local dynastic rulers. They did not directly influence their domestic policies and, apparently, had only to control the timeliness of payments, among other obligations that their citizenship status implied. The collected data provides important material for theoretical generalizations related to the development of criteria for assessing the complexity degree of certain nomadic political formations.

The Storied Landscape of Iroquoia: History, Conquest, and Memory in the Native Northeast

The Storied Landscape of Iroquoia: History, Conquest, and Memory in the Native Northeast

The “Old Testaments” of the peoples. Grundtvig's discernment of life's true order (human first, Christian next) and its relevance for the new eco‐recognition of ancestral bonds in time and space

AbstractThe intellectual distinction between Jews and Gentiles, Christians and Pagans is a division between true and false religion. Danish theologian N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783–1872) refuted this binary when he “matchlessly discovered” that pagan simply denotes a natural, pre‐Christian human, created in the image of God. Inborn and cultured spirits of life simply convey a people's “Old Testament,” which may also be treasured as independent sources of pride, cultural knowledge, community, and historicity. In this article, I approach Grundtvig's discovery as method, and discuss its potential to teach a climate sensitive age kinship with a particular linage of dwellers (nomads, peasants, Sami, Vikings, moderns), a specific landscape, and with spirit as breath and sensory belonging to a larger‐than‐human community. It will include a brief reflection on how native Christian scholars treat this problematic, how gendered rereadings of Norse mythology may still enlighten the present, and how new ecological concerns about deep entanglements may open Norwegian memory to its first migrants: nomadic hunters and gatherers.

Human paleodiet studies between ca. 3300–1500 years BP in Quebrada de Los Corrales (Tucumán, Argentina)

In Quebrada de Los Corrales, located in northwestern Argentina, a local economic transitional process took place between ca. 3800 and 2000 BP, during which groups of hunter-gatherers incorporated agriculture and pastoralism. In this paper, we characterize the human diet in the period between 3300 and 1500 years BP using stable carbon isotope analysis on collagen and apatite as well as nitrogen. The application of a Bayesian mixing model allowed us to establish the dominant consumption of game meat and C3 plants. These results are the first obtained for the area and form an independent line of evidence for the process of socioeconomic change from societies of nomadic hunters towards societies of agro-pastoral villages. Thus, even when the number of individuals analyzed is low, they are archaeologically relevant as they represented the only pre-Hispanic funerary contexts detected in the study area so far.

Reindeer Culture in the Last Quarter of the Moon

<i>The Last Quarter of the Moon</i> is the first novel in China to describe the living conditions of the Ewenki people over a century. As an ancient nomadic hunting nationality, the Ewenkis lived a reindeer-leading life and gradually formed the original ethnic minority culture in the deep mountains and dense forests of the Greater Xing’an Mountains. Reindeer culture is a typical representative of it, which not only reflects the daily production and life of the Ewenki people, forms a unique spiritual culture, but also condenses the sincere emotion of the Ewenki in harmony with nature. This text sorts out contents reflecting the reindeer culture in the work through textual reading. It is divided into daily life, including clothing, food, shelter, and transportation; spiritual life, including religious beliefs and art; and the theme of the work embodied by the reindeer. Finally, this article reveals the cultural connotation of reindeer culture for the Ewenki people, and the novel’s deep thinking on the integration of primitive ecological civilization and modern civilization.

ДУХОВНАЯ И ПОВСЕДНЕВНАЯ КУЛЬТУРА ЭВЕНОВ ЯКУТИИ В ПОВЕСТИ А. КРИВОШАПКИНА «ОХОТНИК ТОРМИТА»: ОПЫТ ГЕРМЕНЕВТИЧЕСКОГО ПРОЧТЕНИЯ

The narrative in stories “Hunter Tormita” by Andrey Krivoshapkin, a vivid representative of the modern Evenk prose, has not been previously subjected to literary and critical analysis. For the first time, relying on rich artistic material, the paper examines such a non-verbal phenomenon as the Evens’ spiritual and everyday culture. Using the hermeneutic approach, the researcher identifies the ethno-esthetical context of the Evens’ cultural realia, reveals certain aspects of their pagan worldview, ascertains thematic similarity of the story with Krivoshapkin’s earlier work - the ethnographical poem “The Even’s World” - and concludes that the nomadic hunting lifestyle is a basis of the Even spiritual and everyday culture, a foundation of Tormita’s character and behaviour.

The prevalent and persistent virtues of autocratic leadership in the corporate sector: An analysis

Nineteenth-century critics ascertained that there were three major modes of leadership: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. These had their origins in the background of leaders and the structures of power within which they were compelled to operate. Although autocratic leadership was a mode normally associated with the military, many corporate leaders of the early twentieth century (tycoons and company heads alike) were seen to employ this form of governance to varying degrees of effect. According to Simon Restubog, “historical observation suggests that as countries moved from nomadic hunting and gathering to settling in towns and producing food, environmental complexity was reduced and a more directive leadership emerged” (p. 113).

Engineering or Biology?

About ten thousand years ago, after the climate change at the end of the last glacial period, humans started producing their own food by farming instead of being nomadic hunters. This was the beginning of a long period in which artificial selection led to the domestication of many animal, vegetal, and even microbial species by indirectly manipulating their genotypes through phenotypic selection of traits of interest. Thus, we unconsciously started to genetically modify other species at the “neolithic revolution”.

Les chasseurs du Sahara atlantique ont-ils inventé la métallurgie ? Les haches « à tranchant en éventail » dans l’art rupestre du sud marocain

It is generally accepted that the metal appeared in Morocco under Iberian influence during the second millennium BC (3800–3200 BP). On the base of three main types of “peltiforme” axes represented in rock engravings, we assume the existence of an endogenous and independent invention of metallurgy in southern Morocco. Initially, we will discuss the chronological implications of this proposal, which will be then confronted with historical and ethnological data. Several factors support the hypothesis that a black population of nomadic hunters was established on the north bank of the Moroccan Sahara. This population probably assimilated by paléoberbère society from the late Neolithic would be the inventor of the “Metgourine” axe and Metallurgy. Such a hypothesis is supported by a set of arguments from various disciplinary fields.

Skraelings by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley (review)

Reviewed by: Skraelings by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley April Spisak Qitsualik-Tinsley, Rachel Skraelings; written by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley; illus. by Andrew Trabbold. Inhabit, 2014 87 p Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-927095-54-6 $10.95 R Gr. 4–6 This brief novel that draws from traditional oral storytelling elements features Kannujag, a fictional Inuit hunter who may know nothing of the modern life the reader experiences a thousand years later (as the narrator explains), but who is deeply informed about the nomadic hunting life of the Inuit. Mostly the Inuit and Tuniit people in his region steer clear of one another (to the extent that legends in each group suggest the others aren’t quite human), but Kannujag’s ethics don’t allow him to just ignore a scene he stumbles upon: a Tuniit village under siege by ominous men in boats. His involvement will leave him permanently changed. The story’s conclusion offers insight into the fact that the invaders were Vikings, the location was Greenland, and Kannujag’s fears that there would never be peace again in his life weren’t quite borne out, but future generations would certainly suffer under colonization. The authors adroitly balance fiction, legend, and nonfiction, and they package it all with the perfect knowing narrator who has plenty of asides to keep readers on track and up to speed, while never breaking the flow of the story itself. Most chapters are accented with a brooding black-and-white illustration that primarily emphasizes the stark gravity of what the protagonists face. While a deep understanding of this text will certainly be enhanced by cruising through the glossary or knowing at least a bit about Inuit cultures, the story itself is gripping, haunting, and elegantly told, and it can stand alone even for readers who resist all efforts at contextualization; it could also partner interestingly with Dorris’ Morning Girl (BCCB 10/92). End matter includes a pronunciation guide and extensive glossary. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Revisiting the limits of language: The odor lexicon of Maniq

It is widely believed that human languages cannot encode odors. While this is true for English, and other related languages, data from some non-Western languages challenge this view. Maniq, a language spoken by a small population of nomadic hunter–gatherers in southern Thailand, is such a language. It has a lexicon of over a dozen terms dedicated to smell. We examined the semantics of these smell terms in 3 experiments (exemplar listing, similarity judgment and off-line rating). The exemplar listing task confirmed that Maniq smell terms have complex meanings encoding smell qualities. Analyses of the similarity data revealed that the odor lexicon is coherently structured by two dimensions. The underlying dimensions are pleasantness and dangerousness, as verified by the off-line rating study. Ethnographic data illustrate that smell terms have detailed semantics tapping into broader cultural constructs. Contrary to the widespread view that languages cannot encode odors, the Maniq data show odor can be a coherent semantic domain, thus shedding new light on the limits of language.

Holocene-aged human footprints from the Cuatrociénegas Basin, NE Mexico

Two sets of well-preserved human footprints have been found in tufa sediments in the Cuatrociénegas Basin, NE Mexico, and here we present their U-series dates of 10.55 ± 0.03 ka and 7.24 ± 0.13 ka. The former are the oldest known footprints in Mexico, although their exact location is unknown, the latter form part of a trackway with eleven in situ human footprints. Oxygen (and to a lesser extent) carbon isotope data from the sediments suggest that the tufa with in situ footprints formed during a transition to a wetter (less arid) period, while pollen evidence indicates the basin floor presence of pecan (Carya) and willow (Salix sp.) before the onset of regional Chihuahuan Desert aridity. These footprints confirm the presence of humans, possibly nomadic hunter–gatherer groups, which persisted until the 18th Century AD.

Beyond Borders

Civilization marks its beginnings to the moment, more than 14,000 years ago, humans first gathered into settlements, leaving behind their days as nomadic hunters and gatherers. Known as sedentarization, this phenomenon likely debuted in the Fertile Crescent of the Levant, followed by the Yangtze and Yellow River basins two millennia later, and eventually in Mexico, South America, and finally the eastern shores of the United States. At each point sprang up villages, cities, and, eventually, nations. Over thousands of years, fixed boundaries were codified and defended, often at great cost. Many borders have been drawn wisely, following natural formations like barriers of mountains or rivers. Many follow linguistic, ethnic, religious, or tribal boundaries. But others have been haphazardly imposed by outsiders with the stroke of a pen on some distant map. As empires fell and the speed of global trade and migration increased, boundaries became complex barriers to the free movement of people and ideas. Today, some provoke violent wars and revolutions, while others can be breached by brave individuals and new technologies—issues that World Policy Journal explores in our spring cover theme.We begin with the Big Question—a selection of international experts reflecting on the central issue of just how boundaries should be drawn. Then, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, who also serves as chair of the Norwegian committee that awards the Nobel Peace Price, argues that leaders should think beyond borders, harnessing diversity to strengthen transnational communities. Our Map Room traces the emergence of the fabled Northwest Passage. As Arctic waters open up, northern countries are vying for oil that’s no longer imprisoned beneath a mantle of ice. Next, Carol Bellamy, longtime head of UNICEF, the Peace Corps, and now both the International Baccalaureate and the Global Partnership for Education, makes a passionate plea to prioritize the education of migrant children. For our Anatomy, we use a five-dimensional scale to rank the World’s Most Isolated Countries. Then, Courtney Brooks investigates the concept of just what constitutes a nation and answers the central question of who should sit in judgment. Veteran author and New York Timescorrespondent Marvine Howe, from her perch in Portugal, uncovers the role of Muslims on the Iberian Peninsula—those who are staying and especially those who are leaving. For our Conversation, we talk with billionaire Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese telecom pioneer whose enterprises and eponymous foundation traverse borders across Africa.In our Portfolio, the extraordinary Philippine photojournalist Veejay Villafranca captures the hunger crisis on the island of Mindanao, a legacy of decades of secular and religious conflict. Ned Parker, veteran Middle East correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and World Policy Journal contributor, joins Reuters’ Raheem Salman to provide a groundbreaking profile of Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki—and the potentially malevolent prototype he represents for post-Arab Spring Islamist leaders. In a special roundtable, award-winning author and publisher Dave Eggers gathers three young Saudis—producer Mamdouh al-Harthy, photojournalist and musician Hasan Hatrash, and film director Haifaa al-Mansour—to discuss the roles of religion, art, and politics in the Middle East. From Brussels, Hungarian economist Zsolt Darvas describes southern Europe’s dismal predicament and presents his plan to exit the economic mess and unite a continent still divided between north and south. Khristina Narizhnaya chronicles Russian emigration trends, revealing a sick nation losing its best and brightest. And the rise of Pentacostalism as a political and social force in Europe is the focus of Damaso Reyes. Finally, in his Coda, World Policy Journal editor David A. Andelman examines the broad spectrum of justice and judicial systems, the first in his series evaluating how effectively government mechanisms respond to the needs and desires of the people they serve.

Education and Patterns of Marriage System: A Micro Study on the Birhors in Hazaribag District, Jharkhand

The Birhors, one of the most primitive tribes of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand states, are nomadic hunters, food gatherers and rope makers. In Jharkhand, Birhor are found in different places like Palamu, Garhwa, Singhbhum, Giridih, Lohardaga, Ranchi, Hazaribagh, and Gumla. Linguistically they belong to Astro- Asiatic Mundari group and have their own dialect.