Hideaki Terashima

Mota and Other Hunting Activities of the Mbuti Archers: A Socio-Ecological Study of Subsistence Technology

Sevcral methods of bow-and-arrow hunting of the Mbuti archers in the Iluri Forest arc described and analyzed in this paper. My observation and the literature indicate that one type of collective bow-and-arrow hunting, mota, which uses a beat-technique and aims for duikers or a chevrotain occupies the principal position among the various hunting activities of archcrs. Bow-and-arr. w hunting has been so far considered far less effective than net hunting, but a comparison revealed that the mota hunting or 1II0t.i-likc bow-and-arrow hunting is not always inferior to net hunting in cffiC:ency. We should keep this point in mind when wc compare the subsistence ecology of archers and that of nethunters.

A COMPARATIVE ETHNOBOTANY OF THE MBUTI AND EFE HUNTER-GATHERERS IN THE ITURI FOREST, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Ethnobotanical research conducted among four groups of the Mbuti and Efe huntergatherers in the Ituri Forest of the Republic of Congo (former Zaire) has revealed their extensive acquaintance with the plant world. A comparison of the plant vernacular names and use shows a cultural diversity and inter-group differences in the knowledge of plants among the groups, although they share a similar overall use pattern and the knowledge of certain important species. The factors affecting such similarities and differences in plant use are discussed in relation to the natural and

Wild Plant Utilization of the Balese and the Efe of the Ituri Forest, the Republic of Zaire

Quite many plants are used by the Balese cultivators and the Efe huntergatherers who live in the midst of the tropical rain forest of Zaire. In total, 533 pieces of use information on 281 plants were gathered and presented here with scientific names, botanical information, usage categories. the etymology of vernacular names, and comparative notes with the plant utilization observed among the Tetri net-hunters by Tanno (1981).

NAMES, USE AND ATTRIBUTES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS AMONG THE ITURI FOREST FORAGERS: A COMPARATIVE ETHNOBOTANICAL AND ETHNOZOOLOGICAL STUDY

Ethnobotanical and ethnozoological surveys have been conducted from the 1970s among Ituri forest hunter-gatherers, the Mbuti and Efe, revealing interesting points on the relation- ships between the hunter-gatherers and the flora and fauna. In this paper, names, use and attributes given to plants and animals by the foragers are described and compared. Although the Efe and the Mbuti use completely different languages now, not a few names, uses and attributes of plants and animals are common to both groups. It has become clear that the use of plants and attributes given to animals are more durable than the names in the transition of their culture through contact with farmers. The common names, uses and attributes may suggest the existence of original Pygmy words and plant and animal culture in the Ituri forest.

The Evolutionary Development of Learning and Teaching Strategies in Human Societies

The characteristics of learning behavior of modern hunter-gatherers are investigated in terms of evolutionary perspectives. Hunter-gatherer children have a long childhood compared with other animals and other human groups. During childhood they can learn knowledge and skills that they need to pursue foraging activities chiefly via social learning while participating and playing in play groups. Without formal school education or teaching, hunter-gatherer children are able to enjoy autonomous learning which leads to flexible and innovative behavior in adulthood. Hunter-gatherers engage in education as a cultural institution that is unique to humans: a socio-cultural interaction within a framework of intention and expectation, belief and trust between the learner and the teacher. This teaching relationship is in contrast to the biologically established teaching relationship such as natural pedagogy. After the onset of adolescence, young people expand their range of acitivities. Sometimes they visit distant relatives to learn new things away from their own people. This interconnectivity between social groups brings about opportunities for the exchange of goods and ideas that makes it possible for innovations to be more rapidly transmitted from group to group. Social organization, cognitive development, and bio-ecological fundamentals in the hunting and gathering way of life seem to have contributed all together to enhance human learning capacity.

The Relationships Among Plants, Animals, and Man in the African Tropical Rain Forest

Interrelationship among man, plants and animals in the Ituri forest is described and analyzed. Plants contribute mainly to establish the material world of forest foragers, and their eternity gives man and animals living in the forest a sense of security and certainty of life. Animals are characterized by an ontological duality. They are like man and differ from it. They interact with man actively, emotionally and ambivalently. Animal meat is highly prized as food but it is often connected...

Dynamics of Learning in Neanderthals and Modern Humans Volume 1

T is the first of two volumes reporting the results of an inter-disciplinary conference held in Tokyo in November 2012. The conference was held by members of a five year research project (2010–2014) titled the “Replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans: testing evolutionary models of learning.” The research was designed to contrast the success of early modern humans as measured up against the failure of Neanderthals “in solving strategic survival problems” (page v). Right from the start, the members of this team assume that there is a fundamental difference or differences between Neanderthals and moderns, and they use a myriad of scientific methods to determine what these differences really were. The proceedings of the conference were divided into 43 chapters; these were grouped into 7 sections, then into 2 volumes. This first volume, composed of 18 chapters, deals with cultural perspectives related to learning. The authors generally assume that different learning strategies lead to differences in technology and culture, and that this can explain changing patterns in archaeological cultures. From this, the authors propose general models for theoretical interpretation. After an introductory chapter written by the editors, the volume is divided into three sections. The first is an archaeological overview of the replacement theory; the second is learning behaviors in prehistoric and modern hunter-gatherers; and the third is human—specific learning strategies and cultural evolution. In Chapter 2, Ofer BarYosef presents a review of evidence for Neanderthals and moderns humans across Eurasia. He points out that hominin fossils are rarely recovered, but that archaeological evidence is abundant. He offers a review of this evidence, covering Europe, the Levant, and Siberia. He explains the history of ideas about Middle Paleolithic tools kits, starting with François Bordes and Lewis Binford’s contrasting explanations for inter-assemblage variability. He stresses the skills required for Levallois production, and how this forces us to admit that Middle Paleolithic technology is more complex than previously thought. Then he goes on to describe the encounter of Neanderthals with modern / Upper Paleolithic peoples. Upper Paleolithic Eurasians contrasted markedly with Neanderthals; they show material evidence of high mobility, the ability to express ethnic identity, innovations such as personal adornment (ornaments), new hunting tools, and new means of communication. All of this made moderns successful, while Neanderthals disappeared. In Chapter 3, João Zilhão presents a marked alternative. He supports a version of the assimilation model, where Neanderthals already had new technologies before modern humans appeared in Europe. Like many researchers, he argues that the arrival of modern humans in the Levant as well as in Europe corresponds with the appearance of the Aurignacian. But some Upper Paleolithic technological elements appeared well before this. As a result, the so-called transitional industries between the Middle Paleolithic and the Aurignacian had to have been made by Neanderthals. He dismisses the possible evidence for pre-Aurignacian moderns in Europe, and stresses that radiocarbon dates are questionable, as the start of the Upper Paleolithic lies right on the limit of the method. For him, the presence of pigments in a Middle Paleolithic context in southern Spain is critical; symbolic behaviors do not equal modernity. In Chapter 4, Seiji Kadowaki presents a discussion of technology and technological change in the Levant over the course of the Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic periods. Sites range from 300,000 to 20,000 years ago. Using information from published sources, he produces an archaeological database of sites, their location, type, stratigraphic and cultural sequence, age estimates, and lithic assemblages. He concludes that at this point in time it is still hard to measure the transition from Neanderthals to moderns using the archaeological record. In Chapter 5, Hirofumi Kato reviews the evidence for Middle to Upper Paleolithic Siberia in three regions: the Altai, the Urals, and around Lake Baikal. The appearance of the Upper Paleolithic is marked by blade or microblade production. This article is especially useful for its review of the archaeological sequence of the famous Denisova Cave, which extends back to around 280,000 years ago in the Late Acheulean. Steven Kuhn discusses the energetics of Middle Paleolithic people in Chapter 6. He argues that they represented small fragmented populations, and that this in turn led to slow rates of cultural evolution, weak social ties, and social and biological fragility in the face of the arrival of modern people. He contrasts Neanderthals with their cousins producing Middle Stone Age sites in Africa, who seem to be involved in active social networking. He believes that these demographic differences were critical, and that demographic and cognitive variables are not independent of one another. While he cannot prove that demography was the key to understanding why one group survived and the other did not, he believes that “it helps” (p. 110) explain

Ethnobotany of the Lega in the Tropical Rain Forest of Eastern Zaire: Part One, Zone de Mwenga

Ethnobotanical research was conducted on the traditional use of wild plants among the Lega slash-and-burn agriculturalists of eastern Zaire. Data on 287 plants were collected and matched with scientific names, vernaculars, botanical observations, uses, and name etymology. This report is the first step in a survey that will involve several research sites in Legaland in an attempt to understand man-plant interrelations in the floral environment of tropical rain forests through the ethnobotanical method.

Hunter-Gatherers and Learning in Nature

What brought about the evolution of modern behavior in Homo sapiens and how does their learning ability relate to that evolution? In this chapter, I will explore the characteristics of the learning behavior of modern humans, in particular the foundation of creative and innovative learning that has been indispensable for human cultural evolution during the last part of the glacial epochs. After discussing some crucial points of human development patterns and social learning, I will investigate the beginning of symbolic art and the development of Homo sapiens’ relationship with the natural world, drawing on the relationship between contemporary hunter-gatherers and wild animals. Then I will propose a hunter-gatherer learning model in nature that depicts the foundation for continuous learning and creative activities among them. Careful attention to nature and wild animals combined with artistic motivation and communicative ability might have strongly enhanced the learning capacity and advanced the cultural evolution of Homo sapiens.

Reflections on Hunter-Gatherer Social Learning and Innovation

It is said that Homo sapiens were capable of developing survival strategies in response to the drastic climatic changes during the last glacial epoch, while the Neanderthals were not. Our mission in the RNMH project was to elucidate and compare the learning behaviors of modern humans and Neanderthals in order to test the “learning hypothesis” – that modern humans’ superior learning ability was the crucial factor in the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans. Investigation was carried out into the learning behavior of modern huntergatherer children to discover the social, ecological, behavioral, and psychological factors that may ensure the fidelity of cultural transmission and expand opportunities for innovative behavior. What has become clear in the RNMH project is that it might be difficult to judge whether the biological differences in learning ability between the two species were the primary cause of the replacement, and that the experience of rapid environmental changes and new social environments that the sapiens faced as they became dispersed throughout Europe spurred them to develop new technologies and social relationships to cope with that difficulty. Although the data on Neanderthals’ children were so little, some possible comparisons were made to get insights into the characteristics of learning behavior of sapiens and Neanderthals: (1) relationship between children’s physical development and learning strategies; (2) changes in prevalent mode of cultural transmission according to physical development of children; (3) status of children in their groups; (4) the way of teaching that are usually embedded in every instance of social interaction and communication; (5) sociality and social networks that work for material, informational, and social exchanges in the same human groups. Social learning is one of the core drivers of human cultural evolution, and an understanding of the processes of learning and the contexts in which it occurs among contemporary hunter-gatherers can help us make sophisticated inferences about our past as well as provide clues about where we might be headed in the future.