1) The Zulu Nation of South Africa primarily lives in the province of
KwaZulu-Natal, which is between the Indian Ocean and the Drankensberg Mountain
range. It is an agriculture fertile region with the summer season being it’s
most productive. The summer season lasts from October to April and the winter
season is from June to August. The capital of KwaZulut-Natal is Durban and it
is hailed as being sunny 320 days out of the year. The temperature between the
summer months stays within 73.4 degrees F. (23 degrees C.) and 91.4 degrees F.
(33 degrees C.). January within the region is considered the hottest month. The
annual rainfall reaches 1,000 mm in KwaZulu-Natal. The province is a
subtropical climate, where water temperature usually maintains at 62.6 degrees
F. (17 degrees C.).
2) While looking into the Zulu of
South Africa, I was unable to find any information on this exact group of
people or their physical adaptations. However, with further research I was able
to find information about certain regions of Africa and the physical
adaptations of people living within those warm climate regions. The people, who
live within a region that will see a lot of Sun and harmful U.V rays, generally
tend to be darker in skin, to protect against harsh light. Also, long linear
body builds seem to correlate with hot climates. A group constantly exposed to
the Sun would lose a lot of water through sweating, but in warmer climates the
inhabitants do not urinate as often as people in colder climates. Their bodies
seem to be reserving the water. This would be the physical adaptation the human
body would go through being exposed to sun 320 days a year.
3) The iQukwane (Zulu Huts) is a great example of cultural adaption. The
constant severe heat has given birth to its architecture. Traditional iQukwane
are made of grasses (Hyparrhania hirta and Black Wattle Acacia) that are used
for the walls, it is wrapped together using Natal Fig Ficus Natalensis. Rock
Alder Canthium Mundanium tree trunks are used to create the center pole that is
placed in the middle which supports the entire structure. The floors are made
with a mixture of cow dung and termite mounds. All these materials, especially
the cow dung floors help to maintain a cool temperature throughout hot days.
4) If I were to categorize the Zulu
people of Africa, and had to put them in a certain group. It would be as
Africans and that is even stretching the category. Africa is large continent
and inhabits many different people, to label one group that lives on the continent
and to think the physical and cultural adaptations would be similar, would be
wrong.
Andean Indian
1) Andean Indians live high on top of the Andes Mountains. The climate in
the Andes Mountain is very interesting; it drastically changes throughout the
regions. It encompasses tropical rain forests to very snowy regions. In the highest
peak is in Argentina which is 22,834 ft. The region that Andean Indians inhabit
the winter temperatures reach 52 degrees F and the summer averages 68 degrees
F. The high altitudes keep the temperatures constantly cool and humidity fairly
dry.
2) The Andean Indians physically
adapted to the high altitude by developing an ability to carry more oxygen in
each red blood cell. They breathe at the same rate as people who live at sea level;
Andeans have the ability to deliver oxygen throughout their bodies more
effectively than people at sea level do.
4) To
classify them as race would be very hard. If you were to loosely make any
category for Andean Indians, it would be South American. It would be an
extremely loose category.
Sources:
Zuluhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Zulu.aspx,
http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-234690,
http://www.southafrica.com/kwazulu-natal/climate/,
Andean Indians
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/andes_climate.htmttp://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/andes_climate.htm
Interesting that the Zulu urinate less to help reserve water in the heat, I didn't know that! Also, in reading through posts, I have yet to hear about the iQukwanes. I enjoyred reading about how uniquely they are built to help keep cool. When researching the Andean Indeans I found a lot of articles on the controversy of cocaine there, but wasn't able to find out the purpose of the use. It's crazy that the leaves help with sickness and stomach aches in the high altitudes. I enjoyed reading your post, your adaptations were fairly different from mine and gave me more information on these groups and their adaptations!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Your discussion of the coca leaves by the Andeans had me checking out information on their background. It does seem to have a lot of medical benefits, and has even been linked to lower osteoporosis in the Andeans. I do have to wonder about the issue of altitude sickness, though. Given that they are well-adapted to this particular high-altitude environment, I find it curious that they would need help with high-altitude sickness. But all the same, I think the efforts of the governments to remove this practice is being more than a little ethnocentric.
ReplyDeleteGreat summary and I liked the images. Nicely done.
I LIKE THE INFO ABOUT THE COCOA LEAVES I MISSED THAT WHILE RESEARCHING! ALSO I NOTICED A LOT OF PEOPLE POSTED ABOUT THE ZULU HUTS, I MISSED THE MARK ON THAT ONE TOO, GREAT RESEARCH.
ReplyDeleteI thought this post was great. You seem to have really done your research and learned a lot of interesting facts. I had no idea that the Zulu people even NEEDED to retain water since their homeland seems to get much more precipitation than most of Africa. And the part about the coca leaves? Never would have guessed that, The way you outlned it was great too. It was well organized and easy to follow.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read, I agree that any Anthropologist should never group people by race, it is inefficient. Adaptations from their environment is always consistent data when researching a culture.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post and your summarization. I see that you are hesitant to even try to choose a race to classify these people and that's how I would be too.
ReplyDeleteIt made me curious so I looked it up on the census website and came up with this, "The racial categories included in the census questionnaire generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups. People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture, such as “American Indian” and “White.” People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race.
OMB requires five minimum categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander."
I wonder how these two differing cultures would classify themselves?
I also really liked the way you presented the information about the cultures. It made it clear as to what a biological adaptation was as opposed to a cultural adaptation and overall I enjoyed reading it. Thank you!