Blog Post 2
Location and Area Description
The Zulu population resides in the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. The mean annual rainfall there ranges from 650 mm in the eastern Grasslands to 1400 mm in the eastern Coastal Bushveld. Opposite from us, The Zulu experience a summer (October to April) and winter (May to September) season. As for the climate, the area is known to be a subtropical climate that experiences a hot and humid wet season during summer. However, it is dry and warm during the winter during the day and cold at night.
As for the Andean Indians, they mostly reside along the Pacific coast and in the Andean highlands. Although some Andeans moved to cities/ urban centers, such as La Paz and Lima, there are many spread along the pacific coast of South America. However, the majority of this population live in small communities throughout the mountains of the Andes, with a very low population density. The average temperatures of the Andes range from 11˚–18˚C, and annual rainfall from 50–1000 mm, with drier conditions along the southwest and wetter conditions along the east. The northern Andes are subject to frosts, while the southern Andes are drought-prone.
Physical Adaptations
A physical adaptation they acquired is the production of more melanin that produces dark brown to black colored skin. This physical adaptation allows ultraviolet radiation blockage. This trait is advantageous because of the amount of sunlight where the Zulu people live. That way they can also prevent a wide variety of cancers that may impact their health and overall homeostasis
A physical adaptation that Andean Indians have acquired throughout the years is their overall height. Although not as short as people that experience Dwarfisms. This population and its predecessors, the Incans, have been short in stature compared to their European counterparts. The short height makes it not only easier to navigate the rugged and sometimes tight passage ways, but it also helps conserve central body heat and energy.
Cultural Adaptation
Andean Indians were able to culturally adapt to their environment by using terrace farming; Terrace farming is when they cut steep hills and plant crops according to the amount of space they had available and the humidity of the area. This provided food security even when the mountains had scarce resources to farm with.
The Zulu Tribe culturally adapted to their environment using elephant grass, and local wood weaved together to form stable structures. The wooden strips form a solid framework that supports the thatched roof. As nomads, they built houses that could easily be moved from one place to another often.
Race
For the Zulu population, I would say that they are part of the Black race. Since their skin tone and overall appearance is very similar to that of other Black populations around the world, it would be reasonable to classify them as such.
Summary
As for the Andean population, I would say they are categorized in the borderline east asian race because of their physical features. Although not in the eastern portion of the world, I do see some similarities such as coarse black hair, sometimes monolid eyes, and brown/black eyes. However, I cannot conclude that this population is in fact part of this race by these characteristics.
After analyzing both of these populations, I would say that the adaptations tell/describe more about their differences rather than their race. For instance, I would say that the Andean people’s race is not conducive to describing the lifestyle they carry in the high mountains of the Andes. As for the Zulu people, I would say that it is difficult to assume much about their life based off just their skin color. Although the skin color does explain what type of climate they most likely live in, it does not thoroughly explain how that may affect the way they live and adapt culturally. So, as a result, it is clear for me that physical and cultural adaptations has more explanatory power than race does. Anthropologists would most likely see this as more useful in studies since they can physically observe more of their life instead of assuming from their race.
https://lisbdnet.com/how-did-the-incas-farm-in-the-mountains/
https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/designing-for-typologies/a4264-an-inside-on-architecture-of-zulu-tribe/
https://www.southafrica.net/na/en/travel/article/zulu-culture-and-cattle-symbolism
https://www.safaribookings.com/zulu-nyala/climate
https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/south-american-indians-indians-modern-andes
I am sorry for turning this in late but my computer froze.
Initial comment: Missing the images for each of the adaptations?
ReplyDeleteZulu:
Overall, good environmental description, but I would have liked more information on solar radiation stress, as that is the stress addressed by the physical adaptation you chose to highlight.
Good description of your physical adaptation to solar radiation stress.
I appreciate the cultural adaptation you chose here. Well-explained.
I agree with your choice of race.
Andean:
The primary unique environmental stress for this population is high altitude stress. It is a key factor in how this population has evolved over centuries and should have been included in your discussion here.
Okay on your adaptation of height, but can you explain this in terms of how it is adaptive in terms of hypoxia/high altitude stress? It can be explained this way.
Excellent cultural example. Well done.
Interesting choice on race for the Andeans. You have explained your choice so I see how you came to that conclusion. One thing to consider is that "Asian" covers a very broad swath of people throughout Asia (Eastern, Western and Southern) and since "race" is often determined by physical features, can "Asian" really be useful here given how many different physical identities it covers? Remember that Andeans are usually indentified as "Indians", arising from the indigenous American populations. It is true that if you go back much farther, all of the native American populations arose from early humans that migrated over from Asia, so it isn't surprising that they all bear some similarities, but it has been a long time since this migration happened and a lot of changes have occurred since then in their physical appearance.
Very good summary. I agree. Race is not based in biology but is a social construct, based in beliefs and preconceptions, and used only to categorize humans into groups based upon external physical features, much like organizing a box of crayons by color. Race does not *cause* adaptations like environmental stress do, and without that causal relationship, you can't use race to explain adaptations. Race has no explanatory value over human variation.
Good evening Abigail,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your post. I found your cultural adaptations very interesting. I did not know about the elephant grass that the zulu people use to as a building material. This definitely demonstrates how they interact with their environment. I also agree that defining the zulu people by their race is very limiting in terms of describing them more accurately.
Hi Abigail, great job on your post! At first I was a little confused on your formatting but then noticed instead of going through each population as a whole you put each into certain categories. I also agree with your summary, adaptations give more details into these people, while race is just too broad to describe them.
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