The Bushmen Research Paper

The Bushmen are the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa, where they have lived for at least 20,000 years. They live in the vast area of the Kalahari desert. The Bushmen are the remnants of Africa's oldest cultural group, genetically the closest surviving people to the original Homo Sapiens. They are known to be one of the most primitive people alive on the face of the earth. The Bushmen live in smaller groups of 25 or so within larger social networks of around 500 people. Social relationships, including those between men and women, are fairly egalitarian. Disputes abound among the Bushmen-over mates, hunting rights, perceived slights. Every man has in his possession a bow and poison-tipped arrows that doom the victim to a lingering and agonizing death. Without central government, what is there to stop every serious dispute from escalating to deadly violence and even war between different bands?

The first one is prevention. Preventing disputes from arising where possible. It starts with their childhood where their mother and father teach their children from a very early age to avert disputes and to fear and avoid violence. Sharing resources is another way to prevent any type of disputes and to simply live in harmony. The exchange of valuable items as gifts is also something that Bushmen practice among each other. That system of gift exchange is referred to as hxaro among Bushmen people. As one Bushman described it to anthropologist Richard Lee, "Hxaro is when I take a thing of value and give it to you. Later, much later, when you find some good thing, you give it back to me. When I find something