The hunters and gatherers are also called as nomads or nomadic tribes. This is because they moved around different places in search of food. their main occupation was hunting for their tribesmen (or the members in their tribe) and gathering food material. In other words, the hunters and gatherers lived by exploiting the natural resources. Gerhard Lenski, in his book Human Societies (1970), stated that hunting and gathering society is the oldest and simplest type of society. They spent a nomadic way of life and used very primitive technology for the purpose of hunting and gathering. Important tools like axes, knives, using stone for fire are some of the simplest technology which have been used by the hunters and gatherers. For example, the San people of Kalahari desert in Southern Africa, Aranda tribe of the Central Asian desert are some of the examples of such societies.
Some of the important characteristic features of the hunting and gathering society are as follows:
The hunting and gathering societies are very small in size and they lived in a scattered away (spread away or settled away in far distances). This is because the natural resources where they had lived could not support a large number of people at one time. For small size groups it was easy for the people to search sufficient food for their tribe members. They had mostly spent a nomadic way of life. This means that they were never settled in one place for a long time. They have always moved from one place to the other in search of more food. When natural resources in one place would come to an end they moved to other places. Also they used to move away from danger of being attacked by dangerous animals and other tribesmen.
The most important duty and function which was to be fulfilled by the hunters and gatherers was to gather food for their tribesmen and share them collectively. There was no form of wealth which they could acquire. Thus they did not have the desire to acquire any form of wealth or acquire any form of property. There was also no form of competition among the tribesmen. Sharing is considered an important function and norm in the hunting and gathering society. If the head of the tribe or the clan catches any animal then it is divided among the rest of the people in the tribe.
Like there was no greed for wealth. There was also greed for power and authority over others. There was no formal political institution. If any wrong was done by any tribesman then a group decision was taken over punishment of the individual. Like Durkheim has stated in his account, Elementary Forms of Religious Life, among the Arunta tribe, there were repressive laws which were mostly created by the eldest member in the tribes and were followed by all the people. Similarly, there was no existence of division of labour. The concept of division of labour did not at all exist in these societies because there was no form of labour or capital production involved. The tribe or the clan worked collectively and there was no distinction in the level of work. Again like Durkheim and Malinowski had mentioned, the religion followed by the hunters and gatherers is most simple in nature. This is the simplistic form of religious life where the people did not worship Gods and Goddesses. They worshipped only plants and animals whom some of them also considered as totems or symbols of collective life.
The most important institution which they followed was the institution of family and kinship. The entire tribe worked as one family and their existences revolved around the kinship ties. All the members were connected through common ancestors and through marriage. Educating the young and feeding them was the sole responsibility of the family. This was not performed by any other institution. The entire society was formed of one big family or one kinship tie. There were no individual families functioning as distinct units within the society. This was one of the most important characteristic features of the hunting and gathering society.
Ma'am Ami bujhechi. Ar notes ta copy korao hoye geche.
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