Environmental Adaptations
-Population A: Zulu-
-Environment-
The Zulu tribe resides in the KwaZulu-Natal province, which takes part of the Southeast of Africa. They live in subtropical land, meaning their precipitation is moderate- ranging from 50 to 40 inches.They face temperate climate as and year round sun exposure ranging from 57 degrees Fahrenheit in the colder winter seasons and 87 degrees in the summer.
-Physical Adaptation-
The aforementioned year-long sun exposure has, over generations, caused the skin of the Zulu to elevate its production of melanin, which allows them to endure direct sunlight without skin sensitivity and provides them with protection against ultraviolet rays associated with the development of skin-related cancer. The melanin in their skin not only provides protection but it does so while simultaneously allowing the skin to absorb vitamin D, which is imperative for cell growth, calcium and phosphorus retention, and fighting skin inflammation.
-Cultural Adaptation-
Year round heat has led the Zulu people do develop clothing that will keep them as cool as possible to avoid heatstrokes and provide comfort. Clothing is very minimal, the men usually wear ox hide girdles with animal tails along with animal skin or ox hide aprons while the women wear tanned leather skirts lubricated in fat. Both genders wear a variety of belts and necklaces
-Race-
I would choose to categorize this tribe as Black. I feel this is an accurate race to represent the tribe, not only because of their region of residence but also due to to their melanin-rich skin.
-Population B: Andean-
-Environment-
The Andean tribe resides in Central America. More specifically, in the the Southeastern region of Guatemala. They live in a tropical region known for its drastic precipitation shifts. Their climate is usually categorized into dry seasons lasting from May to October and rainy seasons from November towards April. Rainy seasons are the cause for various tremendous floods, especially in their higher altitudes, averaging up to 150 inches of precipitation.
-Physical Adaptation-
Andean people have developed high tolerance to the oxygen-deficient altitudes of their habitat. They have developed higher lung capacities and, in turn, wider chests. This high oxygen retention has also caused them to naturally have an elevated production of red blood cells.
-Cultural Adaptation-
The Andean people are constantly faced with farming hardships due to the lack of flat land. To solve this they developed a system called terracing. They carve their land into stair-step surfaces to allow them flat land for farming.
-Race-
The Mongoloid race is usually characterized by reddish- brown skin, epicanthic-fold almond eyes, and dark hair and eyes. These are all characteristics that fit the Andean people, therefore I believe they would fall into this racial group.
-Summary-
Upon inspecting both classification methods. I found that the pursuit of learning a tribe's physical and cultural adaptations provokes a more intricate and accurate research into both their customs and history. Racial classification only requires a superficial level of investigation and often provides a misleadingly vague explanation of a culture.
-Sources-
http://anthro.palomar.edu/adapt/adapt_3.htm
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2013773117
https://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/41418/1/Unit-2.pdf
https://www.britannica.com/place/Guatemala/Climate
https://weatherspark.com/y/96783/Average-Weather-in-Durban-South-Africa-Year-Round
https://www.britannica.com/place/Zululand
Hello I enjoyed reading your blog on the environmental adaptation of these two cultures. I agree with how you said that race is a very vague explanation of a culture since it is just off of appearance and things like the Andean blood being better at carrying more oxygen since it there body's way of adapting to environment which are also physical adaptation are not important at all in the context of race. Even though it is just as much an adaptation as black skin to protect from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
ReplyDeleteZulu: You focus on temperature here, but "environment" covers a broader range of issues: Water availability, altitude, solar radiation, average temperature, and native animals and plants, to name a few. This will help you identify the specific stresses faced by this population, such as heat stress or solar radiation stress.
ReplyDeletePhysical traits: You talk about the production of melanin as an adaptation to "sun exposure" but what you focus on in the first paragraph is temperature. Skin color isn't an adaptation to temperature. It is an adaptation to solar radiation. Important to make that distinction here.
Cultural traits: Yes, minimal clothing helps to keep the Zulu cooler in response to heat stress, but let's remember that this wouldn't be possible if they didn't already possess darker skin to protect them from solar radiation.
Race: I agree with your choice of "Black" as a racial category for the Zulu.
Andean: Again, you focus primarily on temperature with some discussion on rainfall. There are many more factors that negatively impact homeostasis for the Andean population that should be included here, including cold stress, solar radiation stress, and high altitude stress. All three factors have helped shape physical and cultural traits in this population.
Physical traits: Excellent! But you don't identify the stress of high altitude (specifically) in your first paragraph. You refer to "high altitude" in terms of rainfall, but not as a stress in and of itself.
Cultural traits: Very good. Terracing is an excellent example of a cultural adaptation in a mountainous, high altitude environment.
Race: "Mongloid" works here, but you could also identify them as indigenous Indian.
Summary: In general, I agree with your points here, but I want to focus on the issue of "explanatory power". Viewing traits (physical and cultural) through the lens of the environment allows us to understand both how and why these traits exists and help to explain human variation. Can you use race in the same way?
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.