Sit and Ponder For Awhile...: Environmental Adaptations

The Zulu population in South Africa

The Zulu people live on the eastern coast of South Africa where they experience very warm temperatures most of the year with the average being 76 degrees Fahrenheit. The Indian ocean affects the range of temperatures the area experiences with a climate variation of 52 to 80 degrees. They receive about 18 inches of rain every year. The clothing worn by the Zulu people are examples of the cultural adaption’s of the Zulu people. Because of the warm climate in which they live, the Zulu people do not wear very much clothing at all. This is to help the body regulate its temperature as to not over heat. Boys do not wear anything and older men wear only a front apron and cow tails on their upper arms and below their knees. These are actually for the purpose of making themselves look bigger and are not even for the purpose of covering the body. Little girls are covered until puberty but then wear only a skirt until they are engaged and then they cover their chest. Married women probably wear the most clothing but that is only to show that they are not trying to attract attention from other men. Overall though, it is most common to wear less clothing therefore providing more comfort in the warm climate. Physical adaptations of this people can be seen in the dark color of their skin. Because of the climate in which they live and the amount of time spent in the sun, their skin has produced more eunelanin which protects the skin from the sun. This helps to ward off over heating under the hot temperatures in which they live. I would choose to describe this race of people as black because of their dark skin color.

The Andean Indians in the Andes Mountains

One of the tribes of Andean Indians in the Andes Mountains are the Quechua Indians. They live in the area once governed by the Incan empire in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. They live on the steep slopes in the Central Andes region where there is poor soil, strong wind, and cold weather. The average temperature is 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the rainfall varies greatly depending on the location. A physical adaptation of the Quechua Indians is that they have larger chests than do the typical human. The air in the Andes Mountains is so thin because of the high altitude that they need bigger chests to give their lungs more room to take in oxygen. Their bodies have changed over time so as to make it easier for themselves to breath. One of the cultural adaptation of the Quechua Indians is the amount of clothing that they wear. Because of the cold climate in which they live, the Quechua people wear lots of clothing such as, sweaters, jackets, ponchos and shawls. All of this is to protect themselves from the strong wind and frigid temperatures of the Andes mountains. I would describe the race of these people based on their physical appearance as Latin American. This is based on the tan color of their skin and their dark facial features.

Adaptation vs. Race

I think that adaptation has more explanatory power over race. When you describe a population by the way they adapt to their environment you find out a lot more about a specific people than if you just described the way they look. And, by just describing the way a people looks, you could be describing multiply groups of people. I described the Zulu culture as being black, but there are people of the black race who live all over the world just like there are white people who live all over the world. If you just describe a culture by the way they look, how is the group of people you are talking to supposed to know if that people live in South Africa or Southern California? I think that the most useful approach for anthropologists is to describe a population by adaptation and not by race.