Week 5 Study Questions
Shostak, pp. 41-72.
1) What about the photograph on page 40 seems strange? What is familiar?
2) Describe the !Kung beliefs about breast-feeding? Do women breastfeed when they
become pregnant with another child?
3) Why did Nisa’s mother decide not to kill her baby boy Kumsa?
4) How are disputes settled among the !Kung?
5) How do !Kung women maintain long intervals between births? Why is the four-year
birth interval essential to the !Kung way of life?
6) In the case of early infanticide, do the traditional !Kung consider it homicide? Why or
why not?
7) According to the !Kung, do menstruating women suffer from PMS? What does this
say about the universality of PMS?
Shostak pp. 73-131
1. How would you characterize the living conditions in the Kalahari Desert?
2. On average how many hunting trips do !Kung men take until they shoot and kill an
animal?
3. Are !Kung men “macho” when they talk about hunting and the dangers it involves?
4. How, in some cases, does a !Kung hunter who killed an animal not end up “owning”
the meat?
5.When a !Kung hunter returns from a hunt, how does he act and how is he treated by
others? Does he boast?
6.What problem do very successful hunters have to deal with?
7. How do !Kung adults feel about competition and ranking of individuals?
8. Do older children and younger teenagers make a substantial contribution to the
economy? Explain.
9. Would you consider !Kung parenting as overbearing? Lenient?
10. Since !Kung children do not attend school, how do they learn the traditional way of
life?
11. Do !Kung parents treat girls and boys differently? What do parents expect from boys?
Girls?
12. Do !Kung adults approve of sexual play among children? Explain.
13. What major threat do !Kung children face?
14. Does Nisa talk about sex with Shostak? If you were interviewed by an anthropologist
how would you deal with the topic of sex?
15. At what stage in life are young women considered truly an adult?
16. When a !Kung women marries is she expected to have children?
17. Who decides who marries whom? At what age do !Kung women marry? !Kung men?
18. After a young couple is married, do they live in the husband or wife’s village? Why
does this encourage parents to marry their daughters at a young age?
19. Can !Kung couples divorce? Is it a common practice?
20.Describe a !Kung “wedding”.
21. When Nisa was a young girl what was her opinion of marriage?
22. Was Nisa’s first marriage a success?
Diamond – Study Questions
1) What is the fundamental difference between the progressivist view and the revisionist
interpretation?
2) How did the development of agriculture affect human health?
3) How did the development of agriculture affect social, equality, including gender
equality?