The activities in which I am most interested from my reading of the !Kung-San lifestyle are the environment and settlement. I am particularly interested in these aspects of !Kung-San life because they demonstrate the theory we have discussed in class that the environment impacts people as much, if not more, than people impact the environment. I am interested in the way the !Kung-San met the challenges of their harsh environment, because it points to human ingenuity, creativity, and the tendency for adaptability that I find universal in all human beings.
One of the most interesting theories of this work has been the one that argues the environment modifies human lifestyle just as much, if not more, as human beings modify the environment. We clearly see this theory exhibited in the ways the !Kung-San met the challenges of settling in a harsh environment. This altered many of their lifestyle habits and rituals, including when they rested. As Lee (23) notes, ôAt midday, the land was a furnace. Since walking in the sun could consume a quart of body water per hour through sweat, during the hottest part of the day the people rested.ö
Environmental constraints like the lack of abundance of water supply fuels the ôroundsö made by the !Kung-San and also resorts in ingenious ways of conserving water as well as finding unique sources of it. For example, the !Kung-San (Ju) plan their annual round by spending winters near permanent water sources and roaming during the summer months at secondary or lesser water sources (Lee 26). Likewise, the !Kung-San have learned how to find water in unique places, like they small but vital quantities they extract from the ôhollow interiors of mongongo and other treesö (Lee 26). One can readily see that the environment modifies lifestyle among the !Kung-San as much, if not more, than the !Kung-San impact it.
The !Kung-San lifestyle is also modified by environmental deman
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