On Fri, 17 Jul 1998 07:11:36 -0400, Don Wiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Amadeus Schmidt wrote:
>
>>And one !Kung woman (or man) collecting nuts can out-gather her hunting
>>relatives in an hour....
>
>Every day of the year?
>
>Don.
Yes, every day of the Year.
It's not what they actually do, but they could.
!Kung could easily collect some more nuts instead of hunting.
Some other postings here and in paleodiet stressed also that the hunting
of the men in h/g populations bring not too much of a nutritional outcome
(i remember also one of Loren Cordaine).
There are other reasons for the hunting (social..).

See for ex: http://www.qal.berkeley.edu/~geog109/Lectures/lecture1/
 The !Kung    The most studied hunter-gather population (notably by Richard Lee) gives
              clues to the agricultural people. Although living in the semi-desert of the
              Kalahari (with 10 in of rain annually during Dec and Jan), each person
              manages to collect in 3 days, enough Mongongo nuts, meats and other
              foods to survive for a week.
         The Mongongo nut (Ricinodendron) and its harvest.
              As one !Kung said "Why farm when there are so many Mongongo nuts."
              The Mongongo tree is from the Euphorbiaceae (spurges) family, a
              predominately poisonous family world wide. The nut's flesh and seed is
              edible, providing 1260 calories of the 2140 daily intake of calories daily. Its
              harvest begins after the rainy season, tapering of gradually until the
              beginning of the rains the following year.
              The population density through the year is counter intuitive due to the
              presents or lack of water. After the rainy season, the people scatter to the
              many water holes, gathering nuts within a 6 mile radius. The pop density is
              1 per 4 sq. mi (.01 person per. sq. km.). During the Dry season, the people
              gather around fewer remaining water holes and forage over a 20 mi radius.
              But the pop density decreases to 1 person per 2.5 sq. mi. (.2 people per sq.
              km.).
.....

regards
Amadeus