The Old Way: a Story of the First People

Science News,  Nov 24, 2007  

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THE OLD WAY: A Story of the First People ELIZABETH MARSHALL THOMAS

During the 1950s, anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas lived among the San, also known as Bushmen, in a remote part of southern Africa's Kalahari Desert. Drawing on her field experiences, Thomas argues that the San were among the last modern people to live according to the Old Way--a system of prudent, simple practices and beliefs that sustained untold generations of hunter-gatherers. Thomas describes the San approach to finding water holes, hunting game, and foraging for roots and berries. She explains marriage customs aimed at expanding family social ties. She also writes of the many gods in the San belief system and the tradition of trance dancing. Thomas portrays the Old Way as a template that still has plenty to teach us. Yet Bushmen no longer live in the Old Way, and their traditions are nearly lost. Thomas offers suggestions as to how to revive some of those practices. Farrar, straus and Giroux, 2006, 368 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $27.00.

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