How do the Zulu & Andean people adapt to their environment?
Zulu People
The Zulus live in the grasslands of South Africa, where daily temperatures range between 20-30 degrees Celsius (approximately 68-86 degrees Fahrenheit). The winters are mild, so the temperature does not fluctuate as much as it would in most regions over a year. Yearly, they only receive around 4.2” of rain, which is quite low compared to most regions. Due to the low rain and high average temperatures, it is sunny for most days, which poses the risk of sunburn, radiation poisoning, and heat stroke to the Zulu people.
The Zulu people have evolved to have dark skin in response to the constant sunlight they receive. By having more melanin in their skin, they can better withstand sunlight without burning or having long-term health effects.
In addition to their physical adaptation to the sunlight, the Zulu people also wear very lightweight, minimal clothing. While it may be beneficial for someone in a cold climate to wear heavy clothing that covers their entire body, doing so in Kwazalu-Natal, where the Zulu live, could be fatal. Their choice of lightweight clothes helps to keep their body temperature in a healthy range.
Examples of Zulu clothing.The race that the Zulu people best fit is black. Their skin tone is dark brown, but following the generally accepted racial groups, they are black instead of brown.
Andean people
The Andean people live in the Andes mountains of South America, which has a temperature that greatly varies between seasons. From December to March, the daily temperatures are on average below freezing, while the averages can hit as high as 70 degrees in July. The Andes mountains can experience over a meter of rain per year, which leads to a very humid climate and lots of stormy days. Also, due to their environment being a mountain range, the Andean people live at very high altitudes, leading to low pressures and thin air, so breathing and anything that could require heavy physical exertion will be far more difficult.
The Andean people have physically adapted to have larger lungs than people who don’t live in high-altitude climates. Larger lungs mean a greater inner surface area, so more oxygen is absorbed into the blood. Since oxygen is sparser in the mountains due to the low pressure, evolving to have larger lungs will offset these challenges and make the Andean people breathe similarly to those in sea-level climates. However, if someone from a sea-level climate went into the Andes mountains, they would have a very difficult time breathing and would not have the same strength as they usually would.
Andes mountains.
Terraced farming.Text Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zulu
https://www.southafrica.com/regions/kwazulu-natal/climate-4/
https://weatherandclimate.com/south-africa/kwazulu-natal
https://en.climate-data.org/north-america/united-states-of-america/new-york/andes-140457/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Andean-peoples
https://www.eaps.purdue.edu/news/articles/2022/1003_welp_andes.html
Image Sources:
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/lofty-ambitions-inca/
https://study.com/academy/lesson/zulu-ethnic-group.html
https://nicharry.com/en-us/blogs/blog/traditional-south-african-clothing
Hi Cedar Point,
ReplyDeleteYour post offers a great exploration of how the Zulu and Andean peoples have adapted to their environments. You successfully identified the Zulu's physical and cultural adaptations to sunlight by wearing minimal clothing and producing more melanin, providing a clear picture of their adaptation to the subtropical climate. Similarly, the discussion on the Andean people's physiological adaptations and terrace farming techniques showcases their remarkable resilience in high-altitude settings. Overall, your post successfully explains how diverse environments shape these two societies and their adaptation strategies.
Hi Riley. I didn't even think about the terrace farming; I really like that you added that. I think it would've been cool to see the contrast of the two instead of just the Andeans though. I agree that describing anyone through their skin color is not as good of a descriptor as describing their culture. An interesting thing is that people can have certain skin colors and be lumped into races that aren't theirs because of it. Others such as people from India are considered Indian but they're actually in Asia which makes using skin color or race to describe them inacurrate. Also people within big areas such as Europe can have huge genetic differences between them while being referred to generally as "white". It is just overall a bad way to describe or categorize.
ReplyDeleteLooks like some of your post lost its text-wrapping function and it is difficult to follow. I will post it here, but from now on, you are responsible for checking your post after you publish to make sure it posts correctly.
ReplyDelete_________________________________________________________
The Zulus live in the grasslands of South Africa, where daily temperatures range between 20-30 degrees Celsius (approximately 68-86 degrees Fahrenheit). The winters are mild, so the temperature does not fluctuate as much as it would in most regions over a year. Yearly, they only receive around 4.2” of rain, which is quite low compared to most regions. Due to the low rain and high average temperatures, it is sunny for most days, which poses the risk of sunburn, radiation poisoning, and heat stroke to the Zulu people.
The Zulu people have evolved to have dark skin in response to the constant sunlight they receive. By having more melanin in their skin, they can better withstand sunlight without burning or having long-term health effects.
In addition to their physical adaptation to the sunlight, the Zulu people also wear very lightweight, minimal clothing. While it may be beneficial for someone in a cold climate to wear heavy clothing that covers their entire body, doing so in Kwazalu-Natal, where the Zulu live, could be fatal. Their choice of lightweight clothes helps to keep their body temperature in a healthy range.
Examples of Zulu clothing.
The race that the Zulu people best fit is black. Their skin tone is dark brown, but following the generally accepted racial groups, they are black instead of brown.
Andean people
The Andean people live in the Andes mountains of South America, which has a temperature that greatly varies between seasons. From December to March, the daily temperatures are on average below freezing, while the averages can hit as high as 70 degrees in July. The Andes mountains can experience over a meter of rain per year, which leads to a very humid climate and lots of stormy days. Also, due to their environment being a mountain range, the Andean people live at very high altitudes, leading to low pressures and thin air, so breathing and anything that could require heavy physical exertion will be far more difficult.
The Andean people have physically adapted to have larger lungs than people who don’t live in high-altitude climates. Larger lungs mean a greater inner surface area, so more oxygen is absorbed into the blood. Since oxygen is sparser in the mountains due to the low pressure, evolving to have larger lungs will offset these challenges and make the Andean people breathe similarly to those in sea-level climates. However, if someone from a sea-level climate went into the Andes mountains, they would have a very difficult time breathing and would not have the same strength as they usually would.
My feedback:
Delete_______________________________
Zulu:
1. Good description, particularly including a description of solar radiation stress, important to this population.
2. Physical: Good, except it is important to recognize that skin melanization levels are the product of two factors... solar radiation AND Vitamin D absorption. Vitamin D is absorbed through the skin from the sun but is hindered by melanin. Where the sun's rays are the most intense, it is possible to have dark skin and still receive enough Vitamin D through the skin, but at higher latitudes, where the sun's rays are less intense, it is necessary to have lighter skin to still absorb sufficient Vitamin D. That explains why populations evolved lighter skin tones as they migrated farther north/south.
3. Cultural: Good description/explanation here.
4. I agree with your conclusion here.
Andean:
1. Very good, particularly noting the issue of high altitude stress on this population.
2. Physical: Overall, very good explanation here, but I just wanted to make a small clarification:
"Since oxygen is sparser in the mountains due to the low pressure"
Not "sparser". More spread out. The same amount of oxygen molecules are available at higher altitudes as lower altitudes, but the air pressure is lower at high altitudes, making it harder for the body to transport oxygen across membranes (because our bodies evolved at lower altitudes and higher air pressure).
4. I agree with your conclusion on race.
5. Summary: While you make good points here, you leave out a key issue, namely that of the question about "explanatory power" from the prompt, which you don't address. Which approach *explains* each population better? Can you "explain" a population via their race? Or does this only *describe* them? Why is this important to anthropologists?
Race is not based in biology but is a social construct, based in beliefs and preconceptions, and used only to categorize humans into groups based upon external physical features, much like organizing a box of crayons by color. Race does not *cause* adaptations like environmental stress do, and without that causal relationship, you can't use race to explain adaptations. Race has no explanatory value over human variation.
I notice that I left out your Andean Cultural section. Excellent example with the terraced farming. You could also add their use of alpaca for the duel benefit of support for farming over steep, rocky terrain and the use of their wool.
DeleteHello Cedar Point Fan,
ReplyDeleteI found myself gravitating toward your topic about race because I wrote that I believed the Zulu were Black and that the Andean Indians were indigenous as well. I am glad to see that we had similar answers because it proves that we are slowly understanding the content of this class which is very exciting to discover! Your post was very great to read, thank you!
Hi Riley, I think that your post offers a good explanation about the Zulu people of South Africa and the Andean Indians of the Andes Mountains. I liked how you included the terrace farming, something that I did not include in my post. While I think you had good comparison it would have been cool to see a direct comparison between similar aspects or adaptations. Overall, you have successfully explained how these two population have adapted to their environments of time.
ReplyDeleteHi Riley,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post.The Zulu example highlights that while race (black) provides some context, it lacks the depth and nuance of understanding provided by examining physical adaptations, such as dark skin pigmentation, which are responses to their environment. This approach explains why these adaptations are beneficial in their specific climate.