A Study of Ecological Anthropology on the Consistency and Change of Traditional African Societies

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A study of ecological anthropology was conducted on the socio-cultural changes in several ethnic groups who inhabit semidesert, savanna-woodland and tropical rain forest in Africa. The studied ethnic groups were : the San (Botswans) and the Aka (Congo), who are hunter-gatherers ; the Bemba (Zambia), the Lozi (Zambia), the Tongwe (Tanzania), and the Lega (Zaire), who are slash-and-burn agriculturists ; and a group of Bemba fishermen (Zambia). The study clarified the actual aspects in various socio-cultural changes of the respective ethnic groups. The traditional societies have developed symbiosis and mixed habitation in the process of inter-ethnic contacts. Also socio-cultural changes due to spread of cash economy following governmental policies are not negligible. The change observed demonstrate the dynamic process in which the self-sufficient and nature-dependent traditional societies in Africa are gradually imbedded into the system of global economy. The results of the present "ethnographic study of socio-cultural changes" based on ecological anthropology, soil science, crop science and ethnoarchaeology, provide indispensable basic data for dealing with the dynamic change of the man enviornment system in Africa.