I just finished reading The Old Way: A Story of the First People by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. This is an exceptional book. It’s a very easy read, about 315 pages, which I finished in 5 days.

Ms. Thomas spent several years of her life living with the Ju/Wasi (aka Bushmen, San, !Kung) in the Kalahari Desert, learning their methods of hunting and gathering, and studying their way of life. It’s very interesting to hear about how these people manage their environment and how they have survived in a harsh climate for tens of thousands of years. According to Wikipedia, “Genetic evidence suggests they are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, peoples in the world.”

There were several major things that I picked out from my reading. First, Thomas notes the difference in the number of possessions that her and her family brought vs those carried by the first San that they met. Her family had the typical list of supplies, including toothbrushes and toothpaste. The San had four items: sticks, skins, eggshells, grass. It’s amazing to think that most of the stuff we have isn’t really necessary for survival. Second, meat was highly prized. When hunters returned with big game, they were welcomed by cheering and a near-party atmosphere. When gatherers returned with roots, fruits, and nuts, there was no celebration, even though roots and nuts were a large part of their daily subsistence. Third, there is a huge community atmosphere, predicated on sharing and community-ownership. For instance, the owner of the arrow that takes down an animal gets to dole out the meat from that animal, regardless of who shot the arrow. They trade arrows to ensure that the strong young men that are able to hunt are not the only ones that get to provide meat. Everyone is involved in the community.

Another thing of note is that after a long hunt, the men would cut the animal open and prepare the liver to restore their strength. Organ meats were highly prized by our ancestors for their high fat and vitamin content. There is also mention of the lives of the hunters. Young men begin learning how to hunt from their elders during adolescence and are not able to marry until they have brought home their first big game animal, a testament to how highly meat was prized. To paraphrase, “men continue hunting until they are old and gray and move too slowly to be of value to a hunt.” From this, it certainly doesn’t sound as if they all die by 35, further debunking the myth that our ancestors died young. She later explicitly calls out that myth and notes that the old were highly revered for their knowledge and that old folks are the only way such a society can survive due to their knowledge of the landscape and how to get through events like droughts.

A few other points I picked out (don’t worry, there are plenty left…read the book and see what you find):

• No mention of childhood diseases - she actually mentions that the kids are very healthy. No measles or other epidemic childhood diseases. Plagues and Peoples talked a good bit about the population densities that are required to sustain such illnesses.
• No mention of ill health in general - other than a flu virus that hit the camp, the people are in exquisite health…so long as they don’t get gored by an animal.

I also don’t think that Thomas romanticized their life or made it sound like anything other than what it is: an account of how humans live in a hunter-gatherer society. It is an excellent look into how our Paleolithic ancestors likely lived and the type of life that shaped our genome. It’s not made out to be an easy existence or how we should all live. But it is telling that people can live so happily and so healthfully with little in the way of possessions. The only thing I could do without is the constant reminders that “This is the Old Way,” but I still give it 5 stars out of 5.

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Tags: !Kung, Bushmen, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, foraging, hunter-gatherer, hunting, Kalahari, liver, The Old Way