The Hadza: A Fossil in Flesh

I want you to imagine humanity as one whole, as a singular entity, a delicate weaving of threads, each a different color, different size, bent in a different shape.  

Each thread has its own uniqueness and individuality, yet even in its solitude it plays such a crucial part in creating the entirety of the piece.  

Every human, despite all differences in color, religion, culture, or behavior, all have the same foundation of what it means to be human.  

The tragedy is that as our society continues to industrialize we are taking another massive step away from this foundation, leaving it nothing more than a faint silhouette in the dust.  

What would happen if we inched closer to that silhouette?  Maybe we would see its shadows, its shape, and more beauty than we’d expect.  

What if the truth of our foundation as humans transcends the barriers of our current state of being? What if there is one thread that unites us all?

Scientists agree that before agricultural and industrial societies dominated humanity, we were hunters and gatherers.  

The study of this lifestyle reveals several of our human universals such as human emotion recognition, sexual division of labor, fashion, and even singing and dancing.  

However, due to the agricultural and industrial revolutions that have transformed human society; it is rare to find a hunter-gatherer society that mimics our authentic ways as humans.  

Nonetheless, many anthropologists have studied a cultural gem known as the Hadza, a group of hunter-gatherers in northern Tanzania.

Paley, Matthieu. “Hadza Man Eating Honeycomb and Larvae From a Beehive.” National Geographic.

The Hazda, also known as the Hadzabe people are sometimes considered to be “human fossils” because they are a living representation of our original hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

When studying this group of people we can observe human universals such as sexual division of labor. 

 For example, in most hunter-gatherer societies it is the women’s responsibility to gather roots, vegetables, fruits, etc. for the family and for the men to do the animal hunting. 

Hunting in its authentic nature was always a hit or miss activity and because of this, those who hunt the best/biggest animals get a higher status in the Hadza society in comparison to those who don’t.  

The Hadza are never guaranteed meat every day but they are always provided with gathered food from the women.  In fact, only 5% of food is obtained outside of foraging.  

Additionally, we can observe the human universal of language, that of which is Hadzane for this particular group.  

It is not at all closely related to any of the languages in the immediate area of the Hadza.  Hadzane is actually an African click language, which we can still find today in countries like South Africa.  

However, it may be surprising to know that Hadzane still does not show any significant relativity to other African click languages.  

 This group of people is so precious, so significant because it is an ancient culture in modern day, demonstrating in every action how humans have become victims of evolutionary mismatch. 

By studying the Hadza we are not only studying a culture, but we are also uncovering a piece of our origins as humans.   

Although not every human has ancestry tracing back to the Hadza, every human used to engage in similar practices as the group does in modern day.  

This includes the digging for roots, efficient hunting and meat-eating techniques, kinship practices, and more.

Isn’t it crazy to think we all have the same foundation as humans despite our endless list of differences? 

 It is fascinating and eye opening to observe such cultures that show the reminiscence of our common origin as humans through a lens of humility and curiosity. 

It can help us become more aware of our own ethnocentric beliefs as humans and see “others” as our family rather than an out-group.  

It can help us appreciate the diversity in the masterpiece that is humanity, while also cherishing one of the only threads that holds us together.

“Hadzabe Man Smoking.” Survival, www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/hadza.

Works Cited:

“Hadzabe Man Smoking.” Survival, www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/hadza.

Marlowe, Frank. The Hadza: Hunter-gatherers of Tanzania. Univ of California Press, 2010.

Paley, Matthieu. “Hadza Man Eating Honeycomb and Larvae From a Beehive.” National Geographic.

@HeritageHubbc does not claim possession of any photos or sources used within this post.