Chapter 1- Document Reflection

Chapter 1 Document Reflection

I realized right away that it is unfortunate that many historians ignore the early years of human existence like the Paleolithic Era simply because there is not written records. It could be considered one of the most important times of our history and it should not be ignored. If you where building a hotel you wouldn’t want to ignore the foundation because it is the most important part, the same goes with early years of our existence. It is the foundation and we can learn many things from this time period.

The first document stood out the most to me, and was about Nisa who was a member of the San people basically a tribe of the “bush”. We can get a similar picture of the Paleolithic era through her story because they live without contact to the outer world and have lived the same way without much advancement for a very long time. I don’t think we can base the San people’s stories or examples 100% on people of the Paleolithic era because over the years the San people themselves have made some advancement on their own. Basically the San people of the 1971’s, when Nisa was interviewed, have made their own advancements because they have fine-tuned their practices and have had more time to develop since the early years.

Although the San people are very secluded, it is interesting to see some of the similarities between them and our current society. When Nisa talked about giving and sharing with other people she said she would only give if the other person gave her something. This could be considered selfish in a way that is common in today’s society, however that is most likely how they survive in their environment. Nisa dealt with losing her husband, similarly to how many people do in today’s society. They blame God and ask him why he would do such a thing, which is a common thing to do. Nisa said affairs were very common and were common with the people that came before her. I find it interesting that we are still pretty similar in our behavior to people living in a Paleolithic type setting.