Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin
The embodied capital theory states that the extended juvenile period has enabled human foragers to acquire the complex foraging skills and knowledge needed to obtain food. Yet we lack detailed data on how forager children develop these skills and knowledge. Here, we examine the seasonal diet composi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.935987/full |
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| author | Jorin Veen Haneul Jang David Raubenheimer Bryndan O. C. M. van Pinxteren Vidrige Kandza Patrick G. Meirmans Nicole M. van Dam Nicole M. van Dam Nicole M. van Dam Susanne Dunker Susanne Dunker Susanne Dunker Petra Hoffmann Petra Hoffmann Petra Hoffmann Anja Worrich Anja Worrich Anja Worrich Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat |
| author_facet | Jorin Veen Haneul Jang David Raubenheimer Bryndan O. C. M. van Pinxteren Vidrige Kandza Patrick G. Meirmans Nicole M. van Dam Nicole M. van Dam Nicole M. van Dam Susanne Dunker Susanne Dunker Susanne Dunker Petra Hoffmann Petra Hoffmann Petra Hoffmann Anja Worrich Anja Worrich Anja Worrich Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat |
| author_sort | Jorin Veen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The embodied capital theory states that the extended juvenile period has enabled human foragers to acquire the complex foraging skills and knowledge needed to obtain food. Yet we lack detailed data on how forager children develop these skills and knowledge. Here, we examine the seasonal diet composition, foraging behavior, and botanical knowledge of Mbendjele BaYaka forager children in the Republic of the Congo. Our data, acquired through long-term observations involving full-day focal follows, show a high level of seasonal fluctuation in diet and foraging activities of BaYaka children, in response to the seasonal availability of their food sources. BaYaka children foraged more than half of the time independent from adults, predominantly collecting and eating fruits, tubers, and seeds. For these most-consumed food types, we found an early onset of specialization of foraging skills in children, similar to the gendered division in foraging in adults. Specifically, children were more likely to eat fruit and seed species when there were more boys and men in the group, and girls were more likely than boys to collect tuber species. In a botanical knowledge test, children were more accurate at identifying plant food species with increasing age, and they used fruits and trunks for species identification, more so than using leaves and barks. These results show how the foraging activities of BaYaka children may facilitate the acquisition of foraging skills and botanical knowledge and provide insights into the development of embodied capital. Additionally, BaYaka children consumed agricultural foods more than forest foods, probably reflecting BaYaka’s transition into a horticultural lifestyle. This change in diet composition may have significant consequences for the cognitive development of BaYaka children. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:32:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cc62b495675d4a048a0c6f43dbce90cd |
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| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:32:48Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-cc62b495675d4a048a0c6f43dbce90cd2023-02-08T17:55:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2023-02-011110.3389/fevo.2023.935987935987Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo BasinJorin Veen0Haneul Jang1David Raubenheimer2Bryndan O. C. M. van Pinxteren3Vidrige Kandza4Patrick G. Meirmans5Nicole M. van Dam6Nicole M. van Dam7Nicole M. van Dam8Susanne Dunker9Susanne Dunker10Susanne Dunker11Petra Hoffmann12Petra Hoffmann13Petra Hoffmann14Anja Worrich15Anja Worrich16Anja Worrich17Karline R. L. Janmaat18Karline R. L. Janmaat19Karline R. L. Janmaat20Karline R. L. Janmaat21Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, GermanyCharles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaBehavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Göttingen, GermanyDepartment of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, GermanyInstitute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyInstitute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, GermanyLeibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), Großbeeren, GermanyGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyLeibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), Großbeeren, GermanyDepartment of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, GermanyGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyLeibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), Großbeeren, GermanyDepartment of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, GermanyGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyInstitute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, GermanyDepartment of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, GermanyInstitute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands0Department of Cognitive Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands1Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands2ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo, Amsterdam, NetherlandsThe embodied capital theory states that the extended juvenile period has enabled human foragers to acquire the complex foraging skills and knowledge needed to obtain food. Yet we lack detailed data on how forager children develop these skills and knowledge. Here, we examine the seasonal diet composition, foraging behavior, and botanical knowledge of Mbendjele BaYaka forager children in the Republic of the Congo. Our data, acquired through long-term observations involving full-day focal follows, show a high level of seasonal fluctuation in diet and foraging activities of BaYaka children, in response to the seasonal availability of their food sources. BaYaka children foraged more than half of the time independent from adults, predominantly collecting and eating fruits, tubers, and seeds. For these most-consumed food types, we found an early onset of specialization of foraging skills in children, similar to the gendered division in foraging in adults. Specifically, children were more likely to eat fruit and seed species when there were more boys and men in the group, and girls were more likely than boys to collect tuber species. In a botanical knowledge test, children were more accurate at identifying plant food species with increasing age, and they used fruits and trunks for species identification, more so than using leaves and barks. These results show how the foraging activities of BaYaka children may facilitate the acquisition of foraging skills and botanical knowledge and provide insights into the development of embodied capital. Additionally, BaYaka children consumed agricultural foods more than forest foods, probably reflecting BaYaka’s transition into a horticultural lifestyle. This change in diet composition may have significant consequences for the cognitive development of BaYaka children.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.935987/fullbotanical knowledgecognitive developmentembodied capital theoryforager dietjuvenile foragingMbendjele BaYaka subsistence |
| spellingShingle | Jorin Veen Haneul Jang David Raubenheimer Bryndan O. C. M. van Pinxteren Vidrige Kandza Patrick G. Meirmans Nicole M. van Dam Nicole M. van Dam Nicole M. van Dam Susanne Dunker Susanne Dunker Susanne Dunker Petra Hoffmann Petra Hoffmann Petra Hoffmann Anja Worrich Anja Worrich Anja Worrich Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat Karline R. L. Janmaat Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution botanical knowledge cognitive development embodied capital theory forager diet juvenile foraging Mbendjele BaYaka subsistence |
| title | Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin |
| title_full | Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin |
| title_fullStr | Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin |
| title_short | Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin |
| title_sort | development of embodied capital diet composition foraging skills and botanical knowledge of forager children in the congo basin |
| topic | botanical knowledge cognitive development embodied capital theory forager diet juvenile foraging Mbendjele BaYaka subsistence |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.935987/full |
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