Paleolithic Society: The Kung

Throughout the course of history, various societies have overcome great odds and hardships to maintain their existence. Within these environments, food-gathering societies have endured considerable problems under adverse geographical conditions. The Kung people living in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa are one group of people who have endured these hardships dating back to the Paleolithic Era. Despite surviving against overwhelming odds, the Kung are now barely hanging on and radically becoming less prevalent and endangered because of the increasingly permeating twentieth century world.

In an emerging twentieth century world, societies have become increasingly interconnected and dependent on one another. The concept of cultural diffusion, or the spreading of cultures and ideas throughout time, has greatly affected once autonomous nations such as the Kung. Despite their past stability, the impact of modern society on a once autonomous tribal people has left the Kung with a very unfavorable future. No longer can the Kung continue to exist in isolation as they have for previo...