Desert Peoples

Desert -- Desert Peoples

If on the morning of a hot summer day, a healthy adult is placed in the middle of a desert without water for an hour, he will lose 0.9l of water by perspiring and he will be very thirsty. At the mid afternoon, he will lose about 5 to 8 kg of his weight. At night, if the daytime temperature is higher than 48.9^oC, he may be dead. 3.8l of water a day is still not enough to save a man's life from the heat for a week.

Loss of salt

Through continuous sweating and intake of fresh water, the salt concentration in the body falls and causes severe cramping of muscles and headaches. Thus not only water , a source of salt is also essential.

Clothing

To avoid the heat, people in deserts have to dress up carefully :

The long, flowing robes shield the skin from the sun and allow air to reach the body. The clothes are loose-fitting to prevent immediate sweat evaporation so that the body does not dehydrate so quickly in the very dry air. Headgear shields the head from the sun. Veils protect the face and keep the sand out of the mouth. The clothes also keep the people warm at night and in winter.

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Different Types of People Living in the Desert

Homes

Some people live in permanent homes such as the mud houses of some Native Americans. The nomads carry with them portable homes as they move their livestock from place to place. All desert homes need to be well insulated from extreme heat and cold. Tents made of densely woven goat's hair or thick-walled homes are suitable. Since rain is torrential, they need to be water proof.

Nomadism

There are three recognized classes of nomadism: hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and traders.

Hunter-gatherers

They move as small, independent bands within the area in which they know where are the waterholes, important trees, patches of smaller food plants and potential food animals. They move daily, monthly or semi-annually.

Pastoralists

They move from place to place depending on the needs of their domesticated stock like sheep, goats or camels. Their targets are places with prolonged and predictable grass supply. Some of them may also hunt while others may cultivate an area near where they settle and grow cereal crops. They may also trade when they get a chance.

Traders

They are mobile merchants with trains of pack animals like camels, asses, mules or yaks with them. They supply goods produced on one side of the desert to the town people.