Hunting and gathering constitute the oldest human mode of subsistence and the only one for which there is an uninterrupted record from the human origins to the present. Today there are a handful of huntergatherers who subsist exclusively through the hunting of wild animals fishing and gathering of wild plants. The Jarawa of the Andaman Islands are one among them. Within the spectrum of foraging societies the Jarawa belong to the category of ‘immediate return’ foragers as they tend to consume most of the food resources immediately. The present study provides a detailed account of the foraging and adaptive strategies of the Jarawa. The interaction of the Jarawa with the outside world is one of multifaceted inequality which places them in an extremely weak position against the outsiders. The huntinggathering societies appear extremely vulnerable in the event of a direct or indirect threat from various forces particularly encroachment of their territories by ‘others’ invasion of modernization etc. as an aftermath of contact with the outsiders. The current work discusses the impact of contact on the resource base health population habits and material culture of the Jarawa in the posthostility phase (post1997 period). The present work on the Jarawa will be of immense help to researchers studying human adaptation in the remote past. Furthermore it will also help administrators and policymakers in designing meticulous policies for the protection and development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of India. About the Author Umesh Kumar is presently working as Senior Ecologist in the Anthropological Survey of India Kolkata. He has worked across different areas of human ecology and completed a number of projects encompassing both tribal and nontribal populations important among them are the study of tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands impact assessment of the tsunami at Little Andaman Island and biosphere reserves of India. He has also published more than 24 papers and edited a book. Currently he is engaged in the study of denotified seminomadic and nomadic communities of India.
