ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two characteristic caregiving behaviors of the San: "gymnastic" behavior and frequent breastfeeding. The San are indigenous to southern Africa and have been the subject of extensive research. In the domain of caregiving behaviors and child development, researchers believe that the San can provide vital clues toward understanding the species-specific essence of caregiver-infant interactions in humans. Ju/'hoan young children have an extremely close relationship with their mothers, a degree of mother-infant physical contact much greater than that between their American and English counterparts. The !Xun and Ju/'hoan exhibit several similarities; these similarities form the basis for a "regional structural comparison" between the two societies. M. J Konner and C. M Worthman postulated that frequent breastfeeding constitutes the key variable in maternal gonadal suppression that could account for the long interbirth interval.
