Journal of
Ethnobiology
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1 MAY 1983
JOURNAL ORGANIZATION
EDITOR: Willard Van Asdall, Department of General Biology, University of Arizona,
Tucson, Arizona 85721.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Karen R. Adams, Department of General Biology, University of
Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
PRESIDENT: Steven Weber, Center for Western Studies, P. O. Box 1145, Flagstaff,
Arizona 86002.
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Steven D. Emslie, University of Florida, Department of
Zoology, Gainesville, Florida 32611.
NEWS AND COMMENTS EDITOR: Eugene Hunn, Department of Anthropology, DH-
05, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
BOOK REVIEW EDITOR: Charles H. Miksicek, Office of Arid Land Studies, University
of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
EDITORIAL BOARD
BERLIN, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley,
California 94720; ethnotaxonomies, linguistics.
ROBERT A. BYE, JR., Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic
Biology, University of Ehiiets: Boulder; ethnobotany, ethnoecology.
RICHARD S. FELGER, Office of Arid Land Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson,
Arizona 85721; arid land ethnobotany, desert ecology.
RICHARD I. FORD, Director, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor; archeobotany, cultural ecology.
B. MILES GILBERT, Adjunct Research Associate, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology,
University of Kansas, Lawrence; zooarchaeology
TERENCE E. HAYS, Department of Aaihisobes and Geography, Rhode Island Col-
lege, Providence; ethnobotany, ethnotaxonomies.
RICHARD H. HEVLY, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University,
Flagstaff; —— ed ee de
of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle;
ethiigteonainies. perce cultural ecology.
HARRIET V. KUHNLEIN, Division of Human Nutrition, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver; ethnonutrition.
GARY P. NABHAN, Meals for Millions Foundation, Tucson; cultural ecology, plant
domestication.
DARRELL A. POSEY, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh;
ethnoentomology, tropical cultural ecology.
AMADEO M. REA, Curator af Birds and Mammals, San Diego Museum of Natural
History; ethn : ; | chaeology, cultural ecology.
. Joumal of Pg aa ae . ;
— lly. Manuscripts for publication and information for
= os eed me eon sot the appropriate editor as explained on the inside
© Society of Ethnobiology
ISSN 0278-0771
178 INDEX
Volume 1, Number 1
Vol. 5, No. 2
Amadeo M. R
and John P. O'Neill
Future, Robert A. Bye, Jr.
and Robert Euler
May 1981
e CONTENTS
Alfred F. Whiting, 1912-1978, Katharine Bartlett 1-5
Gardening and Farming Before A.D. 1000: Patterns of Prehistoric
Cultivation North of Mexico, Richard I. Ford 6-27
A Critical View of the Use of Archaeological Vertebrates in
Paleonenvironmental Reconstruction, Donald K. Grayson 28-38
Pollen Production, Transport and Preservation: Potentials and
Limitations in Archaeological Palynology, Richard H. Hevly 39-54
Inferred Dating of Ozark Bluff Dweller Occupations Based on Achene
Size of Sunflower and Sumpweed, Richard A. Yarnell 55-60
On Predicting Human Diets, H. Ronald Pulliam 61-68
Resource eigen and Food Taboos of Sonoran Desert Peoples,
69-83
Dietary Mineral Ecology of the Hopi, Harriet V. Kuhnlein 84-94
The Perceptual Bases of Ethnobiological Classification: Evidence
from Aguaruna Jivaro Ornithology, Brent Berlin, James Shilts Boster,
95-108
Quelites—Ethnoecology of Edible Greens—Past, Present, and
109-123
On the Relative Contribution of Men and Women to subsistence
Among Hunter-Gatherers of the Columbia Plateau: A Comparison
with Ethnographic Atlas Summaries, Eugene S. Hunn 124-134
Devil’s Claw Domestication: Evidence from Southwestern Indian
Fields, Gary Nabhan, Alfred Whiting, Henry Dobyns, Richard Hevly,
135-164
Wasps, Warriors and Fearless Men: Ethnoentomology of the
Kayapo Indians of Central Brazil, Darrell A. Posey 165-174
Use of Opal prone} in Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction,
175-181
Rhoda Owen Lew
Aspects of Deterioration of Plant Remains in Archaeological Sites:
The Walpi Archaeological Project, Robert E. Gasser, and E. Charles Adams 182-192
Winter 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 179
Volume 1, Number 2 December 1981
CONTENTS
Early Acceptance of Watermelon by Indians of the United States,
Leonard W. Blake 193-199
A “Lost” Viking Cereal Grain, Lisa Carlson Griffin, and
Ralph M. Rowlett 200-207
The Anu and the Maca, Timothy Jones 208-212
Nutritional Content of Selected Aboriginal Foods in Northeastern
Colorado: Buffalo (Bison bison) and Wild Onions (Allium spp.),
Elizabeth Ann Morris, W. Max Witkind, Ralph L. Dix,
and Judith Jacobson 213-220
Factors Influencing Botanical Resource Perception Among the
Huastec: Suggestions for Future Ethnobotanical Inquiry, Janis B. Alcorn ...... 221-230
Elements of the Purepecha Mycological Classification,
Cristina Mapes, Gaston Guzman and Javier Caballero N. 231-237
The Pervasiveness of Onomatopoeia in Aguaruna and Huambisa
Bird Names, Brent Berlin and John P. O'Neill 238-261
Volume 2, Number 1 May 1982
CONTENTS
Animal Domestication and Oscillating Climates, Brian Hesse 1-15
Traditional Use of Devil’s-Club (Oplopanax Horridus;
Araliaceae) by Native Peoples in Western North America,
Nancy J. Turner 17-38
Vertebrate Fauna from Four Coastal Mississippian Sites,
Elizabeth J. Reitz 39-61
Biological Classification from a Groote Eylandt Aborigine’s
Point of View1, Julie Waddy 63-77
Differential Grain Use on the Titelberg, Luxembourg,
Ralph M. Rowlett and Maria Hopf 79-88
Utilitarian/Adaptationist Explanations of Folk Biological
Classification: Some Cautionary Notes, Terence E. Hays 89-94
Folk Zoological Life-Forms and Linguistic Marking, Cecil H. Brown ............... 95-112
180 INDEX Vol. 5, No. 2
Volume 2, Number 2 December 1982
CONTENTS
Pine Nuts as an Aboriginal Food Source in California and Nevada:
Some Contrasts, Glenn J. Farris 114-122
Papago Influences on Habitat and Biotic Diversity:
Quitovac Oasis Ethnoecology, Gary P. Nabhan, Amadeo M. Rea,
Karen L. Reichhardt, Eric Mellink, and Charles F. Hutchinson ..........c.cccccc00.. 124-143
Psychoactive Painted Peruvian Plants
the Shamanism Textile, Alana Cordy-Collins 144-153
Ooligan Grease: A Nutritious Fat Used by Native People
of Coastal British Columbia, Harriet V. Kuhnlein, Alvin C. Chan,
J. Neville Thompson, Shuryo Nakai 154-161
Use of Wild Cherry Pits as Food by the California Indians,
Jan Timbrook 162-176
Volume 3, Number 1 May 1983
CONTENTS
The Role of Plants Found in the Mexican Markets and their
Importance in Ethnobotanical Studies, Robert A. Bye, Jr. and
Edelmira Linares
1-13
Changing Subsistence Priorities and Early Settlement Patterns
on the North Coast of Peru, Sheilia Pozorski 15-38
Pollen from Adobe Brick, Mary Kay O'Rourke 39-48
The Origin and Evolution of Domesticated Capsicum Species,
W. Hardy Eshbaugh, Sheldon I. Guttman, and Michael J» RIM ois ,. 49-54
Puffman Usages Among North American Indians, William R. Burk .................. 55-62
Keeping of Stingless Bees by the Kayapo’ Indian of Brazil,
Darrell A. Posey 63-73
Archaeological Assessment of Seasonality from Freshwater Fish
Remains: A Quantitative Procedure, Darcy F. Morey
Winter 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Volume 3, Number 2
CONTENTS
Prehistoric Bird Bone from the Big Ditch Site, Arizona
Alan Ferg and Amadeo M. Rea
181
December 1983
Philippines, Thomas N. Headland
Paleoethnobotanical Data, Deborah M. P
and W. Hardy Eshbaugh
Robert A. Bye, jr.
Ethnobiologist I, Terence E. Hays
Volume 4, Number 1
Gorilla-Like Champanzee, Brian T. Shea
Naomi F. Miller and Tristine Lee Smart
Eugene S. Hunn and David H. Frenc
99-108
An Ethnobotanical Anomaly: The Dearth of Binomial Specifics i ina
Folk Taxonomy of a Negrito Hunter-Gatherer Society in the
109-120
Evaluating the Stability of Subsistence omega by Use of
arsall 121-137
Richard Spruce: An Early Ethnobotanist and Explorer of the
Northwest Amazon and Northern Andes, Richard Evans Schultes ................. 139-147
Love Potions of Andros Island, Bahamas, Susan A. McClure
149-156
Patterns of Variation in Exotic Races of Maize (Zea Mays,
Gramineae) in a New Geographic Area, Rita A. Shuster and
157-177
Recent Anthropology Doctoral Dissertations of Interest to
179-184
May 1984
CONTENTS
Between the Gorilla and the Chimpanzee: A History of Debate
Concerning the Existence of the Kooloo-Kampa or 4s
1-
Intentional Burning of Dung as Fuel: A Mechanism for the
Incorporation of Charred Seeds into the Archeaological Record,
15-28
Evidence of Wood-Dwelling Termites in Archaeological Sites
in the Southwestern United States, Karen R. Adams 29-43
The Pragmatics of Folk Classification, Brian Morris 45-60
Protein Content of Some Edible Insects in Mexico, Julieta Ramos
Elorduy de Conconi, Jose Manuel Pino Moreno, Carlos Marquez
Mayaudon, Fernando Rincon Valdez, Manuel Alvarado Perez,
Esteban Escamilla Prado and Hector Bourges Rodriguez 61-72
Alternaives to Taxonomic Hierarachy: The Sahaptin Case, aa
97
In Remembrance of Raymond Maurice Gilmore
182 INDEX Vol. 5, No. 2
Volume 4, Number 2 December 1984
CONTENTS
“Covert Categories” Reconsidered: Identifying Unlabeled
Classes in Tobelo Folk Biological Classification, Paul Michael DOylOM csc. 105
Hierarchy and Utility in a Folk Biological Taxonomic system:
Patterns in Classification of Arthropolds by the Kayapo Indians
of Brazil, Darrell Addison Posey 123
Chumash Ethnobotany: A Preliminary Report, Jan Timbrook 141
Contributions = Frank G. Speck (1881-1950) to Ethnobiology,
Ralph W. Dext 171
Peeled Ponderosa Pine Trees: A Record of Inner Bark Utilization
by Native Americans, Thomas W. Swetnam 177
Utah Juniper (Juniperus Osteosperma) —— and Seeds from
Salmon Ruin, New Mexico, David L. L 191
Recent Doctoral Dissertations of Interest to Ethnobiologists,
Joseph E. Laferriere 201
Volume 5, Number 1 Summer 1985
CONTENTS
Paleoethnobotanical Evidence for Deforestation in Ancient Iran:
A Case Study of Urban Malyan, Naomi F. Miller 1
Edible Animals of the Ituri Forest, Africa in the Siididide
of the Efe Bambuti, Maria Arioti
Gathering and Subsistence Patterns Among the P’urhepecha
Indians of Mexico, Javier Caballero N. and Cristina Mapes 6. ...... 31
Cottontail Species Identification: Zooarchaeological Use of
Mandibular Measurements, Sarah W. Neusius and Patricia R. Flint . 51
Processing Maple Sap with Prehistoric ere
Margaret B. Holman and Mathiye ©, Getto i 61
Nee Ee Oe 83
Journal of
Ethnobiology
Special Notice
The Journal of Ethnobiology is planning to expand to a
quarterly publication beginning with Volume 4, 1984. In
order to achieve this goal, we must increase membership to
at least 500 members, by December 1983. There are cur-
rently 275 subscribers. We strongly encourage all members
to help us in this task by finding at least two new members
each by this deadline. This will benefit all members as it will
increase publication space for papers and provide additional
information on current research in ethnobiology.
In order to obtain a sufficient backlog of manuscripts to
enable the Journal to become quarterly, we invite all mem-
bers to submit publishable manuscripts to the editor. The
editorial staff thanks you for your support.
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1 MAY 1983
<
eC ee
sia a ea
SKETCHES IN THE SAND
Saludos. Yo soy su nuevo editor. !
I have observed that writers of this type of column try to nurture, inspire, enlighten,
or inform. The safest route is to dwell on the past—recalling some largely mythical
golden age and wistfully hoping for its speedy return. The bravest of these are prognos-
ticators, predicting at times gloom and doom and at other times seeing the future as the
distillation of “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” Interesting as these predictions are, they
usually have about the same degree of accuracy as those of the nation’s weather fore-
casters before satellite photographs. On second thought, predicting the future in an
editor’s column is safer than interpreting the present: by the time the future arrives,
many will have forgotton not only the column but the prediction too! All of the above
appears frequently enough in pages of commentary that I wonder if it’s a condition
editors develop. If so, I suppose you can expect much the same from me. The most
risky route is to entertain, and if I had the talent and inspiration I would prefer to do
this—intentionally, that is.
For some of you what follows will be useful information; others will consider it an
elaboration of the obvious. I think it important enough to include it in these pages, but
I'll try to waste as little printer’s ink as possible.
The Journal of Ethnobiology, with its excellent Editorial Board, has a large number
of watchdogs and all of us on the editorial staff are guardians of its standards. I, as well
as every subscriber, must charge board members and the reviewers they select, with
exacting tasks, e.g., to: (1) identify and reject jargon, with which the literature already
may be unreasonably and unnecessarily burdened; (2) eliminate or at least reduce unde-
sirable borrowing from other disciplines, especially the improper application of concepts
and research techniques; and (3) maintain scholarship on a sufficiently high level that the
Journal will enjoy continued esteem. But as important as these tasks are, equally impor-
tant, and, I think, more challenging, more exciting, and definitely more elusive, is the
recognition and encouragement of promising, innovative approaches, that, being pre-
iminary in nature, may not be as well developed as research reports as we might ordi-
narily expect. It is sometimes through the publication of seemingly skimpy data that an
inventive line of investigation is encouraged which may eventually transform a discipline,
e.g., the early contribution of pollen analysis to archaeological botany.
Only a few such preliminary investigations can be or should be published and we can
hope that we use sound judgment in our selections. This issue is a good mix of botany
and zoology, of studies emphasizing ara ard and past events, and of preliminary
and continuing investigations. Forthcoming issues can have this desirable combination
only if subscribers from all areas of ethnobiology continue to submit publishable manu-
scripts
I, as editor, and Karen R. Adams, as Associate Editor, will try to be good and maybe
even vociferous watchdogs. We will examine each manuscript to see if an author’s as-
sumptions are clearly stated and if arguments are logical and lucid. But in addition to
evaluating content, both of us want the Journal of Ethnobiology to be not only scholarly
but also a pleasure to read. We therefore encourage the use of personal pronouns, the
active voice, and verbs of power. We will smile favorably upon papers which utilize
dynamic topic sentences to connect a series of concise and well-integrated paragraphs.
When appropriate, we expect to recommend revisions to enhance the readability of the
text so that even if a given reader has no particular interest in the subject matter of a
paper, he or she may at least remain awake!
wv
Ispanish for “Greetings. I am your new editor.”
J. Ethnobiol. 3(1):1-13 May 1983
THE ROLE OF PLANTS FOUND IN THE MEXICAN MARKETS
AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDIES
ROBERT A. BYE, JR. and EDELMIRA LINARES
Jardin Botanico, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México
04510 México, DF
ABSTRACT.—The availability of plants in the Meee nn has been important in the
past and continues to be important today. These rovide much information on
the ethnobotanical process of plant-people interactions and sola tnaaiaad An introduction
to our current work is presented. Eleven factors which influence the availability of plants in
the “‘tianguis” market are discussed briefly. Methodologies for the market, the field and the
laboratory are outlined. Examples are presented for the following components of the
ethnobotanical process: temporal partitioning, spatial partitioning, flow patterns, and
ecological and evolutionary factors. Most of the data are derived from the Mercado de
Sonora of Mexico City, Distrito Federal (a major market), and from Santa Catarina del
Monte, México (a source area). Tentative conclusions are: (1) plants in the markets are the
product of intensified interactions between people and plants (e.g., about 75% of the
market plants are derived from human altered environments); (2) the actual contribution of
the plants from the source area to the major market is considerably below its potential and is
related to spatial partitioning of the source areas in the major market; (3) markets will
continue to be important in Mexico’s future in order to provide the people with alternative
choices in the diverse plants and plant products available.
INTRODUCTION
The markets have long been a part of Mexican history, The pre- and early post-
Conquest markets of central Mexico have been described by such early observers as
Cortés (1981), Diaz de Castillo (1977), and Sahagun (1979) and have been analyzed by
contemporary scholars (Garibay 1961; Benitez 1962). In Mexico City, representations of
those early market scenes can be seen in Diego Rivera’s mural, “El Mexico Precortesiano:
Tenochtitlan”, located in the Palacio Nacional (Taracena 1981), and in the Museo
Nacional de Antropologia (Ramirez V. et al. 1968). Peterson oor 217) credits the
market as “one of the most impressive survivals of ancient Mexico”. Nearly 400 years
later, similar scenes (Fig. 1) can be found throughout Mexico. Many plant species sold
or exchanged in the markets of the past are still found today. These markets are fertile
grounds for ethnobotanical studies
e social sciences have benefited from market studies as reviewed by Whitaker and
Cutler (1966). To a lesser degree, the biological sciences have benefited from such
studies. Botanists of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, such as Edward Palmer (Bye
1979) and J. N. Rose (1899), used markets as a source of information and specimens of
useful Mexican plants. Other botanists have discovered new species of edible plants, such
as Chenopodium nuttalliae Safford (Safford 1918) and Pinus maximartinezti Rzedowski
(Rzedowski 1964), in some Mexican markets. The importance of markets in tracing the
tory of cultivated plants and in the analysis of archaeological plant remains is sup-
ported by the work of economic botanists, Whitaker and Cutler (1966). These two
botanists recognized the untapped wealth of plants in markets and suggested more careful
studies, Their comments on the need for “carefully documented collections and records
of the markets” (Whitaker and Cutler 1966:6) anticipated our present research.
Ethnobotany can be defined as the study of the biological and ecological bases of
interactions and relationships between plants and people over evolutionary time. Inter-
actions refer to mutual influences of plants and people upon each other. Relationships
refer to associations between plants and people which are usually one-sided (e.g., a
nomenclatural system of plants when applied by humans has no direct effect upon the
plant populations). One focus in ethnobotanical studies is the process of these interac-
tions and relationships.
BYE & LINARES Vol. 3, No. 1
FIG. 1—Mexican market scenes, (la): Mercado de Sonora, Mexico City, DF, with a stand of fresh
medicinal plants from San Juan Tepecoculco, near Ozumba, México. (1b): Mercado La Republica,
San Luis Potosi, SLP, with a view of the dry medicinal plants. The rolls of small bundles of medicinal
herbs are suspended from the ceiling while the cut dried plants are in the sacks on the floor.
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 3
Markets represent an intensified interaction between people of different socio-eco-
nomic groups and special plants. People require plants to fulfill certain biological, cul-
tural and economic needs. When removed from daily contact with the plant sources,
people depend upon an organized exchange structure, such as a market, to obtain the
plants. The market allows for higher intensity of selection of plants (due to economic
constraints) and eventually leads to more intensified interactions between the plant popu-
lations and the people in direct contact with the plants. In addition, the presence of
plants in the market over long periods of time suggests that these plants produce effects
which are expected by the consumers. As a result, pressure on certain plants and plant
populations is increased, Certain plants are continually tested, evaluated, and demanded
because of their recognized values, properties, and effectiveness.
METHODS
The methodology that is used to obtain the information at various markets varies
depending upon local conditions. Because this paper deals mostly with the Mercado de
Sonora in Mexico City, we will describe the methodology we use there.
Market.—The focus of the study is on fresh plants that are sold for medicinal and/or food
purposes, These are collected on a regular basis. In some cases, dry plants are also
acquired. During certain seasons, plants for other purposes (e.g., ornamental) are col-
lected. Each week, a visit is made to the market early in the morning. The day of the
week varies. The “dias de plaza” in Mercado de Sonora when there are more vendors are
Tuesday and Friday. Information on the plants present and their condition is recorded,
Also for each plant collected, information is requested from the vendor and is recorded
in notebooks and with a tape recorder (when possible). The information includes: (a)
plant name(s); (b) purpose(s) and use(s); (c) preparation(s); (d) qualities (e.g., “hot”,
“cold”, flavor, etc.) attributed to the plant; (e) source area; (f) whether the plant is
gathered or cultivated; (g) type of plant community and habitat from which the plant
came; (h) price of the unit purchased; and (i) type of vendor (e.g., resale vendor, collec-
tor-vendor, etc.). If consumers are present, we also ask questions related to points a,
b, c, and d above.
In order to document the plants, three steps are taken. First, specimens (usually
in the units (e.g., “manojos” or handfuls) that they are sold normally) are purchased
after bargaining the price. The material that can be pressed in a standard plant press is
made into herbarium specimens. Bulky material is dried or placed in a liquid preserva-
tive and is called a case specimen. Both types of specimens serve as original voucher
material,
Second, in the case of seeds, stems, and roots, additional material is purchased for
Propagation. The propagation specimen is grown to produce more taxonomically impor-
tant parts (e.g., flowers) and to serve as the basis for making a corroborative voucher
specimen (Lee et al. 1982).
The propagation specimen is used to increase the number of plants, which are then
integrated into the living collection of the Jardin Botanico, Universidad Nacional Auto-
noma de Mexico (UN :
Third, color slides and black and white photographs are made of the market speci-
mens and living collections.
Field.—After contacts are made with collectors and vendors in the major market, visits
are made to the field and to local markets. The purpose of these visits is to identify the
areas and the plant populations from which the market plants are derived. Information
and documentation with specimens and photographs from the field are similar to the
points outlined above for markets. In some cases, the herbarium specimens from the field
can serve as corroborative specimens for the market specimens. In addition, local ethno-
botanical and ecological information is recorded.
4 BYE & LINARES Vol. 3, No. 1
Laboratory.—The specimens are identified using the available literature and the specimens
in the Herbario Nacional (MEXU) of UNAM. Duplicate specimens of certain groups are
sent to taxonomic specialists for verification. Each specimen carries that information
gathered in the market or in the field.
Proper deposition of the documentation material is important. The first set of origi-
nal voucher specimens and corroborative voucher specimens is deposited at MEXU.
Duplicate specimens are exchanged with other herbaria. Living collections are part of the
Jardin Botanico, UNAM. Photographs and notes (from notebooks and transcripts) are
deposited in the Jardin Botanico, UNAM. Materials for analysis and experimentation are
collected for collaborating institutions interested in anatomical, chemical and nutritional
studies, These materials have associated voucher specimens.
PLANTS IN MARKETS
Many supply and demand factors affect the presence of plants in the markets. These
basic factors are subject to biological and ecological influences.
Factors on the supply side that are of our interest are:
(1) The availability of fresh plants (Fig. 2a) in the catchment area (i.e., the area from
which the plant originates and can be transported to the main market without loss of its
properties). These plants may be gathered from wild populations or from anthropogenic
populations. Also, these plants may come from cultivated populations of non-domesti-
cated or domesticated plants.
(2) The availability of dry plants from previous harvests (usually in small bundles or
loose pieces; Fig. 2b, 2c). These processed dried plants are made from seasonally fresh
material from the catchment area and stored. They can be sold when the fresh plants are
not available. Also, these dried plants are imported from areas outside the catchment
area, They are dried in fragments or small bundles which allow for easy transport and
sale in large quantities.
(3) The compensation. The financial or other returns that the collectors and ven-
dors receive must compensate their expenses. Also some plants may or may not be
gathered and sold due to ethical reasons (e.g., “toloache” (Datura stramonium L.) is con-
sidered by some people to be a plant of the devil and because of this is not sold by them,
or it is sold with certain precautions)
Factors on the demand side that are of our interest are:
(1) The fulfillment of certain purposes, such as medicinal and edible plants that are
part of certain social practices, ethnic beliefs, or customs, “Muitle” (Jacobinia spicigera
(Schlecht.) L.H. Bailey) is drunk as an invigorating tea by outdoor laborers; “papitas”
(Solanum spp.) and “romeritos” (Suaeda diffusa S. Watson) are frequently eaten during
the — season; and “gordolobo” (Gnaphalium spp.) is consumed as a tea to alleviate
coughs,
(2) A satisfactory level of effectivene
which are acceptable to the consumers.
(3) The economic price. The plant is affordable by the consumers.
(4) The alternatives. If certain plants or their products are not available due to
peer limited supply, or unaffordability, other plants can be used as substitutes.
7 —— or options are available to the consumers, Certain plants may be preferred
pain ic conditions while others are used at different times,
pe ‘ ve esha aah all year round. Certain edible plants, such as “nopal” (Opun-
PP-), cleansing plants, such as “piru” (Schinus molle L ), and medicinal plants
such as “manzanilla” (Matricari, 7 i a : at ce
atricaria chamomilla L.), are in demand all year round and are
usually in constant supply all the time.
. The standard plants by seasons. Other
Fresno” (Fraxinus spp.), a “cool”
when the leaves are also available,
ss. The plant or plant product produces results
plants may be needed on a seasonal basis.
plant, is consumed more during the warm season
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 5
—Forms of arenes oo found in the markets. (2a): Bundles (“‘manojos”) of fresh plants
po lucida, Gnapha sp., and Chenopodium graveolens) in Mercado de Sonora, Mexico City,
DF. (2b): Small b at ‘(*manojos") of dried medicinal herbs tied into rolls in Mercado La Repu-
blica, San Luis Potosi, SLP. (2c): Sacks of pieces of dried medicinal plants in Mercado La Republica,
San Luis Potosi, SLP
6 BYE & LINARES Vol, 3,No. 1
(7) The requested plants. Some plants are sought specifically because of their pro-
ies. “Ortiga ancha” (Urtica dioica L.) from Ozumba, Mexico, is requested by a spiri-
tualist for ritual cleansing and bathing because the plants from this region are said to be
more “carnivorous” than plants from other regions,
(8) The opportunity. Plants which the collector/vendor happens to include in his/
her stand for no specific reason may be of interest to the consumers, Also, the consumers
may be looking for new plants to try. Thus, the choice for a particular plant may be a
matter of unexpected demand.
CATEGORIES
Many categories of plants can be identified in the market, Artificial divisions are
often made by ethnocentric uses such as edible, condiment, medicinal, religious, and
ornamental. Although some markets and some stands may be labeled as specialist in one
use category or another, our studies indicate that any one stand contains plants of two or
more artificial divisions. Also, a plant, such as “pericon” (Tagetes lucida Cav.), may be
considered a food additive by one consumer, a medicine by another, and an important
element in religious rituals by a third.
The parts of the plants (Fig. 3) found in the market are also other variables in assign-
ing categories. They may include: edible fungil; medicinal ferns, e.g., “culantrillo”
Hemsley); medicinal steams, e.g., “tumba vaquero” (Cissus sicyoides L.); condiment
leaves, e.g., “hoja santa” (Piper auritum HBK.); edible leaves, e¢.g., “quelite cenizo”
(Chenopodium berlandieri Mogq.); medicinal flowers, e.g., “flor de manita” (Chirantho-
dendron pentadactylon Larr.); edible and medicinal fruits, ¢.g., “xoconochtle” (Opuntia,
subgen. Opuntia); and magical seeds, e.g., “colorin” (Erythrina spp.)
PROCESS
not all, the components that make up the eth-
pe Although our studies cover various parts
of the country, we will use data from one of the most important markets located in
we plan to prepare some generalizations
and to construct hypotheses that can be
7 tianguis” market where
: ese vendors often gather the plants from
~ — and towns (e.g., Ozumba, Ajusco, Santa Catarina del Monte) in the mountains
Mexico). The potential vegetation of the areas is coniferous-oak forests and grasslands
Valle de Mexico which is surrounded
Temporal partitioning.—The presence
of day, day of the week, and season of the year
the edible “nopal” (Opuntia spp.)
(Schinus molle L.), a common base for “
abundant year round. “Flor de manita
» is available fresh during the winter months.
and are used in baths. They
spring and early summer months, “Peri-
as a food additive in maize dishes and
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
FIG, 3.—Examples of some market plants. The white scale is equal to 15 cm, The ei ict ee
cach name refers to the Bye & Linares collection number of the voucher specimen. . (3): mya
Capelli s-uiemieis (11,031); (b): Senecio peltiferus (10,286); (c): Cissus sicy oides (10,7 26); een
Podium berlandieri (10,596); (e) Tagetes lucida (10,541); (f): Chi a thodendron pe
0,252); (g): Opuntia, subgen. Opuntia (10,962); (h): Erythrina sp. (10,733).
mG
8 BYE & LINARES Vol. 3, No
Piro O PericOn (rresco) © Fresno
NoPAL @ Pericon (seco) For pé Maguey
W Fror pe Manita Flor pe Yucca
eee ee ee es de oo. CL
v
Wa
IMPORTANCE VALUE (ReLaTive)
i
L
FIG, 4.-Temporal partitioning of some plants in the Mercado de Sonora, Mexico City. ;ime aan
tance value is relative and ranges from 0 (absent) to 5 (abundant). The year is divided into months
from January (J) through December (D). The symbols are: open square (0): Opuntia spp. and Schinus
molle; inverted, filled triangle (w): Chiranthodendron pentadactylon; open triangle (A): Agave spp.
and Yucca spp.; filled circle (@): fresh Tagetes lucida; and open hexagon (OQ): Fraxinus spp.
consumed as a tea to treat stomach aches, is a summer and early fall flowering herb ee
is available fresh during that period. Bundles also are dried and sold during the rest o
the year. Not all plants have such long durations in the markets. The edible flowers of
“maguey” (Agave spp.) and “‘yuca” (Yucca spp.) are available only during the few weeks
of spring.
Spatial partitioning.—Variations in the presence, richness, and abundance of plants also
occur over space. Some types of plants are grouped in one section of the market while
other types of plants are seldom seen in
Another type of spatial partiti
the plants in the market.
areas, only a part of the p
areas,
The 150 medicinal plants foun
114 medicinal plants of Santa
east in the state of Mexico.
market and this source area.
Santa Catarina del Monte to
d in the Mercado de Sonora are compared with the
Catarina del Monte, which is located about 50 km to the
There are 85 species that are common to both the main
These 85 plants represent the potential contribution of
the Mercado de Sonora, i.e., ca. 57% of the plants sold in
Flow patterns.—The Process of flow of plants from the sour
ultimate consumer can reveal many biological and cultural
in plant-people relationships and interactions,
of movement of plants is presented in Fig. 5
ce plant populations to the
factors which are important
Our initial attempt to identify the path
and 6. Our objectives include: (1) the
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 9
e*) SOURCE AREA
eal LOCAL MARKET
| MAIN MARKET |
<> CONSUMER
| CoLLecTor-VENDOR
fa) CooRDINATOR OF
Loca CoLLecTors
RESALE
yy
ZZ SPECIALIST COLLECTOR
es FLOW
Minor FLow
= ® INTERMITENT FLOW
FIG. 5.—Six common flow patterns of market plants with explanations of the symbols.
Tl
i
NOMENCLATURE
a wee
FIG. 6.— A common flow pattern of market plants illustrating the discontinuity and the continuity
of information on nomenclature, use, and properties.
10 BYE & LINARES Vol. 3, No. 1
identification of the source plant populations and the associated gathering practices
which may have ecological and evolutionary influences on the populations, and (2) the
evaluation of the variation and reliability of the information on the relationships and
interactions of the plants with reference to the experiences of (a) the collectors, (b) the
vendors, and (c) the consumers. A common flow pattern is presented in Fig. 6. It illu-
strates how we plan to evaluate our data with reference to continuity and discontinuity
of information on nomenclature, use, and properties of the plants at different levels of
the flow process.
Case 1 of nomenclature shows discontinuity in that the names used at different
levels between the source area and the consumer are different. Although the same plant
may be desired, the resale vendor must be aware of the different names. He/she provides
an important link in our comparative study of the same plants among different peoples.
sabe” responses at the vendor or consumer level may be due to the prohibition of sale or
use of the plant (e.g., the sale of “zoapatle” (Montanoa tomentosa Cerv.), an abortive, is
subject to a fine of $10,000 pesos). Case 2 of use shows continuity where the use of the
plant is the same throughout the system,
Case 1 of properties which may be attributed to the plant (¢.g., “hot”, “cold”,
taste, nutritional quality, etc.) is continuous.
Ecological and evolutionary factors. —
There are many ecological and evolutionary factors
in the ethnobotanical process associ
ated with market plants. Two examples include:
(1) Gathering habitats. Plants can be derived from gathering habitats which have
(i.e., those which are responses to human
from cultivated habitats which have non-domes-
ticated plants or domesticated plants (i.e., plants that are genetically altered due to
human selection).
Santa Catarina del Monte, Mexico,
1) and by Bye and Linares (in progress) is summarized in
human manipulated habitats
- Over 81% of the Santa Catarina del
of certain plant popul
About 25% of the me teractions between plants and people.
dicinal plants are derived from the wild habitats,
Th ; ‘ a
indie ciate Ge € morphological and chemical condition of the plant
instance, “jarilla” (Senecio salignu
for baths, is commonly sold in th
ective than the flowering state. Second, the
re leafy and with fewer flowers than the plants in the
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 11
TABLE 1.—£Ecological analysis of medicinal plants from Santa Catarina del Monte, Mexico.
HABITATS GATHERED CULTIVATED
Plant Wild Anthropogenic Non-domesticated Domesticated
Populations
Total:
114 species 28 52 2 32
(Gonzalez R.,
1981; Bye &
Linares)
Sold in
Mercado de 7 12 2 17
Market plants:
Recorded in 3 10 2 8
Gonzalez R.
(1981): 23
species
Additional
plants recorded 4 2 0 9
by Bye &
Linares: 15
species
natural communities. Often the leafy shoots represent coppice sprout growth—a ri ion
to continued cutting. Thus the effectiveness and the plant’s response to gathering prac-
tices are related to the morphological and possible chemical conditions of the plant in
the market despite the general phenological pattern of the natural populations.
CONCLUSIONS
Although the study is still in progress, we can make some general conclusions. First,
the “tianguis’’ market system is still important in Mexico today, as it was in the past.
Second, the markets of Mexico can provide much data for ethnobotanical studies from
various points of view. Third, the plants in the market represent the intensification of
interactions and relationships between people and plants. A majority of the medicinal
Plants of the Mercado de Sonora is derived from the human-modified environment.
Fourth, the diversity of edible and medicinal plants of the market will be important in
Mexico’s future because the exchange system allows for alternative choices of plants
and plant products which have multiple uses and which may be more effective and less
€xpensive than products of extensive, commercialized, and centrally controlled manufac-
ture and distribution systems.
SANTA CATARINA DEL MONTE. MPIO. TEXCOCO. EDO. MEXICO
to TEXCOCO WILD COMMUNITIES
No, OF
SPECIES
52
E== PINE FOREST
1 kn ees FIR FOREST
OAK FOREST
ANTHROPOGENIC
COMMUNITIES
PLANTS HNN AGRICULTURE - SEASON
AGRICULTURE - IRRIGATION
.. ERopED LAND
NTHROPOGENIC 7
TowN
CULTIVATED:
NONDOMESTICATED
CULTIVATED:
DomMESTICATED
86 (752)
SPECIES FROM HUMAN-MODIFIED
ENVIRONMENT
28 GATHERED:
ILD MAP BASED UPON:
GonZALEZ 8, 1981
28 (25%) SPECIES FROM UNMODIFIED ENVIRONMENT CETENAL
DETENAL
FIG. 7.—Map of the ejido of Santa Catarina del Monte, Mexico, one of the source areas for medicinal herbs in Mercado de Sonora, Mexico City. The seven ecologi-
cal zones are divided into 3 wild communities and 4 anthropogenic communities. An ecological analysis of the 114 species of medicinal plants of Santa Catarina del
Monte is presented on the left.
SAUVNIT 8 AAA
TON € “IOA
May 1983
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 13
LITERATURE CITED
BENITEZ, F. 1962. Los Primeros Mexicanos.
peak Vida Criolla en el Siglo XVI. Editorial
RA, S.A., Mexico, DF
oa R.A., JR. 1979. ha 1878 ethnobotani-
cal collection from San Luis Potosi: Dr.
Edward Palmer’s first major Mexican collec-
tion. Econ. Botany, 33(2):135-162.
CORTES, H. 1981. Carta de Relacion, embi-
ada a Su Sacra Magestad del Emperador
nuestro senor por el Capitan General de la
N. Espana. In ea Cortes, Historia de
ce Espana. Tom II. Miguel Angel
rrua, S.A., and Secreta de Hacienda y
Crédito Publico, Mexico,
DIAZ DE CASTILLO, B. oi. Historia Ver-
dadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espana.
Manuel Porrua, S.A., Mexico, DF.
GARIBAY K., AM. 1961. Vida Economica de
Tenochtitlan. (Informantes de Sahagun).
Seminario de Cultura Nahuatl. Instituto de
Historia, Univ. Nac. Auton. Mex., México,
GONZALEZ, R. J. 1981. Ecologia Humana y
Etnobotanica de un Pueblo Campesino de la
Sierra Nevada, Mexico: Santa Catarina del
Monte. Tesis de Biologia, Univ. Nac. Auton.
Mex., Mexico, DF.
GUZMAN, G. 1981. Identificacion de los
Hongos Comestibles, Venenosos, Alucinantes,
y Destructores de la Madera. Editorial Lim-
L, and J.F. SUTTON
(eds.). 1982. -Guidelines for Acquisition
and Management of Biological Specimens.
Assoc, Syst. Collections, Lawrence, Kansas.
PETERSON, F. 1959. Ancient Mexico—An
introduction to the pre-Hispanic cultures.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York
RAMIREZ VAZQUEZ, P., et al. 1968. El
Museo Nacional de Antropologia: arte
arquitectura, arqueologia, etnografia. Pano-
rama Editorial, Mexico, DF.
ROSE, JN. 1899. Nows on useful plants of
Mexico. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 5(4):209-
259.
RYESKY, D., and M. PANIAGUA. 1979.
El comercio en plantas medicinales en el
sureste del Distrito Federal: cinco estudios de
Cuadernos de Trabajo 23, Depto.
Etnol Fig Soc., Inst. Nac. Antrop. Hist.,
Mexi
in eras J. 1964. Una especie nueva de
pino pifionero del estado de Zacatecas (Mexi-
co). Ciencias (Mex.) 23(1):17-20, lam. II.
RZEDOWSKI,J. 1978. Vegetacion de Mexico.
Editorial Limusa, $.A., Mexico, DF.
SAFFORD, W.E. 1918. paubeitiin nut-
talliae, a food plant of the Aztecs. J. Wash.
Acad. Sci. 8:521-527.
SAHAGUN, B. 1979. Codice Florentino. El
manuscrito 218-20 de la Coleccion Palatina de
la Bibilioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Archivo
General de la Nacidn, Mexico, DF.
TARACENA, B. 1981. Diego Rivera: Su obra
mural en la Ciudad de Mexico. Ediciones
Galeria de Arte Misrachi, Mexico, DF.
VALENCIA, E. 1965. La Merced. Estudio
Ecologico y Social de una Zona de la Ciudad
de Mexico. Serie Inviestigaciones 11. Inst.
Nac. Antrop. Hist., Mexico, D
WHITAKER, T.W., and H.C. CUTLER. 1966.
Food plants in a Mexican market. Econ.
Botany, 20(1):6-16.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
nobotanical data bank for a national germ-
This study is part of a project for developing an eth :
plasm conservation program, Un ida
d de Investigacion sobre Recursos Geneticos Vegetales, of the
Jardin Botanico, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México. We acknowledge
the support of the Jardin Botdnico (director, Hermilo Quero) and of the Institut
tor, Jose’Sarukhan), Juan Manuel Pérez C. assisted in the preparation of the map.
friendly herb collectors and vendors for their patience, information,
and in their homes,
NO
o de Biologia (direc-
We thank the many
and hospitality in the markets
1. Over 90 edible fungi have been recorded as being sold in Mexican markets (Guzman 1980: 28-30).
14 Vol. 3, No. 1
Book Review
The Coronado Project Archaeological Investigations. The Specialist’s Volume: Biocul-
tural Analyses. compiled by Robert E. Gasser. 278 pp. Coronado Series 4, MNA
Research Paper 23. Museum of Northern Arizona Press, Flagstaff, 1982. $12.50.
Analyses of prehistoric pollen, and plant and animal remains have become part of
the “new ecological orthodoxy” central to many large archaeological projects in the last
two decades, All too often these anlyses are based on very few samples and their results
are relegated to the obscurity of appendices of various site reports. If their results
are incorporated into the interpretation of site history and function it is usually as a pas-
sing note such as, “The occupants of this site grew corn, gathered wild plants, and hunted
game.” Hopefully this will not be the fate of the excellent work by Robert Gasser,
Jannifer Gish, Richard Hevly, and Nicholas Czaplewski as they have provided extensive
and detailed clues to understanding forty-seven sites located in railroad and transmission
line right-of-ways associated with the Coronado Generating Station at St. John’s, Arizona.
It is now up to the archaeologists to fully utilize these results.
Gasser presents data from 339 flotation samples (272 of these produced plant
remains) which, when combined with an additional 78 samples analyzed by Hevly, pro-
duces probably the largest published flotation data base available anywhere. Gasser also
includes published and unpublished data from another 334 flotation samples from five
other archaeological projects in the Anasazi area. Gasser has presented a creative solution
to the problem of “what was eaten and in what proportions” in his comparison of 155
Anasazi coprolites and 417 Anasazi flotation samples. Future applications of this ap-
proach will help answer many of the unresolved questions in archaeobotany. With a data
base of such magnitude one can truly address the problems of preservation, under-repre-
sentation, and relative importance of various plant resources,
Gish analyzed 317 pollen samples. Major strengths of her approach are a concentra-
tion on pollen aggregates as a potential source of economic information and the integra-
tion of results from both pollen and flotation. All too often these two techniques are
treated as being unrelated, but Gish has demonstrated that their results can complement
each other quite nicely, providing both independent corroboration and also filling in
many gaps.
Czaplewski's analysis of (both avian and mammalian) remains confirms what is be-
coming a now common conclusion in studies of bones from the sites of sedentary agri-
culturalists, that significant amounts of animal protein came fr dent d lago-
morphs. Deer and antelope may have been occasional | ie ES :
a protein staple. Agriculture i i Sagan uty, foods, but small game ude:
ure is a subsistence adaptation that involves not only domesti-
cated plants, but which ‘ey :
nk ich also produces beneficial increases in useful weeds and “weedy”
CHM
J. Ethnobiol. 3(1):15-38 May 1983
CHANGING SUBSISTENCE PRIORITIES AND EARLY SETTLEMENT
PATTERNS ON THE NORTH COAST OF PERU
SHELIA POZORSKI
University of Pittsburgh, Center for Latin American Studies
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
ABSTRACT.—Two Cotton Preceramic sites and two early ceramic sites provide evidence of
two major subsistence shifts which occurred between 2500 and 400 B.C. in the Moche
Valley on the north coast of Peru. Plant and especially animal remains from the early pre-
ceramic site of Padre Aban suggest that the site was transitional in the change from a hunt-
ing and gathering to a marine-oriented sedentary lifestyle. Data from the late preceramic
site of Alto Salaverry, which had a marine focus, made possible a reconstruction of subsis-
tence activities at a point in time when agricultural technology was highly developed, but
large areas of land were not yet opened through irrigation. In early ceramic times, the
advent of irrigation agriculture is suggested by the inland location of Caballo Muerto and a
greatly increased quantity of plant remains at Gramalote, an early coastal site. Faunal
remains from the two sites provide evidence of an exchange system between Gramalote on
the coast and Caballo Muerto, whereas a change in subsistence priorities is also documented
by the large quantity of inland-derived animal resources used at Caballo Muerto.
INTRODUCTION
The transition to a settled way of life and the advent of irrigation agriculture are
important steps which led to the emergence of civilization in the Andean area. Both of
these changes can be closely correlated with shifts in subsistence orientation through
time. The subsistence data from two Cotton Preceramic (2500-1800 B.C.) and two early
ceramic (1800-400 B.C.) sites in the Moche Valley document details of early lifestyles
and suggest possible explanations for two of the major changes.
METHODS
Excavations.—Excavations at the Cotton Preceramic sites of Padre Aban and Alto Sala-
verry and the early ceramic sites of Gramalote and Caballo Muerto yielded subsistence
data upon which this study is based. Padre Aban and Alto Salaverry, both coastal sites,
are the only Cotton Preceramic sites known within the Moche Valley. Caballo Muerto 1s
a group of early ceramic mounds located about 17 km inland which date sequentially
from about 1500 to 400 B.C. (T. Pozorski 1976:28 1). Gramalote, a coastal site, is con-
temporary with the earliest occupation of the Caballo Muerto mound group. ae
At all sites except Caballo Muerto, excavations consisted of small cuts varying in
size from 50 cm by 100 cm to 100 cm by 200 cm placed in the stratified midden de-
posits that constituted all or major portions of each site. Extensive testing was carried
out before a location was selected for excavation by natural levels and screening. Each
selected cut was excavated by the removal of natural strata which were subdivided where
necessary into 10 cm thick arbitrary levels. All midden material removed was dry-
screened through % inch mesh. In the case of Caballo Muerto, two pits sunk deeply card
the Huaca Herederos Chica mound encountered sufficient midden material to provide
a basis for quantitative analysis. Since these pits were only exploratory in nature, they
were trowelled down by arbitrary 20 cm levels, but not dry scr eened.
Subsistence Analysis.—Due to its extreme aridity which favors preservation of faunal and
Oral remains to an extraordinary degree, the desert coast of Peru is one of the best
places in the world for the study of prehistoric subsistence patterns. Nevertheless, coastal
Peru, like other areas of the world, is subject to numerous predepositional and post-
16 POZORSKI Vol. 3, No. 1
depositional factors which can affect the assemblage of material finally recovered by the
archaeologist (Begler and Keatinge 1979; Cohen 1975). The value of any quantitative
analysis lies not in the exact figures derived but rather in evidence of the relative impor-
tance of items within a cultural system.
For the present Moche Valley study, preservation factors at Padre Aban, Gramalote
and Alto Salaverry are comparable because of the coastal location of these sites and the
dryness of their respective middens. At Caballo Muerto, no floral material was pre-
served because the recovered midden was located several meters below the modern
surface of agricultural land, a zone which has been subjected to periodic wetness for over
2,000 years. Since none of the controlled stratigraphic excavations showed any dia-
chronic change in the artifact assemblage, all of the subsistence remains from any single
cut are treated here as a single synchronic unit and assumed to be representative of the
midden present at that site.
The following methodology was used in the study of early subsistence remains from
the Moche Valley. All floral and faunal remains from each cut were identified as tho-
roughly as possible using modern comparative collections gathered in Peru which were
positively identified by appropriate specialists. Counts were made of all meaningful por-
tions of species present. For floral remains, seeds, stems, and cobs were counted. For
faunal remains, an assessment of identifiable unduplicated parts made possible a recon-
struction of the minimum number of animals of each species represented by a given
faunal sample. For mollusks, whole valves and unbroken hinge regions were counted
whereas gastropods were quantified by counting whole shells and shell apexes. The
purple crab (Platyanthus orbignii) was counted by considering the presence of four claw
arcs (2 claw arcs equal 1 whole claw) as one whole animal. For vertebrate animals, all
diagnostic bones were counted. All floral and faunal remains were also weighed, a pro-
cedure which served not only as a check against minimum number of individual counts,
but also to represent portions of the sample for which no diagnostic elements were
present to make minimum number of individual counts. These minimum number of
individual values and weights are available elsewhere (S. Pozorski 1976 Tables 5-13), but
are not duplicated here because they were not used to calculate food volun
ne analytical units of conversion to food volumes were calculated using a
ih = version of the procedures established by MacNeish (1967:296-297) for Tehua-
- Conversion equivalents were eer for most species using data on live weight
MacNej : values tor mammals came from the Tehuacan study
psa Ai ae oe nas) as well as Cardoza (195 4:64) and
experimentally. These alia or vol = eh aig ~ eee does
umes are presented in Tables 1 and 2.
TABLE 1.—Animal food Species conversion factors,
Species Total meat Number of Meat unit
volume in diagnostic in
cm3 elements cm3
MOLLUSKS
Scutalus sp.
and snail) om a)
Choromytilus chorus 5
(purple mussel, choro) me ; we
Semimytilus algosus
(thin-shelled mussel) - : mn
Brachidontes purpuratus
(small striated mussel) 1.0 2 0.5
May 1983
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
TABLE 1.—Animal food species conversion factors (continued)
Total meat Number of Meat unit
Species volume in diagnostic in
cm3 elements cm3
Protothaca thaca - 20.0 2 10.0
(large clam)
Eurhomalea rufa 40.0 2 20.0
(large clam)
Mesodesma donacium 5.0 2 2.5
(clam
Donax peruvianus 0.5 2 0.25
(tide zone clam)
Gariet solida 20.0 2 10.0
(large clam)
Semele corrugata 60.0 2 30.0
(large clam)
Fissurella sp. 10.0 1 10.0
(limpet)
Tegula atra 1.0 1 1.0
(gastropod)
Turbo niger 1.0 1 1.0
(gastropod)
Crepidula dilatata 1.25 1 1.25
(slipper shell)
Polinices sp. 0.5 1 0.5
(gastropod)
Thais chocolata 2.0 1 2.0
(gastropod)
Thais delessertiana 1.5 1 1.5
(gastropod)
Concholepas concholepas 50.0 1 50.0
(abalone-like gastropod)
Chiton 10.0 8 1.25
CRUSTACEANS
Platyanthus orbignii 20.0° 4 claws 5.0
(purple crab, congrejo)
ASCIDIAN
Pyura chilensis (?) meal vol. per gm of test 1.0
(tunicate, pieure)
FISH
Mustelus sp. 2,000.0 90 22.0
(sand shark, tollo)
Rhinobatos planiceps 1,500.0 120 12.5
(guitarfish, guitarra
Myliobatis penises 2,000.0 56 35.5
(ray, raya
Fee ce 750.0 48 15.5
(croaker, roncador
Sciaena gilberti 3,000.0 27 111.0
croaker, corvina)
18 POZORSKI Vol. 3, No. 1
TABLE 1.—Animal food species conversion factors (continued)
Total meat Number of Meat unit
Species volume in diagnostic xe
cm? elements cm
Sciaena deliciosa 750.0 46 16.5
croaker, lorna)
Xenoscarus denticulatus 500.0 25 20.0
(parrot fish, pococho)
Sarda chilensis 1,500.0 42 35.5
(bonito)
Lepisoma philippi 750.0 25 30.0
(trambollo)
Genypterus maculatus 1,000.0 46 21.5
(eel, congrio)
Mugil cephalus 750.0 23 $2.5
(mullet, lisa)
Unidentified fish meat vol. per gm of bone 25.0
BIRDS
Pelecanus sp. 3,000.0 47 64.0
(pelican
Unidentified bird meat vol, per gm of bone 14.0
MAMMALS
Otaria byronia 100,000.0 138 724.5
(sea lion, lobo del mar)
Lama glama 50,000.0 120 416.5
(lama)
Odocoileus virginianus 50,000.0 120 416.5
(deer, venado)
Unidentified mammal meat vol. per gm of bone 42.5
Unidentified sea mammal meat vol. per gm of bone 35.5
at volumes is a simple procedure, For example, an average
Choromytilus chorus mussel yields 50 cm3 of meat. Since it has two valves, each valve or
hinge would represent 25 cm3 of meat,
uivalents for vertebrates are gs
Conversion eq
volume of a given animal is divided by the nu
value of about 15.5 cm3, If 10 diagnostic ele-
of meat are represented. Though
mammal head bones), no studies have yet been
Consequently each diagnostic element is treated
rare species, the methodological proced
cations on only the parts of each animal
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 19
TABLE 2.—Plant food species conversion factors.
Units Unit Food unit
Species per liter Equivalent in cm3
Arachis hypogaea 2000 seeds 0.5 shell 0.5
peanut, mani) .
Phaseolus lunatus 750 seeds 1 seed 1.33
(lima bean, pallar)
Phaseolus vulgaris 2500 seeds 1 seed 0.4
(common bean, fri jol) 0.2 pod
Capsicum sp. 50 fruit 1 stem 20.0
(pepper, a jf)
Cucurbita sp. 1 fruit 1 stem 1000.0
(squash, calabaza) 50 seeds
Persea americana 8 fruit 1 seed 125.0
(avocado, palta)
Inga feuillei 10 beans 20 seeds 5.0
(pacae)
Bunchosia armeniaca 50 fruit 2 seeds 20.0
(cansaboca)
Psidium guajava 30 fruit 1 fruit 33.0
(guava, guayaba)
Lucuma obovata 8 fruit 1 seed 125.0
(lacuma)
DISCUSSION
Padre Aban.—Padre Aban, located near the modern fishing village of Huanchaco and
about 200 m from the ocean (Fig. 1), is a tiny site which covers only about 100 sq m.
No architecture is present and the only cultural component is stratified midden which
reaches a depth of 140 cm. Selected by prior testing, one controlled stratigraphic excava-
tion 100 cm x 100 cmx 140 cm deep yielded the subsistence data for this study. Cotton
cord and net fragments were recovered, but no textiles were found, and Moseley (1975:
22) has argued for the placement of such sites very early in the Cotton Preceramic. Sub-
sistence data indicate that the site was transitional in the change from hunting and gather-
ing to sedentary life, a feature which would also tend to place it quite early. Four car-
bon-14 samples from three levels with abundant plant remains submitted to the Radio-
carbon Laboratory of the University of Texas at Austin yielded the following dates:
1720+260 B.C, (sample Tx-1935), 1900+210 B.C. (sample Tx-1933), 1980+120 B.C.
(sample Tx-1934) and 3470+140 B.C. (sample Tx-1936) (S. Pozorski 1976:19). Although
the earliest date was based on a small sample and is probably atypical, the other dates
cluster more closely and generally date the beginnings of sedentary life within the Moche
ley.
Padre Aban is transitional in the process toward sedentism, during a time when local
inland hunting and gathering activities were being phased out. This may be correlated
with the stabilization of marine resources after the attainment of modern sea level about
3000 B.C. (Richardson 198 1). The small size and absence of architecture suggest semi-
Permanence and seasonal use, and concurrently these very characteristics substantiate
the inference that food procurement was the local activity of paramount importance.
At Padre Aban, which was economically intermediate between hunting and gathering
and systematic marine collecting supplemented by floodplain agriculture, there is evi-
dence of 1) remnants of familiar traditional procurement systems such as hunting and
2) incomplete adaptation to the new environment being exploited. ;
Since the immediate vicinity of Padre Aban is too barren to support much animal
or plant life, the site inhabitants probably depended on the ocean for the animal protein
which constituted the bulk of their diet (S. Pozorski 1976:71-76). Shellfish, mainly
er So
(rsronabiagag 6 MOCHE VALLEY
iB ——
ee oe
S CABALLO MUERTO®>
Huanchaco Qq
GRAMALOTE @
PADRE ABAN
Trujillo
Pacific
Ocean :
(
N ALTO SALAVERRY @
Salaverry “
FIG. 1.—Map of the Moche Valley showing the location of the Cotton Preceramic sites of Padre Aban and Alto Salaverry and the early ceramic
sites of Gramalote and Caballo Muerto.
THSudOZOd
I ‘ON °¢ ‘OA
TABLE 3.—Cotton Preceramic Animal Remains
Padre Aban Alto Salavery
Cut 1 Cut 2
Species Diagnos- Meatvol. %of meat Diagnos- Meatvol. %of meat Diagnos- Meatvol. % of meat
ticelmts. in cm3 diet ticelmts. in cm3 diet tic elmts in cm3 diet
MOLLUSKS
Scutalus sp. 0 + + 2 4.0 + 1 2.0 +
(land snail)
Choromytilus chorus 513 12825.0 31.5 108 2700.0 17.9 162 4050.0 18.2
(purple mussel, choro)
Semimytilus algosus 1022 511.0 12 2239 1119.5 7.4 2186 1093.0 4.9
(thin-shelled mussel)
Brachidontes purpuratus 1 0.5 + 463 231.5 1.5 680 340.0 1.5
(small striated mussel)
Protothaca thaca 94 940.0 aa 1 10.0 0.1 0 + +
large clam
Eurhomalea rufa 46 920.0 eat 0 0 0 0 + +
(large clam)
Mesodesma donacium 15 37.5 0.1 12 30.0 0.2 3 220 0.1
(clam)
Donax peruvianus 3503 875.8 2:2 788 197.0 1.5 576 144.0 0.6
(tide zone clam)
Semele corrugata 5 90.0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0
(large clam)
Fissurella sp 0 + + 30 300.0 2.0 40 400.0 1.8
(limpet)
Tegula atra 77 77.0 0.2 58 58.0 0.4 27 27.0 0.1
(gastropod)
Turbo niger 68 68.0 0.2 71 71.0 0.5 38 38.0 0.2
(gastropod)
§861 ARN
ADOTOISONHL’ AO TVNUNOL
TABLE 3.—Cotton Preceramic Animal Remains (continued)
Padre Aban
Alto Salaverry
Cut 1 Cut 2
Species Diagnos- Meatvol. %of meat Diagnos- Meatvol. %of meat Diagnos- Meat vol. % of meat
ticelmts. incm3 iet tic elmts in cm3 diet ticelmts. in cm3 diet
MOLLUSKS (continued)
Crepidula dilatata 36 45.0 0.1 12 20.0 0.1 31 38.8 0.2
(slipper shell)
Thais chocolata 13 26.0 0.1 10 20.0 0.1 5 10.0 +
(gastropod)
Thais delessertiana 30 45.0 0.1 27 40.5 0.3 14 21.0 0.1
(gastropod)
Concholepas concholepas 0 0 0 2 100.0 0.7 4 200.0 0.9
(abalone-like gastropod)
Chiton 3 3.8 + 14 17.5 0.1 14 17.5 0.1
Rare molluscan species + + + + + +
CRUSTACEAN
Platyanthus orbignii 107 535.0 1:5 205 1025.0 6.8 300 1500.0 6.7
(purple crab, congrejo)
ASCIDIAN
Pyura chilensis (?) 6886.5¢g 6886.5 16.9 0 0 0 0 0 0
(tunicate, pieure)
FISH
Mustelus sp. 105 2310.0 5.7 $2 704.0 4.7 36 792.0 3.6
(shark, tollo)
0 0 0 18 225.0 1.5 0 0 0
Rhinobatos planiceps
(guitarfish, guitarra)
TISuOZOd
TON ‘€ “ICA
TABLE 3.—Cotton Preceramic Animals Remains (continued)
Padre Aban Alto Salaverry
Cut 1 Cut 2
Species Diagnos- Meatvol. %of meat Diagnos- Meatvol. %of meat Diagnos- Meatvol. % of meat
ticelmts. in cm3 diet ticelmts. incm3 diet ticelmts. incm3 diet
FISH (continued)
Myliobatis peruvianus 11 390.5 1.0 7 248.5 1.6 20 710.0 $.2
(ray, raya)
Paralonchurus peruanus 10 155.0 0.4 47 728.5 4.8 48 744.0 3.5
(croaker, roncador)
Sciaena gilberti 1 111.0 0.3 0 0 0 0 0 0
(croaker, corvina)
Sciaena deliciosa 30 495.0 | 4 216 3564.0 23.6 186 3069.0 13.8
(croaker, lorna)
Xenoscarus denticulatus 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 120.0 0.5
(parrot fish, pococho)
Sarda chilensis 0 0 0 3 106.5 0.7 2 71.0 0.3
(bonito)
Lepisoma philippi 3.5 105.0 0.2 3 90.0 0.6 11.5 345.0 1.5
(trambollo)
Genypterus maculatus 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 43.0 0.2
(eel, congrio
Mugil cephalus 38 1235.0 3.0 3 97.5 0.6 60 1950.0 8.7
(mullet, lisa)
Unidentified fish 180g 4500.0 41,1 90g 2250.0 14.9 135g 3375.0 15.1
BIRDS
Pelecanus sp. 8 512.0 aa 0 0 0 0 0 0
(pelican)
Unidentified bird 447 5g 6265.0 15.4 2.5g 35.0 0.2 12.5g 175.0 0.8
€861 ARN
ADOTOISONHL’ 10 TWNUNOL
TABLE 3.—Cotton Preceramic Animals Remains (continued)
Padre Aban Alto Salaverry
Cut 1 Cut 2
Species Diagnos- Meatvol. %of meat Diagnos- Meatvol. % of meat Diagnos- Meatvol. % of meat
ticelmts. incm3 diet ticelmts. in cm3 diet ticelmts. in cm3 diet
a ae
Otaria byr 1 724.5 1.8 1.5 1086.8 io 4 2898.0 13.0
(sea lion, yee del mar)
Unidentified sea mammal 0 0 0 + + 2.5g 88.8 0.4
Total 40689.1 99.9 15079.8 99.8 22284.6 99.8
Combined + values 0.1 0.2 0.2
(+ = less than 0.1%) 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
bz
IMSuOZOd
T “ON ‘€ “IOA
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 25
mollusks, comprised more than half the total animal protein represented in the archae-
ological collection (Table 3), and the species inventory reflects access to both rock and
sand littoral habitats which are juxtaposed in the vicinity of Padre Aban.
The strong dietary emphasis on mollusks at Padre Aban suggests systematic procure-
ment methods. However, a comparison of the shellfish inventory of the site with the
later marine-oriented settlement of Gramalote nearby reveals that collecting by the
people from Padre Aban was relatively ineffective—perhaps because marine species and
habitats were unfamiliar. The old adage “What you see is what you get” could well be
applied to the inhabitants of Padre Aban because the mollusks most frequently taken
were species which were most visible and accessible. Mussels (Choromytilus chorus and
Semimytilus algosus) and other rock-perching species (Thais chocolata, Thais delesser-
tiana, Tegula atra, Turbo niger, and Crepidula dilatata) can be collected on rocks at low
tide. The small coquina clam (Donax peruvianus) inhabits the active tide zone where it
is frequently washed out by waves and easily collected with the bare hand (Fitch 1953:
84-85; Carson 1955:137). However, the larger clams (Eurhomalea rufa, Protothaca
thaca, and Semele corrugata) which yield more meat per animal, lie buried more deeply,
often in gravel under rocks (Fitch 1953:65-66, 68, 83; Olsson 1961: 305-306; Keen 1971:
193, 250-255). The extreme abundance of these larger species at the later nearby site of
Gramalote from which they were systematically exploited suggests that even their most
frequent occurrences at Padre Aban represent fortuitous finds rather than conscious
exploitation of harder-to-reach habitats.
As shells from Padre Aban were identified and studied, several significant patterns
emerged. First, shells from the large purple mussel (C. Chorus) were quite large (Table 7)
and heavily riddled by shell parasites in the posterior region, whereas very few juvenile
individuals were recorded. This suggests that local mussel colonies were certainly not yet
being exploited systematically enough or in such quantities that normal growth and
maturation were impaired. It is possible that colonies collected by people from Padre
Aban were being taken regularly for the first time—thus accounting for the large numbers
of very large and old individuals. Unnatural, but consistent, fractures producing pat-
terned breaks at right angles were noted near the hinges of bivalves, and chunks of whorl
extremely worn along the posterior margin from use as scrapers. des
In addition to mollusk shells, large numbers of tunicate (probably Pyura chilensis)
tests (leathery outer coverings) were recovered from the midden. Their soft internal
parts were eaten much as sea urchins are consumed.
Fish taken near the site provided about 27% of the total reconstructed animal
protein (Table 3). Shark (mustelus sp.), ray (Myliobatis peruvianus), mullet (Mugil
cephalus) and a single species of croaker (Sciaena deliciosa ) are most common, and all o
these species frequent shallow water near shore where they are easily surrounded and
dragged ashore using a simple haul seine (Evermann and Radcliffe 1917; Hildebrand
1946), Tiny fragments of small-mesh (4-5 mm) cotton netting recovered during excava-
tion provide evidence for this mode of procurement. 4
Shore birds figure prominently in the faunal inventory. Pelicans, cormorants, or
gull-sized species account for about 20% of the total meat represented by the ~a
sample (Table 3). This unusually high frequency of bird consumption far exceeds t =
of any other Moche Valley site studied and may reflect a continuation of the fami :
hunting activities practiced by earlier nonsedentary groups. Shore birds ee ae ly e
only large class of coastal animals which the people of Padre Aban could deal ——
traditional manner. The only mammal recognized as a potential food animal is the sea
lion (Otario byronia), and since the remains are few (Table 3), they probably represent
fortuitous finds.
The beginnings of plant cultigen use occurred concurrently with early efforts toward
26 POZORSKI Vol. 3, No. 1
systematic marine resource use by Padre Aban’s small population (S. Pozorski 1976:
76-78). Only three cultivated species: squash (Cucurbita sp.), gourd, (Lagenaria sicer-
aria), and cotton (Gossypium barbadense) were recovered from the Padre Aban midden
(Table 4), These plants were probably cultivated in seasonally inundated plots on the
Moche River floodplain, as cultivation would have been impossible in the arid vicinity
of the site.
The cultivated plant inventory of Padre Aban reflects an emphasis on industrial
plants, with their food potential secondary in importance. Although immature gourds
may have been eaten, cotton and gourds were most important to the people of Padre
Aban as a source of raw materials. Squash may have been used as containers as well as
for food (Pickersgill and Smith 1981:99).
Alto Salaverry._The Cotton Preceramic site of Alto Salaverry lies approximately 1.65
km from the ocean at an elevation of about 120 m on a ridge overlooking the ocean
(Fig. 1). Both midden and architecture are present, forming an oval about 160 m N-S
by 120 m E-W in an area of stabilized dunes. The architecture, of well built wet-laid
adobe, cobble, and boulder construction, was both domestic and nondomestic in func-
tion (S. Pozorski and T, Pozorski 1977; 1979a), Extensive testing revealed that midden
is deepest in areas between units of domestic architecture where it reaches a depth of
155 cm, and two loci within this concentration were selected for controlled excavation.
Cut 1 measured 100 cm x 200 cm x 115 cm deep and cut 2 measured 100 cm x 175 cm
x 150 cm deep, Although no absolute dates are available, three features of Alto Salaverry
argue for its placement later than Padre Aban and near the end of the Cotton Preceramic:
(1) twined textiles are abundant; (2) plant cultigens are varied and occasionally frequent-
ly represented; and (3) features of the nondomestic architecture resemble early ceramic
units in the Moche Valley and other central and north coast valleys (S. Pozorski 1976:
20-21, 79-91; T. Pozorski 1976; S. Pozorski and T. Pozorski 1977, 1979a).
Alto Salaverry represents the final step in the preceramic process of adaptation.
Excavation data reveal a complex permanent settlement featuring functionally differen-
tiated architecture indicative of simple societal ranking. Food procurement and proces-
sing were no longer the only important site activities. Marine products figure prominent-
ly in the site economy, yet plant cultigens, especially industrial plants, were of consider-
able importance (S. Pozorski 197 6:79-91),
Shellfish comprised about 38% of the reconstructed animal protein, and prominent
ee oe the midden include mussels, gastropods, limpets, and chitons. All are types
which require the rocky littoral habitat locally available at Salaverry point (Olsson 1961;
Keen 1971). Clearly, the inhabitants of Alto Salaverry exploited the more distant, but
alge Nea 2 ama: rocky point instead of the sand beach only half as distant. The
i pane ining a people of Padre Aban and the later site of Gramalote from the
and sheltered waters of Huanchaco Bay were apparently absent
from the sandy open beach near Alto Salaverry.
Compared to the large mussel (C. chorus) shells from Padre Aban, most of the mussel
shells from Alto Salave ‘
(Table 7). This eviden
were taken in the Huanchaco area into early ceramic times, sug-
were relatively larger and perhaps more stable.
a Memes the purple mussel, exhibit a consistent fracture pattern for
xfraction comparable to the pattern observed in Padre Aban material, Other
examples show evidence of use as crude scrapers
Fish supplied over half of the to i
tal animal i
(Table 3), and remains of fishing ee
closely parallel those taken at Padre Aban. Sharks
Larger shells, especially
ave been caught off the Salaverry rock mass as they came
life on the rocky outcrop.
TABLE 4.—Cotton Preceramic Food Plant Remains
Padre Aban Alto Salaverry
Cut 1 Cut 2
Species Diagnos- Foodvol. %of plant Diagnos- Foodvol. %of plant Diagnos- Foodvol. % of plant
ticelmts. incm3 i ticelmts. incm diet ticelmts. in cm3 diet
Phaseolus lunatus 0 0 0 5.5 y Be 0.1 4 5.3 0.1
(lima bean, pallar)
Phaseolus vulgaris 0 0 0 2.5 1.0 + 2 0.8 +
(common bean, fri jol)
Capsicum sp. 0 0 0 1 stem 20.0 0.2 3 stems 60.0 1.1
(pepper, a jt)
Cucurbita sp 1 stem 1000.0 100.0 9 stems 9000.0 96.0 5 stems 5000.0 92.1
(squash, calabaza)
Persea americana 0 0 0 0.5 62.5 0.7 2 250.0 4.6
(avocado, palta)
Inga feuillei 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 2.5 +
(pacae)
Bunchosia armeniaca 0 0 0 § 30.0 0.3 11 110.0 2.0
(cansaboca)
Psidium guajava 0 0 0 2 stems 66.0 0.7 0 0 0
(guava, guayaba)
Lucuma obovata 0 0 0 1.5 187.5 2.0 0 0 0
(licuma)
otal 1000.0 100.0% 9374.3 100.0% 5428.6 99.9
Combined + values 0.1
(+ = less than 0.1%) 100.0%
$861 ARN
ADO'IOISONHL’ AO TVNUNOL
28 POZORSKI Vol. 3, No. 1
Shore birds were insignificant in the diet at Alto Salaverry—a marked contrast to
their high frequency at Padre Aban. However, sea lions, which were rare at Padre Aban,
contributed substantially to the meat protein consumed at Alto Salaverry, Although
the contribution of these animals to the diet (about 7%) is small compared to shellfish
and fish, it indicates that these animals were regularly killed in the vicinity of Salaverry
int,
The three plant cultigens, cotton, gourd, and squash, documented for Padre Aban,
are most abundant in the Alto Salaverry material (Table 4). Again, industrial plants are
extremely important, indicating a prevailing attitude toward plant cultivation as a means
for obtaining essential raw materials, However, food plant production was increasing in
importance. Though well behind squash, cansaboca (Bunchosia armeniaca), licuma
(Lucuma obovata), and avocado (Persea americana) contributed substantially to the
vegetable diet. Cultivated beans were probably more common that their calculated
frequency would indicate because the seed is the part that is eaten. Other cultivated or
tended species identified include pepper ( Capsicum sp.), pacae (Inga feuillei), and guava
(Psidium guajava). All these species were probably brought from the valley bottom
where floodplain cultivation was possible and where moisture was available for wild or
tended plants,
explained by either differences in local technologies or the availability of particular
species in the vicinity of each site. The overall increase in the proportion of fish at Alto
one mussel species (Brachidontes purpuratus),
and limpets are either restricted to or much more
otein was so readily available. As a result, people viewed
ly as a means for obtaining necessary raw materials. Such 2
plant cultivation could easily have resulted in the neglect and
st food species. Another factor, the areal limits on floodplain
on, may have ultimately been a key variable. The Alto Sala-
le land in short supply and the resulting limited produc-
(S. Pozorski 197 6:81-97)., Plants, food plant production was small and secondary
Gramalote,— ic si
st ee: ee site of Gramalote occupies a series of bluffs about 70 m
uanchaco (Fig. 1). Midden and vestiges of architecture cover 4
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 29
total area of about 16,500 sq m. Much of the architecture is deeply buried by midden,
but excavation exposed elaborate structures of wet-laid double-faced cobble and boulder
walls with rubble fill (S. Pozorski and T. Pozorski 1979b). Stratified midden reaches a
depth of almost 2 m, and a single cut in the deepest zone yielded subsistence data for this
study. This cut measured 100 by 50 cm by 195 cm deep. Six carbon-14 samples from
Gramalote processed by the Radiocarbon Laboratory of the University of Texas at Austin
yielded dates which ranged from about 1590 to 1100 B.C. (S. Pozorski 1976:22; S.
Pozorski and T. Pozorski 1979b).
In keeping with the pattern already observed for early maritime sites, all the animal
protein consumed at Gramalote derived ultimately from the nearby ocean (Table 5),
The procurement and processing of shellfish was the major subsistence activity at Grama-
lote, and virtually all the species identified at the site were also collected by the earlier
inhabitants of the region at Padre Aban. Quantitative differences in the species taken by
people from Gramalote compared to Padre Aban can be attributed to the more efficient
TABLE 5.—Early Ceramic Animal Remains
Gramalote Caballo Muerto
Species Diag- Meat %of Diag- Meat %of
nostic volume meat nostic volume meat
elmts. incm3_ diet elmts. incm3 _ diet
MOLLUSKS
Scutalus sp. 9 18.0 - 21 42.0 0.4
(land snail)
Choromytilus chorus 333 8325.0 ce 83 2075.0 21.9
(purple mussel, choro )
Semimytilus algosus 616 308.0 0.3 13 6.5 0.1
(thin-shelled mussel)
Protothaca thaca 1599 15990.0 13.7 46 460.0 4.9
(large clam)
Eurhomalea rufa 188 8660.0 $1 11 220.0 2.3
(large clam)
Donax peruvianus 212 53.0 + 63 IBS O2
(tide zone clam)
Gariet solida 171 1710.0 1.5 0 0 0
(large clam)
Semele corrugata 1006 30180.0 26.0 81 2430.0 25.7
(large clam)
Fissurella sp. 18 180.0 0.1 2 20.0 0.2
(limpet)
Tegula atra 1248 1248.0 1.1 16 16.0 0.2
(gastropod)
Turbo niger 925 925.0 0.8 4 4.0 2
(gastropod
Crepidula dilatata 65 81.3 0.1 2 2.5 f
(slipper shell)
ais chocolata 96 192.0 0.2 0 0 0
(gastropod)
Thais delessertiang 435 652.5 0.6 1 1.5 *
(gastropod)
iton iy 1975:....03 0 + +
+ i
Rare molluscan species + y
30
TABLE 5.—Early Ceramic Animal Remains (continued)
POZORSKI
Vol. 3, No. 1
Gramalote Caballo Muerto
Species Diag- Meat %of Diag- Meat “of
nostic volume meat nostic volume meat
elmts. incm3 diet elmts. incm3_ diet
CRUSTACEAN
Platyanthus orbignii 1187 5935.0 — 5.1 20 100.0 1.0
(purple crab, congrejo)
ASCIDIAN
Pyura chilensis (?) 1149g 1149.0 1.0 0 0 0
(tunicate, pieure)
FISH
Mustelus sp. 304 6688.0 5.7 0 0 0
(shark, tollo)
Rhinobatos planiceps by 7923 0.6 0 0 0
(guitarfish, guitarra)
Myliobatis peruvianus 18 639.0 05 0 0 0
(ray, raya)
Paralonchurus peruanus 25 3675: 0.3 0 0 0
(croaker, roncador)
Sciaena gilberti S0R27e «0.7 0 0 0
(croaker, corvina)
Sciaena deliciosa 39 648.5 0.5 3 49.5 0.5
(croaker, lorna)
Unidentified fish 25g 625.0 0.5 0 1) 0
BIRDS
Pelecanus sp. 405) 08 0 0 0
Unidentified bird 505g 7070.0 61 2.5 35.0 0.4
MAMMALS
Otaria byronia 12 869
0g 0
(sea lion, lobo del mar) ss :
Lama glama 0 4
(llama) 0 0 5.5 1457.8 15.
Odocoileus virginianus 0
(deer, venado) : : LORS ee
Unidentified mammal 0 0 0 20g 850.0 9.0
Unidentified sea mammal 537.5¢ 19081.3 16.4 0 0 0
Total
Combined + values wees ae spe fe
(+ = less than 0.1%) seo 100.0%
“V7/0 .
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 31
procurement system in operation at Gramalote. Shellfish gathering by the people at
Padre Aban focused on the more visible, easily gathered species, whereas shellfish gath-
erers from Gramalote collected the deeper burrowing clams (P. thaca, E. rufa, S. corru-
gata, and Gariet solida) which supply more meat per individual than all but the large
mussel (C. chorus), as well as the more accessible species. Once a method was estab-
lished for taking these large mollusks efficiently, procurement activities focused on shell-
fish collection (S. Pozorski 1976:93-97).
Like examples from Padre Aban, specimens of the large mussel from the Gramalote
midden were usually large adult individuals, often affected by parasites (Table 7), thus
there was no apparent depopulation of the Huanchaco Bay shellfish beds. The same
shell breakage pattern observed for Padre Aban and Alto Salaverry was documented for
Gramalote shellfish. Large bivalves and many gastropods had been bashed open in a
consistent manner to extract the meat. Large clam and mussel valves had been used as
scrapers,
In contrast to Padre Aban where almost 30% of the meat protein was fish-derived
and especially Alto Salaverry where over 50% was from fish, at Gramalote less than 10%
of the total meat protein was derived from fish (Table 5). Shark provided more meat
than all other fish species combined, and rays, guitarfish, and three members of the
croaker family were also represented. Fishing implements recovered during excavations
indicate that fishing was probably done using both simple small-mesh haul seines and
large-mesh gill nets staked out in shallow water.
Although not as common as remains from Padre Aban, bird bones from Gramalote
indicate that several species were taken with some regularity. The only mammal of
dietary significance was the sea lion, which was taken and consumed in a quantity com-
parable to that documented for Alto Salaverry (Table 5).
Cultivated plant species identified at Gramalote include the same plants identified
for Alto Salaverry plus the newly introduced peanut (Arachis hypogaea) and maize
(Zea mays). The industrial plants, cotton and gourd, as well as squash continued to be
abundant, but other food species were present in substantial amounts (Table 6). Liicuma,
avocado, the common bean, and pepper had attained special importance in the vegetable
diet, but maize was not yet an important food plant (S. Pozorski 1976: 97-98).
TABLE 6.—Early Ceramic Food Plant Remains
Maerua Gramalote
Diagnostic Food volume % of plant
Species elements in cm iet
win ee — +
(maize, maiz)
Arachis hypogaea 195 shells 97.5 1.0
(peanut, mant,
rinse vulgaris 40 pods 80.0 0.8
common bean, fri
Capsicum - fb 17 stems 340.0 3.6
(pepper, ajf)
Cucurbita sp. 298 seeds 5960.0 63.5
(squash, calabaza )
Persea americana 5 seeds 625.0 6.7
(avocado, palta )
Bunchosia armeniaca 10 seeds 100.0 1.1
(cansaboca)
hucuma obovata 17.5 seeds 2187.5 23.3
(lucuma)
Total 9390.0 100.0%
he hed. oe oS ee
32 POZORSKI Vol. 3, No.1
TABLE 7.— Ratio of MNI to Total Shell Weight for Choromytilus chorus
Site MNI Wt. of Shell MNI-~ Shell Wt.
Padre Aban 257 7707.5 29.99
Alto Salaverry Cut 1 54 942.5 17.45
Alto Salaverry Cut 2 81 1860.0 22.96
Gramalote 167 45 30.0 27.h0
Caballo Muerto.—The Caballo Muerto complex is a group of eight early ceramic platform
mounds located about 17 km inland on the north side of the valley (Fig. 1) and spread
over an area of about 2 sq km. Intensive excavation by Thomas Pozorski revealed that
each mound is a U-shaped structure of cobbles and boulders wet-laid in a clay matte
(T. Pozorski 1976). In the course of excavations, small amounts of subsistence remains
were uncovered during architectural clearing, and a concentrated 100 cm band of refuse
was encountered by two pits very deep in the fill of Huaca Herederos Chica, one of the
first mounds constructed. These pits measured 165 cm by 145 cm and 130 cm by 120
cm, Ceramics and other artifactual data as well as radiocarbon dates of 1500 B.C. and
1090 B.C. serve to correlate Huaca Herederos Chica chronologically with the occupation
of Gramalote (S, Pozorski and T. Pozorski 1979b).
site especially significant in this investigation of major shifts in subsistence patterns
(S. Pozorski 1976:99-104; §. Pozorski and T. Pozorski 1979b).
Marine shellfish constituted over 50% of the meat volume consumed at Huaca
Herederos Chica and thus establish a fj i
of the site’s occupation.
The large mussel (C. chorus) and three large clams (P. thaca, E. rufa, and S. cor7u-
the meat, although other small bivalves and gastropods are present.
The range of species identified from Caballo Muerto correlates well with the species
inventories of both Gramalote
the source for shellfish consum
p-, a land snail, in the Caballo Muerto material suggests
that snails were collected for food and provides evidence of the shift away from exclu-
sively marine products. Their use as food is well documented by later Moche period
hone depicting Scutalus sp. harvests (Benson 1972:86; Levallee and Lang 1978:
Both marine birds and fish were very minor elements in the faunal inventory, and
ains of sea lion occurred only
Chica where it wa
ficant as evidence of
Deer (probably furnished almost 20% of the meat volume
documented for Hu hica. Near the river, wild plant cover was onc
probably adequate to provide food and protection for a small number of these animals.
Excavations at Huaca Cortada, another very early Caballo Muerto mound, yielded the
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 33
only other deer bone (T. Pozorski 1976:139). The absence of deer at later mounds
indicates that the small local deer population was probably hunted virtually to extinc-
tion or displaced by land alteration and deforestation for cultivation very early in the
history of Caballo Muerto.
A camelid, probably the domesticated llama (Lama glama), supplied almost as much
meat to the Huaca Herederos Chica diet as deer. Evidence suggests that camelids may
have been domesticated in the highlands as early as 4400-3150 B.C. (Wing 1973:11-12).
Therefore there is little doubt that the camelid identified at Caballo Muerto was intro-
duced into the Moche Valley from the highlands in a domesticated form.
Butchering marks on some of the camelid bones attest to their use as food although
they may also have served as beasts of burden, supplied wool, or been used in ceremonial
functions, Camelid remains were discovered at several later mounds of the Caballo
Muerto complex, a factor which suggests that, unlike deer, camelids persisted as an
important meat source.
Dog (Canis familiaris) remains were scarcely represented in the Caballo Muerto
sample, but their bones document the presence of an additional nonmarine species.
Evidence for irrigation agriculture in the vicinity of Caballo Muerto is indirect be-
cause no food plant material was preserved in the Huaca Herederos sample (S. Pozorski
1976: 104-106; T. Pozorski 1976:130-131). However, the variety of plant species docu-
mented for Alto Salaverry and especially Gramalote indicates that techniques of plant
cultivation were well developed by early ceramic times, and a comparable assemblage
of species and agricultural skills is assumed for the Caballo Muerto complex. Both the
variety and relative quantities of plants known from Gramalote are probably good indi-
cations of the species utilized during the concurrent occupation of Caballo Muerto.
Two additional arguments for the existence of an irrigation agriculture base for
Caballo Muerto are (1) the large size of the Caballo Muerto complex and (2) its inland
location. Certainly floodplain cultivation continued to be practiced in the Moche Valley
during the Initial Period and Early Horizon, but the very limited floodplain within the
valley precluded the support of a large population based primarily on floodplain agricul-
ture. The size of the mounds within the Caballo Muerto complex, which are significant-
ly larger than any Moche Valley preceramic construction, indicates that a substantial
support population was necessary for corporate labor construction projects. Given the
inland location of the complex, the only way such a population, estimated to have been
at least 1200 people (S. Pozorski and T. Pozorski 1979b:429), could have been sup-
ported was by irrigation agriculture.
The settlement shift inland can be correlated with the positioning of canal intakes
at points where the steep land gradient makes only short canals necessary to water rela-
tively large areas of land (Willey 1953:392; Farrington 1974:85; S. Pozorski and T.
Pozorski 1979b:428-429), Although no canal remains contemporary with Caballo
Muerto are preserved, two modern canals have their intakes upvalley and aga land
adjacent to the Caballo Muerto complex, much in the manner that prehistoric examples
probably served the area. Similar arguments for irrigation agriculture based on settle-
ment pattern shifts have been made for other Peruvian coastal valleys (Moseley 1972:41;
beth) as well as for other areas of the world (Adams 1965; Adams and Nissen
zy.
Early Ceramic Subsistence.—Considered separately, the two Moche Valley early ceramic
sites appear very different. Gramalote is a marine-oriented site where shellfish collecting
was the major subsistence activity and several food species attained an importance a
viously documented only for industrial plants. Caballo Muerto, on the other hand,
appears anomalous as an inland mound site supported by both inland-derived and marine
ive irrigation systems were
m operation, Taken together, these two sites emerge as complementary parts of an
34 POZORSKI Vol. 3, No.1
for agricultural products from the large areas of land newly opened through irrigation
(S. Pozorski and T, Pozorski 1979b).
In contrast to the coastal location and marine subsistence orientation of Padre Aban,
Alto Salaverry, and the early ceramic site of Gramalote, the inland location of Caballo
Muerto signifies an important change in subsistence priorities. At the three coastal sites,
there is a direct correlation between their location and marine subsistence focus. How-
ever, the location of Caballo Muerto, predicated on water control as irrigation, documents
a new emphasis on inland procurement systems, but not to the extent that marine pro-
ducts were entirely excluded from the diet.
It has been argued on the basis of data from Padre Aban and Alto Salaverry that
Cotton Preceramic plant cultivation was concerned mainly with the industrial plants,
cotton and gourd. Even at Alto Salaverry with a plant species inventory comparable
in many ways to early ceramic sites, food species appear limited in quantity. The cir-
cumscribed areal limit of floodplain land is seen as the mitigating factor. Since indus-
trial plants were essential to the predominantly marine economy, they occupied most of
the limited Moche Valley floodplain at the expense of food species.
The situation changed markedly in early ceramic times when new areas of land were
made arable year-round by canal irrigation. Initially, this shift in subsistence orientation
is reflected by settlement relocation well inland to be near canal intakes and irrigated
land. Despite the negligible plant preservation at Caballo Muerto, two aspects of the
Gramalote sample document a signi
as observed when squash and gourd seed sizes from Grama-
Cotton Preceramic samples (Table 8). This may be corre-
of irrigation agriculture, Whereas annual floodplain crops
received moisture only briefly once a year in a quantity which was not necessarily ade-
quate for maximum plant growth and fruit maturation, canal irrigation made water
available for the duration of the growing season and allowed plants to mature and fully
attain their potential size,
The subsistence shift documented by the inland location of Caballo Muerto and the
Gramalote pl
ant data represented a physical relocation f the coastal resources
which had traditi =i i ie
lated with the key advantage
Gramalote in return for vegetal produce
In view of th : Be leg a 4 complexity
between Caballo Muerto and € great disparity in site size and comp
Gramalote, the coastal site may have been a subsidiary
community or colony established and maintained to guarantee a reliable supply of
marine protein to the large inland site.
Much of the animal protein consumed
the earlier Occupants of th
at Caballo Muerto was not coastal in origin;
€ complex relied heavily on deer and a domesticated camelid.
apidly became virtually extinct locall f ulation
3 y because of pop
pa ia “xpansion, the domestic camelid increased in importance because it was
and meat source which was potentially as reliable as shellfish
CONCLUSIONS
Quantitative subsistence d ic and
ata have been rese eramic
6 tarly: eoraiaie esheg p nted for two Cotton Prec
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
May 1983
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36 POZORSKI Vol. 3, No. 1
occupation, (2) substantial remains of birds which could be hunted in the traditional
manner, and (3) the collecting, perhaps for the first time, of mollusk species which were
the most visible and easily accessible in an area where species with a much higher meat
yield could be obtained with more effort. Plant cultigens were very few, and the em-
phasis was apparently on industrial plants which were indispensible in a maritime eco-
nomy.
Alto Salaverry exemplifies the end of the Cotton Preceramic continuum as a site
which, though principally marine in orientation, was characterized by an extremely
varied plant species inventory. Yet, despite this variety, industrial plants continued to
dominate the vegetal inventory. The spatial limits on floodplain cultivation is suggested
as the key variable, with vital industrial species occupying the limited arable land at the
expense of food species.
Although experimentation with canal irrigation may have begun during the late
preceramic, the establishment of the inland settlement of Caballo Muerto provides the
first evidence of the major subsistence shift away from a reliance predominantly on
marine resources. Earlier experimentation with irrigation agriculture was probably moti-
vated by the need for more arable land, perhaps initially still for the production of indus-
trial plants, especially cotton for textiles. By the time Caballo Muerto was constructed,
economic priorities had changed to the extent that the major site within the Moche
Valley was directly associated with canals and lands newly opened to agriculture and only
a subsidiary site remained on the coast. This inland orientation of Caballo Muerto for
the fulfillment of subsistence needs is further exemplified by the importance of deer and
a domestic camelid, a particularly reliable meat source, to the faunal inventory.
The concurrent existence of Gramalote on the coast, however, attests to a continued
mpi on substantial amounts of marine products by the people of Caballo Muerto.
dene maintenance of such substantial ties to the coast makes Caballo Muerto truly transi-
oo gras gs to irrigation agriculture. The complementary site of Gramalote
datkionauih glad ian (1) preserved plant remains document increased cultigen pro-
economic unit which i nace . ans eh 2 Be Rag oe ee
providing for intrasite needs ee ens for exchange instead a) ia
Despite the paucity of subsistence studies for
Huaca Prieta (Bird 1948a;
Negra (Strong and Evans 1
other early coastal sites, the data from
1948b; Bennett and Bird 1949:88-94; Towle 1961), Huaca
952:17-25, 29-31, 40-41), and Las Haldas (Engel 1957:87;
; Grieder 1975; Moseley 1975:62; Matsuzawa 1978) in com-
dent from the faunal remains from each
In all three valle
ys where coastal sj
mound complexes which haart
Cai
f
_—— 1965:194; T. Pozorski 1976:282-283;
ed mn the Chicama Valley may have interacted
Negra for shellfish j F na Muaca la Gallina may have depended on Huaca
Temple of the Pa for cultivated plant products and the sa ane ai llamas af
- 4dnland early ceramic sites in the Casma Valley are particularly
s. Pozorski and T. Pozorski 1979b),
Huaca el Gallo a
May 1983
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 37
numerous, but Sechin Alto, Sechin Bajo, and Taukachi-Konkan are architecturally most
similar to Las Haldas (Fung and Williams 1977) and therefore were probably the sites
which were connected economically with the coastal site. All the coastal sites, even Las
Haldas, appear subsidiary in size and complexity when compared with their postulated
complementary inland sites.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Excavations at Padre Aban, Alto Salaverry, Gramalote, and Caballo Muerto were conducted in
1973 and 1974 under the auspices of the Chan Chan-Moche Valley Project directed by C. J. Mackey
and M. E. Moseley and with the permission
n of the Peruvian Instituto Nacional de Cultura. Funding
was provided by the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the Institute
of Latin American Studies of the University of Texas at Austin.
LITERATURE CITED
ADAMS, ROBERT MCC, 1965. Land behind
Baghdad. A history of settlement on the
Diyala plains. Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago.
AMS, ROBERT MCC. HANDS J.
NISSEN. 1972. The Uruk countryside. The
natural setting of urban societies. Univ.
Chicago Press, Chicag
BEGLER, ELSIE B. ie RICHARD W. KEA-
TINGE. 1979. Theoretical goals and metho-
dological realities: problems in the reconstruc-
tion of prehistoric subsistence economies.
World Arch. 11(2):208-226.
BENNETT, WENDELL C., and JUNIUS B.
BIRD. 1949. Andean culture history. Amer.
Mus, Nat. Hist., New York.
BENSON, ELIZABETH P. 1972. The Mochica,
BIRD, JUNIUS B. 1948a. Acairlog’ s oldest
farmers. Nat. Hist. 57:296-302, 334-335.
1 Preceramic cultures in
21-28 in A reappraisal
Chicama and Viru. Pp.
CARDOZA G., ARMANDO. 1954. Los auqué-
nidos. La Paz.
CARSON, RACHEL. 1955. At the edge of the
coal New American Library, New York.
OHEN, MARK N. 1975. Some problems in
ENGEL, FREDERIC. 1957. Sites et établis-
sments sans céramique de la cote peruvienne.
Journal de la Société des Americanistes, New
Series 46:67-155,
——_______.. 1970. Las lomas de Iguanil y
cage de Haldas. Universidad Agraria,
The fishes B. and L. RADCLIFFE. 1917.
e fishes of the west coast of Peru and the
ull. U.S. Natl. Mus. 95.
FARRINGTON, IAN. 1974. Irrigation and
settlement pattern: preliminary research re-
sults from the north coast of Peru. Pp. 83-
94 in Irrigation’s Impact on Society (T. E
Downing and McG. Gibson, eds.). Anthrop.
—— Univ. saben 25, Tucson.
CH, JOHN E. 1953. Common marine bi-
wae of California. State of California Dept.
Fish and Game Marine Fisheries Branch Fish
Bull. 90.
FUNG, ROSA. 1969. Las Aldas: su ubicaci6én
dentro del proceso histérico del Peru antiguo.
Dédalo 5(9-10). Museu de Arte e Arqueo-
1 U
GRIEDER, TERENCE. 1975. A dated seq-
uence of building and pottery at Las Haldas.
Nawpa Pacha 13:99- 112.
HILDEBRAND, S. 1946. A descriptive cata-
log of the shore fishes of Peru. Bull. U.S.
Natl. Mus. 189.
KEEN, A. MYRA. 1971. Sea shells of tropical
west America, second edition. Stanford Univ.
Press, Stanford.
KOSOK, PAUL. 1965. Life, land and water in
ancient Peru. Long Island Univ. Press, New
York.
KOSTRITSKY, LEON. 1963. Los mamiferos
marinos de importancia econémica. Pp. 23-
Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Imprenta de
la Universidad de San Marcos, Lima
LEVALLEE, JOSE A. DE and WEINER _
1978. Arte — segundo
a fio. Banco de Crédito acl
MATSUZAWA, TSUGIO. 1978. The Forma-
tive site of Las 7 Peru: architecture,
chronology, and econ y (trans. by Izum i
imada). Amer. . 43:652-673.
38 POZORSKI
Vol. 3, No, 1
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
MOSELEY, MICHAEL E. 1972. Subsistence
and demography: an example of interaction
from gti Peru. Southwestern J.
Anthr. 28(1):2
poate Ne San Organizational pread-
aptation to sincere the evolution of early
water ae systems in coastal Peru.
Pp. am ask ap SP s Impact on Society
(T. Downing and McG. Gibson, eds.).
ro Papers Univ. pees 25, Tucson,
en SE Ue nb ee! Wed maritime founda-
tions of Andean pe Cummings Publ.
Co., Menlo Park, California.
SMITH. 1981. ey Bas to a desert coast:
subsistence changes through time in coastal
Peru. Pp. 89-115 in Sac by ate Aspects
of Coasts and Islands (D. R. Sede and
“ Ww. Dimbleby, eds.). Symposia, Assoc.
1 Arch
ona SHELIA. 1976, Prehistoric we
Anthr.),
POZORSKI, SHELIA and THOUxS POZOR-
SKI. 1977. Alto Salaverry: un sitio precera-
mico de la costa peruana. Revista del Museo
Nacional 43:27-60,
1979a. Alto Salaverry: a
Peruvian coastal preceramic site. Annals
Carnegie Mus. Nat. Hist. 49:337-375
1979b. An early subsistence
] ru
exchange system in the Moche Valley,
3-432.
THOMAS. 1976. Caballo Muerto:
a pay of early ceramic sites in the Moche
Valley, Peru. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissert. (Anthr.).
Univ. Texas, Austin.
RICHARDSON, JAMES B., III. 1981. Model-
ing the development of sedentary maritime
EVANS. 1952. Cultural stratigraphy in the
Viru Valley, northern Peru. Columbia Univ.
Studies in Arch. and Ethn. 4.
TOWLE, MARGARET A. 1961. The ethno-
botany of pre-Columbian Peru. Viking Fund
Publ. Anthr. 30, — ner-Gren Found.
Anthrop. Res., New York.
WHITE, THEODORE E. 19538. A method of
calculating the dietary percentages of various
food animals utilized by aboriginal people.
Amer. Antiquity 18(4):396-398.
WILLEY, GORDON R. 1953. Prehistoric
ictilemins patterns in the Viru Valley, Peru.
Bur. Amer. Ethn., Smithsonian Inst. Bull.
55, on, D.C,
ah aisde ELIZABETH S, 1973. The origins of
animal domestication in the
pi Paper, 9th Internatl. Congress
Anthrop, and Ethnol. Sci., Chicago.
J. Ethnobiol, 3(1):39-48 May 1983
POLLEN FROM ADOBE BRICK
MARY KAY O’ROURKE
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
ABSTRACT.—Pollen from adobe bricks of the historic Brockman house of Tucson, Arizona,
provides clues to the construction history of the building. Seventeen pollen samples were
obtained from two separate walls and the mortar joining the bricks of one wall. The cheno-
am pollen type is dominant in all samples, and its proportion and concentration are signifi-
cantly different between the two walls as indicated by chi square Miah tests. Similar
differences are seen in high spine Compositae, Ambrosia type, Gramineae, Leguminosae,
Pinus and in the AP:NAP ratio. "Salita type pollen was differentiated "oa other cheno-am
pollen in this study. It was present in all adobe brick but it was rare or absent in the clay
rich mortar. ae variability among three samples from a single adobe brick is not statisti-
cally significan Chi square contingency tests indicate similarity between modern soil
(S9) and the ik. of wall I. The adobe of wall II was distinctly different from the modern
soil, Chi square contingency tests also indicate similarity in pollen content of mortar and
wall II, and significant differences between pollen content of ae and wallI. Pollen con-
tent in the adobe brick can be interpreted as indicating two building phases for the house.
Historic records indicate the earliest construction postdated 1901. Therefore, Salsola inva-
sion into the area must predate 1901 based on this pollen evidence.
INTRODUCTION
Pollen analysis has long been used by investigators in an archaeological context
throughout the southwest to ascertain: (1) diet (Martin and Sharrock 1964; Kelso 1970,
1976; Bryant 1974), (2) seasonality of site occupation (Kelso 1970), (3) land use (Webb
and Solomon 1974), and (4) environmental change (Martin 1963). Recent historic
changes in the vegetation of urban Tucson have also been documented using pollen
analysis as a tool (Solomon and Hayes 1980). The overall technique has proved valuable
for the investigation of past events. This technique can be used to investigate another
type of event—that of construction sequence in adobe buildings.
Adobe structures are frequently built in stages. Many times color differences are
apparent in the adobe bricks, different types of mortar are used during different building
phases, or adjacent walls are not properly joined and wall separation occurs between
rooms of different building episodes. These differences are clues to the building sequence
of the individual structure.
Adobe construction is common in the arid southwestern United States, as well as in
other arid portions of the world. Seventeen samples from the adobe of the historic
Brockman house located at 420 East 18th Street in the Armory Park neighborhood of
Tucson, Arizona were collected and analyzed for pollen content. Most of the homes in
this ee ered were built for families of railroad workers around the turn of the
hee Many are made of fired brick; a few are made of mud adobe brick. Twelve
reflected in the pollen content of the adobe, (3) the variability of pollen content within
a single brick, (4) if the season of construction can be determined from the pollen con-
tent of the adobe, Although it was not one of the goals of this study, the pollen data
obtained provided information regarding the appearance and spread of a plant species
introduced to the United States in historic time.
HISTORY OF ADOBE AND ADOBE RESEARCH IN THE SOUTHWEST
Use of adobe in construction is varied. Judd (1916) reports that it was used as a
mortar between stones, as a plaster over wood and as massive in situ mud wall construc-
40 O’ROURKE Vol. 3, No. 1
tion (caliche) before the Spanish ventured into the Southwest in 1540 A.D. Evidence for
prehistoric construction using adobe brick is rare but not unknown. Morris (1944)
reports one prehistoric experiment in the use of mud “bricks’”’ near Aztec, New Mexico,
These bricks fractured because no straw or organic matter were added to them; this lack
resulted in shrinkage during the drying process. The resulting broken and whole bricks
of variable sizes were used to build the walls of a kiva. The building could not have pre-
dated 1097 A.D. according to tree ring dates obtained from wood taken out of the ruins
of the kiva. Pottery associated with the building and correlated with tree ring dates from
other sites supports a date of 1110-1121 A.D.
n adobe brick wall was also found in an upper Gila pueblo. At this site true rectan-
gular bricks were used. They were placed in the wall while still partially wet and as a
result each brick is fused to the bricks adjacent to it. Danson (1957:84) states, “This is
one of the few recorded finds of bricks used in a prehistoric dwelling in the Southwest.”
The Spanish used adobe bricks in construction of their numerous missions. Use of
adobe brick spread rapidly, and in 1879 when Anita Rose visited Tucson she was both
impressed and shocked by the “gloomy adobe” buildings. She described the adobe as an
“,. . ad-mixture of mud and water with a little cut straw, mixed and molded in wooden
frames, brick shaped but more oblong, say 1 x 1% feet and 4 inches thick” (Rose 1879:
23). She further relates that “They (adobe bricks) are laid as bricks and plastered with a
similar substance barring the straw and burned by the sun.” Many early adobe bricks
were made at the site of construction from the surface soils, Another source of adobe
brick was the commercial brickyard. Newspaper accounts from the period tell of con-
tracts for making adobe brick being awarded to Lord and Williams (Arizona Weekly
Citizen 1873, Oct. 4 and 11). The 1881 city directory (Barter 1881) records two brick-
yards in Tucson, one was at Silver Lake and the other was probably at or near Warner’s
Mill. Both were west of town in the floodplain of the Santa Cruz River.
Studies conducted earlier in the century (Hendry and Kelly 1925; Hendry 1931)
utilized adobe bricks as a source of macrofossils to determine the time of introduction
of agricultural plants and exotic weedy species into Arizona, California, and Sonora,
ee oe were obtained from old buildings and missions, dissolved in water
Volney Jones identifi 4 se . or oe enenry oe ene reported
akewe coe inaeie e vs ; fibrous reinforcements contained in the adobe bricks
ake eae “es aD at Awatovi in northeastern Arizona. Studies
This study examines rite ; ae ies a ce red on the study of plant macrofossils.
ossils (pollen) contained in adobe.
METHODS
parated vertically are more likely to represent different
obe samples from a vertical sequence were collected to
ce of the bricks,
ted from ten adobe bricks in two different walls which
- Color differences occur in the adobe bricks and comp?
eee Mrs. Elsa Hanna Wright (nee Borckman), the
er saying one r f han the
others, Th ‘ ying oom of the house was older t
Rita Bi ae interview supports a conclusion of two phases of building construction
yed by the visual differences in the building materials
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 41
a)
wall I
=
wallII
SChlg: Jt
oO 5
FIG. 1—Floor plan of the Brockman House, Tucson, Arizona and locations where pollen samples
were collected.
Adobe bricks exposed during building repair were wetted and their surfaces were
scraped to eliminate surface contamination by modern airborne pollen. Subsequently,
samples were collected by chiseling about 30 g of material from each adobe brick or mor-
tar seam (see Fig. 1 for sample location.) Three samples were taken from a single brick
exposed in a doorway of wall II to test for homogeneity. For comparative purposes, a
modern soil sample was obtained from an adjacent vacant lot and collected using the
pinch method described by Adam and Mehringer (1975). All samples were collected
during the month of January 1981 thus minimizing potential contamination from flower-
ing plants,
Known quantities of Eucalyptus sp. (eucalypt) pollen were added to each sample as
a tracer for quantitative analysis (Stockmarr 1971). Lycopodium spores might prove a
better tracer for future use because several species of Eucalyptus are planted as ornamen-
tal trees in Tucson. Only a few Eucalyptus trees currently grow in the neighborhood and
both were planted long after 1910. Rogers (1979) discusses cultivated plants commonly
used in Tucson during its early history and no mention is made of Eucalyptus. He also
states that most exotic landscape plants arrived in Tucson after 1920. Modern airborne
data (Solomon and Hayes 1972) reflect some Eucalyptus pollen in the area of the Tucson
Clinic, but that is a local effect (O’Rourke 1980) of trees planted in the neighborhood
during the 1930’s and 40’s. Other airborne pollen studies conducted in neighborhoods
with few Eucalyptus trees show no more than 20 Eucalyptus grains captured by volume-
tric sampling for the entire year (O’Rourke, unpubl.). Although Eucalyptus is not the
42 O’ROURKE Vol. 3, No. 1
best tracer, it is certainly adequate, especially for samples from the Tucson area pre-
dating 1920. Pollen was extracted from all samples using the HC1 swirl and standard
chemical techniques including treatment with HF, HNO3, and KOH as described by
Mehringer (1967).
Pollen stained with Safranin 0 was mounted on slides in glycerine, examined with
a microscope, and minimum counts of 200 grains were obtained for all samples. Routine
pollen counts were made scanning at 390 x with occasional identification of difficult
grains attempted at 1560 x under oil immersion. Salsola (tumbleweed) pollen was
separated from other cheno-am [Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot) and Amaranthus (Pig-
weed)] types primarily on the basis of number and structure of pores, and secondarily
on the basis of the wall structure between adjacent pores. At high focus only 9 pores can
be seen clearly in Salsola. Most Amaranthus and many Chenopodiaceae have a larger
number of pores visible at high focus. In addition, the pores of Salsola are depressed, not
annulate, as are those of Sarcobatus. Salsola also has elements in each pore. The w
between pores is scabrate having generally fewer elements than most other cheno-am
type pollen grains. Based on these characteristics Salsola can be separated from the 8
Amaranthus spp. and 26 Chenopodiaceae types in the University of Arizona Pollen
Reference Collection (Kapp 1969; Martin and Drew 1970),
RESULTS
Pollen-percentage values were calculated for all pollen types and appear with confi-
dence intervals (Maher 1971) for major types in Fig. 2. Samples 1-4 were all obtained
from the light colored adobe bricks held by a mud mortar and designated as wall I.
These samples were taken from the north wall of the SE room above the door in vertical
sequence, Samples 5-9 were obtained from the same location but are from the mud
i nner joined the bricks vertically. Samples 10-14 were obtained from the darker
°
taken from the same brick in wall II and sample 18 is a modern soil surface sample taken
from soil adjacent to the house (Fig. 1).
. —— and mortar samples contain from 67-93% cheno-am pollen type. This is the
Ost prevalent pollen type found in all samples (Fig. 2). The cheno-am type is carried by
all Cheno - ams xd
ae -
~
y * se oss
- < © oF se! © 2 we >
> x Cy RY < Pe a? es eS
Peeks : SPIO A OES
J
: SSSSSSSSESSS — Ap:wap @ vv Miscellaneous
Adobe, Wall I _ 2 | | ome ©
4 SSS fy eens |
|
Adobe, Wall IT
. s&s : ;
6 ISSSSSSSSSSSSSESSSS
Mortar, Wall I | 7 RSSSSSSSSSSSSS
.] SSO
L SESSSSSSSSSSSSE
fio SSS
SSS
: 2
4
Single Brick, Wall Ir
Soil
© seme toe >
FIG. 2—Relative pollen fre
quencies and
Brockman House, Tucson, mie eae hdd
: nfidence intervals for adobe, mortar and soil.
Arizona,
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 48
the wind (Solomon 1979) and resistant to degradation (Hall 1981). High cheno-am con-
centrations are associated with disturbed soils like those of floodplains (Martin 1963).
Confidence intervals associated with cheno-am values from wall I do not overlap with
those of any other samples taken from the structure. Cheno-am values for wall I range
from 67-70% and are significantly lower than concentrations from the mortar samples
(85-93%) and from the samples of wall II (84-90%). Salsola is recorded as the black
portion of the cheno-am curve in Fig. 2. The adobe samples from both walls have ap-
proximately equal amounts of Salsola pollen, whereas mortar samples from wall I have
appreciably less.
Adobe samples from wall I have higher values of Ambrosia (ragweed), high spine
Compositae (i.e. Erigeron, etc.), Gramineae (grass), and some members of the Legumi-
nosae (pea family, excluding Acacia, Mimosa, Prosopis and Cercidium) than wall Il.
Pinus (pine) and the AP:NAP (arboreal pollen: nonarboreal pollen) ratio are also slightly
higher in adobe samples from wall I.
The lack of overlapping confidence intervals for the principal pollen type (cheno-am)
of wall I and wall II suggest different source material for the adobe of the two walls.
Mean percentage values for the ten principle pollen types [cheno-am, high spine Compo-
sitae, Ambrosia, Gramineae, Ephedra (mormon tea), Nyctaginaceae (four o’clock family),
Leguminosae, Pinus, Cercidium (palo verde), and Fraxinus (ash)] of each wall were
transformed using an arc sine function. A chi square contingency test was used between
transformed mean values for the two walls (Sokal and Rohlf 1969). Test results indicate
that the pollen content in the adobe of wall I is significantly different (.05 level) from the
pollen content in the adobe of wall II.
Mortar samples joining adobe bricks in wall I have cheno-am values that exceed 90%
of the total pollen present in 4 of the 5 samples collected. The 95% confidence intervals
of cheno-am values from the mortar of wall I overlap with the cheno-am confidence
intervals associated with adobe samples from wall II. There is no significant (.05 level)
difference within the cheno-am values from the mortar samples and wall II even though
the percentages in the wall are lower.
Ambrosia pollen content in the mortar is lower than the Ambrosia pollen content
found in the adobe of wall II. This in turn is lower than the Ambrosia pollen content
found in wall I. Pollen content in the mortar of wall I and the adobe of wall II are
about the same for high spine Compositae, but pollen values of both taxa are lower than
those of the adobe of wall I, The same relationship holds for the Gramineae values.
Pollen types that occur in the adobe and mortar samples in less than 3% include Zea
(corn), Nyctaginaceae, Cercidium, and Fraxinus. Pollen from Ephedra, Plantago (plan-
tain), Malvaceae (mallow), Juniperus (juniper), Celtis (hackberry), Anacardiaceae (cashew
family), Tidestromia (tidestromia), and the Umbelliferae and Cruciferae (carrot and
mustard families) are all present in less than 1% in adobe and mortar samples.
Chi square contingency tests were calculated in the same manner as above among the
adobe of wall I, wall II, and the mud mortar of wall I. Significant differences (.05 level)
exist between wall I and the mud mortar joining wall I.
Samples 15, 16, and 17 were all taken from the same brick in wall II to test the
homogeneity of pollen by type and amount. Comparisons among all taxa at the 95%
confidence level overlap except the cheno-am values between samples 15 and 16. Chi
Square contingency tests were calculated in the same manner as above among the three
samples, All three values were significant (.05 level) indicating homogeneity among -
samples from a single brick.
The modern soil sample at the site shows a significantly (.05 level) lower cheno-am
value and higher Prosopis (mesquite) value than seen in the adobe samples. This may be
due to the influence of locally produced pollen from vegetation growing at or near the
site today. Such localized effects of pollen over-representation have long been
by palynologists (Tauber 1965; Janssen 1966, 1967; Leuschner and Boehm 1977). Plants
owing at or near the Brockman house today include Prosopis velutina (velvet mesquite),
recognized
44 O’ROURKE Vol. 3, No. 1
Parkinsonia aculeata (Mexican palo verde), Fraxinus velutina (velvet ash), Ulmus pumila
(Siberian elm), Rhus lancea (South African sumac), Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) and
some Gramineae (grasses). Neither Prosopis velutina nor Ulmus pumilia trees occur ina
1907 photo of the site. Local pollen production varying with time accounts for the
presence of Prosopis pollen in the modern soil. If Prosopis is excluded from the pollen
sum, then the cheno-am value returns to 68% of the remaining pollen present (n changes
from 259 to 203). Therefore, Fig. 2 has two soil spectra; one includes Prosopis in the
pollen sum (Sj), the other excludes Prosopis from the pollen sum (Sg). No significant
(.05 level) differences are seen between the adobe sample from wall I and the pollen
spectrum of the soil sample as depicted (Sg). All confidence intervals overlap for major
pollen types and chi square analysis conducted as above for 6 major NAP types (Cheno-
am, Ambrosia, high spine Compositae, Gramineae, Ephedra, Nyctaginaceae) indicate
a significant similarity (.05 level) between pollen of the modern soil (Sg) and pollen from
the adobe of wall I.
Pollen concentrations expressed in grains/gram are illustrated with confidence inter-
vals (Maher 1971) in Fig. 3. Pollen concentration in wall I is relatively low ranging from
3,602 to 4,584 grains/gram. Pollen concentrations obtained from the mortar of wall |
and from the adobe of wall II are a great deal more variable and are much higher (28,593
to 151,484 grains/gram). The disparity between pollen concentrations of the two walls
again suggest either differences in the source material of the adobe or differences in
building episodes.
]
2
Adobe, Wall I 25
L 45}
rg i
6 =
Mortar, Wall I | 7 a
8
9
0
i
Adobe, Wall IT | 12
1
Single Brick, Wall II ;
(17
soil |
c ey ae me a cole Ha a 8
2 5,000 grains / gram
IG. 3- Pollen conc n i i
trat i
DISCUSSION
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 45
position and variability in adobe color and texture) a conclusion of two phases of build-
ing construction is probable. The pollen spectra of the two walls investigated adds addi-
tional evidence to support such a conclusion. Differences in the pollen spectra are a func-
tion of the pollen incorporated in the adobe. If the same sources of raw materials were
utilized and combined in the same proportion during each phase of construction, then no
differences would be seen among the pollen spectra of the two walls examined. Conver-
sely if different sources of raw materials were selected during a single building phase then
the resulting differences in the pollen spectra have a different meaning. As with paleo-
ecologic studies, all evidence must be considered in concert before a conclusion is formu-
ated,
Interpretation of the pollen spectra obtained from adobe brick is complex due to the
variety of pollen sources contributing to the pollen spectra of the adobe. To examine the
biases inherent in a sample of this type a hypothetical scenario of pollen sources contain-
ed in adobe brick is examined. Major pollen sources, in this scenario, include: (1) pollen
contained in the soil or alluvium making up the ‘mud’ of the adobe, (2) pollen adhering
to or contained in tempering material like ‘straw’ or manure added to the mud mixture,
(3) pollen contained in the water added to the soil or alluvium to make the ‘mud’, and
(4) atmospheric pollen incorporated in the mud while the wet adobe is mixed and drying.
Additional assumptions must be made regarding the proportion of each component to
the adobe mixture. Values of 30% tempering material and 5 1 of water per adobe brick
are probably excessive based on observation of modern adobe mixtures. These numbers
provide an upper limit for pollen contributed from these sources.
Studies conducted in southern Arizona demonstrate the prolific occurrence of pollen
in samples of surface soil (Hevly et al. 1965; Adam and Mehringer 1975) and alluvial
deposits (Martin 1963), but these studies do not contain pollen-concentration values.
Soils in the Tucson area have variable pollen concentrations depending on the surround-
ing vegetation. Pollen concentrations as low as 2,000 grains/g or concentrations as high
as several million pollen grains/g soil can occur (O’Rourke, unpubl. data). For the pur-
pose here, soil pollen concentration is 26,000 grains/g; this is the pollen concentration of
the modern surface soil at the site today.
Pollen contained in the tempering material is also variable. Reliable pollen concen-
trations for the amount of Gramineae pollen per gram of plant are not available in the
literature. Pollen contained in the manure will reflect the diet of the animal producing
the manure (Martin and Sharrock 1964; King 1977). The primary feed of horses and
cows is grass obtained either as hay or free range grazing. A single horse dung ball chis-
seled from an adobe brick in the Tucson Barrio contained 75% Gramineae pollen and
14,400 pollen grains/g dung. The Gramineae pollen in an adobe sample may be a func-
tion of pollen content in the manure or pollen adhering to the straw (Tauber 1965).
Gramineae inflorescences are also added to the adobe with the straw component. The
presence of the Zea could be accounted for as a portion of the tempering material,
especially since its pollen has a short airborne range (Raynor et al. 1972). This —
that the Gramineae (including Zea) concentrations probably do not include useful inter-
pretive information.
ollen contained in surface water could potentially contribute a large amount of
pollen to adobe. Martin (1963) reported high concentration of Pinus pollen in flood
water scum collected in August 1959. Over 4900 pollen grains were counted ona single
ide. Solomon and Hayes (1972) indicate peak airborne pollen concentrations for native
Pinus species in mid-June with low airborne Pinus concentrations persisting through late
August in the Tucson area. Pollen input from surface water would vary seasonally, with
storm intensity and with storm frequency. Numerous studies in temperate areas report
variation in pollen concentration in streamflow (Crowder and Cuddy 1973; Peck 1975 ,
Bonny 1976; Starling and Crowder 1980). The seasonal similarity between flowering
plants and pollen content in water is demonstrated by Bonny (1976), and Peck (1973).
Inferences drawn from the research conducted by Martin (1963) and Solomon and Hayes
46 O’ROURKE Vol. 3, No. 1
(1972) suggest that this pollen source could contain the greatest potential for revealing
time of adobe fabrication, Maximum pollen concentrations obtained by Starling and
Crowder (1980) in a temperate region were 600 pollen grains/] water. Pollen concen-
trations in river water of temperate environments should be much higher than those of
the Tucson area. Pollen captured by stream water in temperate environments is generated
from a predominantly wind pollinated flora which, due to this mechanism of pollination,
will produce larger amounts of pollen than the predominantly insect pollinated flora of
the desert southwest (Solomon and Hayes 1980).
Atmospheric pollen incorporated in the adobe mud at the time of mixing will be
relatively minimal and will vary seasonally by type and amount. Monthly atmospheric
pollen concentrations per cm2 for urban Tucson from 1954-1970 ranged from a maxi-
mum of 400 grains in March to a minimum of 25 grains in the month of December
(Solomon and Hayes 1972). This averages about 13 pollen grains/cm2/day at a maximum
and less than 1 pollen grain/cm2/day at a minimum. Obviously this will not be a major
contribution to the pollen contained in adobe brick or mortar.
A single adobe brick from the Brockman house weighed 20.96 kg. Based on the
composition assumptions and the pollen concentration values for each source as given
above then the brick contains 14,672 g of soil and 6,288 g of temper. Thus, a single
adobe brick could contain 381,472,000 pollen grains from the soil, 90,547,200 pollen
grains from manure temper, 3,000 pollen grains for 51 water and 540,000 grains of atmos-
pheric pollen over the entire surface of a drying adobe brick. Each adobe brick will con-
tain 472,562,200 pollen grains per adobe brick. The major pollen contribution to adobe
comes from the soil (8 1%). The temper (manure) component contributes nearly 19% and
the remaining pollen ( 1%) is contributed from the air and water (.1% from air; .0006%
mi. water). Thus, the overall pollen spectra, eliminating the Gramineae and Zea curves,
will reflect the pollen spectra of the soil component,
Pollen concentration in adobe is variable, and it will be dependent on the compo
nents of that adobe as discussed above. Marked variation in pollen concentration may
de from others. In this study, adobe of wall I has far
Off hag ee ee adobe of wall II. In addition, the relative concentration
difference is Ah a : oe foe rel) less in wall I than in wall II, Sucha
in, wontas diffees cg si two phases of building construction, which can also be seen
of prior owners ai ae color changes, structural discontinuity and verbal oe
Piri dilterneces OE aie ih a of the brick is derived chiefly from the soil material,
The.thied goal of i 7 € obtained from two different source locations.
? udy relates to methodology. Three samples taken from 4
single adobe brick reflect essentially the same poll les are statis-
tically a small number of i pollen spectra. Three samp les
pees as samples, but they do suggest homogeneity of pollen
identifying seasonality from
ck. The scenario discussed earlier demonstrates ex
; or waterborne pollen han 1% of the
ollen in ; 5 P sources makes up less than
seks Aton d in an adobe tick. As a result the likelihood of obtaining reliable
mation from the pollen contained in adobe brick is low.
: he spread of non-nati i hwest is also
contained j : Boe ‘native plants in the southwe
mo eee balck. tn this instance plant macrofossils may provide the best infor-
be keyed to the species level. Adobe brick can serve 48
also provide an indicati
Indication of ho oe ;
construction, w man has modified his environment since the period of
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 47
Salsola pollen occurs in all adobe brick samples examined but not in all mortar
samples. From this data it is safe to assume that the adobe brick used in this house was
manufactured after Salsola invaded the Tucson area. The earliest known record of
Salsola kali in Tucson is a specimen collected by J.W. Toumey on July 31, 1892 froma
local garden (Univ. of Ariz. Herb. Spec. No. 44358). Historical records indicate the
earliest construction of the Brockman house postdates 1901. By this time Salsola kali
must have occurred commonly to provide pollen percentages comparable with those of
modern soil. Future research using pollen in adobe brick may give an idea of the speed
with which Salsola spread in Tucson,
The scarcity of Salsola pollen is the only significant difference between the pollen
spectra of the mud mortar joining wall I and the pollen spectra of the adobe of wall II.
Salsola pollen is in the adobe brick of wall I although much reduced in the mortar
which was mixed at the time of construction. This means that although Salsola plants
were assumed to be prevalent at the time of construction, their pollen was barely pre-
sent in mortar dating from the period. I propose that the mortar may have quarried from
alluvium deposited prior to significant Salsola invasion, and that it may have come from
a different site than the bricks from the same wall.
he initial goals of this study were more than fulfilled and useful information was
obtained to help interpret the history of the Brockman house. The method has potential
for use on other buildings in Tucson as an aid in historical research, Future work may
also yield additional data on the spread of exotic weedy species like Salsola. Studies of
this type carried on in other areas must be related to the history and vegetation of that
area,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was inspired although not funded under the auspices of Historic Preservation Fund
Grant SP8020. Many thanks to Robert Thompson, R.B. Brown, Sue Fish, Adrianne Rankin, Gloria
Fenner, Paul S$. Martin and Owen K. Davis for critical review of the manuscript. ‘Nice Rankin,
eborah Gaines, and Helen G. O’Rourke typed the manuscript at various stages and many, many
thanks go to them.
LITERATURE CITED
ADAM, D.P. and PJ. MEHRINGER, JR. 1975. HALL, S.A. 1981. Deteriorated pollen grains
: and interpretation of Quaternary pollen dia-
subsamples, J. Research, U.S. Geol. Survey grams. Rev. of Paleobot. and Paly. 32:193-
6. 206.
ARIZONA WEEKLY CITIZEN, 1873. Oct. 4. HENDRY, G.W. 1931. The adobe brick as a
ARIZONA WEEKLY CITIZEN, 1873. Oct. 11.
BARTER, G.W. (compiler), 1881. The direc-
tory of the city of Tucson for the year 1881.
G.W. Barter, H.S. Crocker and Co., San Fran-
1976. Recruitment of pollen
into the seston and sediment of some Lake
District lakes, J. Ecology 64:859-887.
BRYANT, V.M. 1974. Prehistoric diet in
southwest Texas: the co prolite evidence.
Amer, Antiquity 39:407-420.
CROWDER, A.A, and D.G. CUDDY. 1973.
Pollen in a small river basin: Wilton Creek,
Ontario. Pp. 61-77, Quaternary Plant Ecol-
ogy. (HJ.B. Birks and R.G. West, eds.).
Blackwell, Oxford
DANSON, E.B. 1957. An archaeological
Survey of west central New Mexico and east
central Arizona. Pe eabody ae Arch. and
Ethn. 44(1):1-183. Harvard Uni
The
plant content of adobe brick. California Hist.
Soc. Quar. 4:361-373
HEVLEY, R.H., PJ. MEHRINGER JR. and
H.G. YOCUM. 1965. Modern pollen rain in
the Sonoran desert. J. Arizona Acad. Sci.
3:123-135.
JANSSEN, C.R. 1966. Recent pollen spectra
from the deciduous and coniferous-deciduous
forests of northeastern Minnesota: A study in
pollen dispersal. Ecology 47:804-825.
nies 1067. 1A comparnon between
recent regional pollen rain and the sub-recent
vegetation in four are vegetation types in
Minnesota (USA). vy. of Paleobot. and
Paly. 2:331-342.
JUDD, N.M. 1916. The use of adobe in pre-
historic dwellings of the southwest. Pp. 241-
252; Holmes Anniversary Volume, (F.W.
48 O’ROURKE
Vol. 3, No. 1
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
= ae ed.), J.W. Bryan Press, Washington,
aie. R.O. 1969. How to Know Pollen and
= Ari Wm. C. Brown Co., Dubuque, Iowa.
KEL os “GK. 1970. Hogup Cave, Utah:
Comparative pollen analysis of human copro-
lites and cave fill. Pp. 251-262 in Hogup
Cave, (C.M. Aikens, ed.), Univ. Utah Anthrop.
Papers 93.
. 1976. Absolute pollen frequen-
cies applied to the interpretation of human
activities in northern Arizona. Unpubl. Ph.D.
dissert., Univ. Arizona, Tucson, 170 p
KING, F.B. 1977. An evaluation of the pollen
content of ee as environmental indi-
cators. J. Arizona Acad. Sci. 12:47-52.
LEUSCHNER, RM. and G. BOEHM. 1977.
Individual - collector for use of hay-
fever patients in comparison with the Burk-
hard trap. Gas 16:183-186.
MAHER, L,J. Jr. 1971. Nomograms for com-
puting 0.95 confidence limits of pollen data.
Rev, of Paleobot. and Paly. 13:85-93.
MARTIN, P.S. 1963. The Last 10,000 Years.
Univ. Arizona Press, Tucson. 87 pp.
Patslaea Pleo ir I HARROCK. 1964.
Pollen analysis of prehistoric feces:A new
approach to ethnobotany. Amer. Antiquity
30: 168-180.
Seema anee AN . DREW. 1970. Addi-
tional scanning sean photomicrographs of
southwestern — grains. J. Arizona Acad.
Sci. 6:140-1
MEHRINGER, eT Jr. 1967. Pollen analysis
of Tule Springs, Nevada. Nevada State Mus.
Anthrop. Papers 13:130-200.
MONTGOM , R.G., W. SMITH and J.O.
BREW. ees Vance Awatovi. Peabody
Mus. Amer. Arche. and Ethn., 36:1-336.
Harvard Univ.
MORRIS, E.H. 1944. Adobe bricks in a pre-
Spanish wall near Aztec, New Mexico. Amer.
apo ae 9:434-438,
O’ROURKE, M.K. 1980. Pollen ee and
its wlationsbig to respiratory disease. Pp. 81-
88 in Proc. lst Intern’l. Conf. on is
logy, Federal Environmental Agency (ed.),
Federal Republic of Germany, Erich Schmidt,
Berlin,
PECK, R.M. 1973. Pollen budget studies in a
1972. Dispersion and deposition of corn
igi from experimental sources. Agron.
0-427.
ROGERS, W. 1979. Looking backward to
cope with water shorages... A history of
native plants in southern Arizona. Landscape
Archit. 69:304-314.
ROSE, A. 1879. “Glimpse of border life in
i rrespondence with the news-
paper Enterprise, Nevada, Ohio, April 17,
1879. Transc. for the Arizona Hist. Soc.,
Tucson, by Mrs. George Kitt.
SOKAL, R.R. and FJ. ROHLF. 1969. Bio-
metry: The Principles and Practice of Statis-
tics in Biological Research, W.H. Freeman &
Co., San Francisco, California. 776 pp.
SOLOMON, A.M. 1979. Sources and charac-
teristics of airborne materials: Factors in the
production, release, and viability of biological
particles (pollen). In Aerobiology: The
—_— Systems Approach, (R.L. Edmonds
wden, eigage and Ross, Inc.,
sour wee 386 p
HD. HAYES. 1972. Desert
pollen coast I: Qualitative influence of
moisture. 2 Arizona Acad. Sci. 7:65-74.
1980. Impacts of urban devel-
opment upon allergenic pollen in a desert
city. J. Ari 178.
STARLING, R.N, and A. CROWDER. 1980.
Pollen in the Salmon River system, Ontario,
Canada. Rev. of Paleobot. and Paly. 31:311-
334
STOCKMARR, J. 1971. Tablets with spores
used in absolute pollen analysis. Pollen et
Spores 13:615-621.
TAUBER, H. 1965. Differential pollen disper
sion and the interpretation of pollen dia-
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WEBB, J ss and A.M. SOLOMON. 1974
Human disturbance arid lands: as
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J. Ethnobiol. 3(1):49-54 May 1983
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF
DOMESTICATED CAPSICUM SPECIES
W. HARDY ESHBAUGH
Department of Botany, Miami University,
Oxford, OH 45056
SHELDON I. GUTTMAN
Department of Zoology, Miami University,
Oxford, OH 45056
MICHAEL J. McLEOD
Department of Biology, Belmont Abbey College
Belmont, NC 28012
’
ABSTRACT.—Three distinct models, representing an evolution in the thinking on the origin
of the domesticated chili peppers (Capsicum) are presented in this paper. The first model
envisions the origin of the domesticated peppers from a single ancestor, the second suggests
that each domesticate had its own distinct ancestral species, while the third sees three sepa-
rate lines, one of which evolved into C. annuum, C. frutescens, and C. chinense, a second
which gave rise to C. baccatum, and a third that led to C. pubescens.
INTRODUCTION
The genus Capsicum (Solanaceae) includes 4-5 domesticated taxa and more than 20
wild species (Eshbaugh 1980a). Two major questions of interest associated with this
important genus of crop plants relate first to its origin and second to the pattern of
evolution of the several domesticated taxa.
Any complete understanding of the origin of Capsicum depends upon a nonexistent
fossil record and, for the present, an inadequate archeological record of the genus.
Nonetheless, some conclusions regarding evolution in the genus can be drawn from dis-
parate sources including phytogeographic, isozymic, and karyotypic analyses. The pre-
sent day geography of the genus suggests that evolution and subsequent radiation took
place in several centers including southern Brazil and Bolivia. It is also evident that
geographically restricted species, e.g., C. cardenasii Heiser & P. Smith from Bolivia,
C. galapogoensis Hunz. from Ecuador, C. praetermissum Heiser & P. Smith from Brazil,
etc., arose through founder events that left them isolated from their ancestral gene pool,
DISCUSSION
In a recent, highly speculative paper (McLeod et al. 1982) we advanced the hypothe-
sis that the origin of one segment of the genus is to be found in central Bolivia. Using
data from enzyme analysis, and in particular from glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase
(GOT), we concluded that a nuclear center for the initial development of that part of the
genus which ultimately gave rise to the domesticated taxa occured in an area bounded by
Aquile, Comarapa, and Villa Montes, Bolivia. Furthermore, we suggested that subsequent
migration and radiation of the ancestral genetic material from this region va the Rio
Mizque and associated river systems led to the formation of domesticated C, eg tsetaae
(Ruis S. Pay.) in highland Bolivia, C. baccatum var. pendulum (Willd.) Eshb. in lowlan
Bolivia, and the establishment of another evolutionary line far to the north in the Ama-
zon basin which eventually evolved into the wild types that gave rise to C. frutescens #
and C. chinense Jacq. Somewhat later in time, Capsicum reached Central America an
Mexico, Here it evolved further giving rise to a wild type that was finally selected to give
domesticated C, annuum L, Although C. annuum and its presumed wild ancestor sie al
Sent one of the widest ranging species of peppers there is more certainty about its precise
50 ESHBAUGH ET AL. Vol. 3, No. 1
place of origin than with other pepper species. Pickersgill (1971), using karyotypic analy-
sis, established that domesticated C. annum probably arose from ancestral material with
a unique karyotype found only in plants confined to southern Mexico and Guatemala.
Unfortunately, this is as far as we can presently detail a model for the origin of the
domesticated taxa of Capsicum. The archeological record for the genus is meager and
documents only that domesticated C. baccatum was established along the coast of Peru
by approximately 2000 BC (Pickersgill 1969a). The earliest record of Capsicum annuum
in Mexico dates back to 7000 BC inferring an ancient domestication. However, the seed
size of this material falls within the range of wild seed samples and therefore may only
serve to confirm the early exploitation of wild chili peppers rather than prove domesti-
cation (Pickersgill, 1969b).
The diverse patterns of evolution that have been proposéd for the domesticated chili
peppers is of continuing interest. Few of the early workers who described new taxa of
Capsicum fully appreciated the nature of species in the genus. The naming of taxa led to
a great amount of “clerical speciation” with each new fruit type being described as a new
taxon, Nineteenth century workers were not aware of the parallel evolution of fruit form
from one domesticated taxon to another. Thus, by the mid 1800s we had Dunal (1852)
recognizing over 50 species. At another extreme several workers relegated all the peppers
to 1-2 species, Irish (1898) reduced the genus to C. annuum and its many varieties and
C. frutescens. Bailey (1923) treated all peppers under the name C. frutescens, while
Shinners (1956) adopted the same concept but used the name C. annuum. Many recent
workers still have difficulty distinguishing these taxa and have opted to merge both taxa
along with C. chinense under a single name (D’Arcy, pers. comm.). Given these difficul-
ties for the nonspecialist, various workers, including Davenport (1970) and Jett (1973),
have adopted an evolutionary model (Fig. 1A) that argues that all the domesticated taxa
have arisen from the single species C. frutescens. This model opposes the idea of multiple
independent centers and sources of domestication in Middle and South America. This is
a neat model and fits nicely the dogma which argues that within a small group of plants
from a relatively restricted geographic area, e.g., the New World tropics, it is unlikely that
the events leading to domestication would arise more than once. Nonetheless, the evi-
emis aa le plant breeding, and enzyme analysis supports the argument of
re Rented ster taxa (Smith and Heiser 1951, 1957; Eshbaugh 1970, 1975,
mite , 1980; Pickersgill et al. 1979; McLeod et al.1979a, 1979b, In
The distinctness of these taxa has been detailed by Heiser et al. (1971), and at the
same time they proposed a model of independent centers of domestication for Capsicum
pra speed are The natural extension of that model envisions four and perhaps five
putes pansies leading to the domesticates (Fig. 1B). In this model each
Be ect ot companion wild ancestral form that it was selected from. A
Pray ere Ie ee haga that C. frutescens be treated as a true domesticate and
nares Hic pimaralleg designated for both C. chinense and C. frutenscens. These
PEN at : e primitive forms of the same taxon such as those proposed for C.
ea hirer ie distinct species as indicated for C. pubescens, or extinct taxa
ee scene, The multiple independent origins model addresses the know?
ever, studies of he “a ore realistic fashion than does the single species model. How”
Pickersgill a ti87) years suggest a refinement of this earlier model (Fig. 1C).
frutescens, C. chinen 7 made a detailed morphological analysis of C. annuum, ‘s
Alea seit rts and C. baccatum, that confirms the separateness of C. baccatum
of the same species ree proposed that it was most likely derived from wild forms
baugh (1970) Pts ad been suggested earlier by Smith and Heiser (1957) and Esh-
cre paced oe their studies indicated that at the domesticated level thet
(19795. 19796 neu McLeod et 3°
irate tae e ss), analyzed the same taxa but also included C. pubescens in thei
estigation of variation in the genus. This study indicated three separate
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 51
ANNUUM FRUTESCENS CHINENSE BAC/PENDULUM PUBESCENS
FRUTESCENS
ANNUUM CHINENSE BAC/PENDULUM PUBESCENS
aviculare FRUTESCENS bac/baccatum eximium
?
ANNUUM FRUTESCENS CHINENSE BAC/PENDULUM PUBESCENS
praetermissum cardenasii
aviculare bac/baccatum eximium
: | @
FIG. 1.—Models of speciation in Capsicum: A — monophyletic origin of domesticated taxa from a
single ancestor. B — multiple origin of domesticated taxa each from a distinct progenitor, and C —
three independent lines of origin of domesticated taxa from unknown ancestors. Domesticated taxa
in upper case type and wild taxa in lower case type. Eshbaugh 1980b.
52 ESHBAUGH ET AL. Vol. 3, No. 1
taxa, C. baccatum, C. pubescens, and a complex of C. annuum, C. frutescens, and C.
chinense. Allozyme data support the idea of a poorly differentiated complex of wild
orms and extend this concept to the domesticated taxa. When all the allozyme data are
subjected to numerical treatment using Principal Coordinates Analysis (Jensen et al. 1979)
a picture emerges that can be incorporated with both morphological and plant breeding
information to give a revised version of the model (Fig. 2). This model takes into account
our current knowledge and envisions a common ancestral gene pool that gave rise to three
well defined and distinct evolutionary lines. One of these lines developed into what we
now recognize as the domesticated species complex C. chinense, C. frutescens, and C.
annuum. At a more primitive level one cannot distinguish between the three species. As
Pickersgill et al. (1979) have noted, this anomalous situation has led to our current
taxonomic difficulty with this complex. On the one hand we treat the three domesti-
cated taxa as separate while the corresponding wild forms intergrade to such an extent
that it is impractical if not impossible to give them distinct taxonomic names. The closer
relationship of C. chinense and C. frutescens is also recognized by this model as well as
the separate pathway of C. annuum, which, although closely allied to C. frutescens and C.
chinense, branched off at an earlier time. A second evolutionary line has C. baccatum vat.
pendulum evolving from wild material of the same gene pool. It also indicates that C.
praetermissum evolved from the same complex but is not directly linked to the evolu-
tion of the domesticate. The geographically restricted C. praetermissum seems to be a
more likely example of speciation from a founder event in southern Brazil outside the
main distribution of C. baccatum. A third evolutionary line has C. pubescens arising
C. chi C. baccatum/
. chinense C. frutescens C. annuum/annuum pendulum C. pubescens
/
— << a <. 4 X = dry seas. average at Bee parts used for hunting
ic
ngai-kumrenx M. rufiventris xX x X all year average Wax used for me-kutom
ngai-re M. compressipes x X= all year much Has markings like the
“santa”
ngai-kak-fy Partamona sp. Was used in magic to make
enemy Ww
mykrwat Frieseomelitta sp. D4 x X = all year average x x x
udjy T. amalthea dry seas. average Xx Bee parts mixed with
urucu for hunting magic
kukraire T. dallatorreana all year much x + Break off limb with nest
and run to expell bees
mehnora-kamrek T. cilipes X all year little xX Has skinny eyes like jaguar
mehnora-tyk Scaura longula X all year little Xx Used for jaguar hunting
magic
kagnara-kra- O. tataira x 4 X all year average x 5 xX +++ Cut entire tree to take
kamrek honey
kangara-kra-tyk Oxytrigona sp. X X X all year average » 4 p. 4 xX ++ Bee causes blisters on skin
kangara-udja-ti Oxytrigona sp. X xX X all year average Xx X Xx +++ Bees used in hunting magic
gara-ti Oxytrigona sp. xX xX X all year average X Xx xX +++ Wax used for me-ktuom
myre T. pallens. >. 4 X X all year average + Sometimes fell tree
ngoi-tenk Trigona sp. x all year average Live in termite nests
djd T. fuscipennis >. 4 x X all year little Live in termite hills
imre-ti-re T. chanchamay oensis all year little xX B x Live in ant nests
kukoire-ka Partamona sp. all year average + Nests in termite nests
oi Tetragona sp. dry seas. little Very acidic honey; fell
entire tree
AGSOd
I ON ‘€ “TOA
TABLE 1.—Principal species of Apidae utilized by the Kayapo Indians (continued)
Kayapo Name Scientific Name Wax Use Honey Larvae Pupae Pollen Resin Aggres- Distinctive Traits
Util. Cer. Med. Seasonal Amount _ Eaten Eaten Eaten Used sive
ton-my Tetragona sp. Xx », 4 X = dry seas. average Xx Fell tree to take honey
ri Tetragona sp. Xx > 4 X all year much xX Bee thought to be
“stupid” and weak
mehn-xi-we’i Tetragona goettei Xx x X all year average Found only in the Xingu
menire-udja T. quadrangula xX X all year average Opening of nest like a
vagina
mehnodjanh F, varia X= dry seas. little Xx Smoke from wax used for
curing
mehnykamrek T. spinnipes Xx Xx X dry seas. little ».4 ».4 ».4 + Wax burned; smoke causes
dizziness
mehny-tyk T. banneri > 4 X X dry seas. little +
pyka-kam T. fulviventris Xx Xx X dry seas. little X + Bee deposits drops of resin
on skin
*Nests of Aggressive (+++ - very aggressive; ++ - moderately aggressive; + - slightly aggressive) bees are raided using smoke and fire to expell bees first. Wax use:
Utilitarian; Ceremonial; Medicinal
$861 ARW
ADOTOISONHL’ JO TWNUNOL
£9
68 POSEY Vol. 3, No. 1
TABLE 2.—Semi-domesticated (manipulated) species of APIDAE utilized by the Kayapo.
Kayapo Name Scientific Name
*Ngai-pere-y Apis mellifera Linn.
*+Ngai-fiy-tyk-ti Melipona seminigra cf. pernigra (Moure & Kerr)
*+Ngai-kumrenx Melipona rufiventris flavolineata (Friese)
(mehn-krak-krak-ti)
*Ngai-re Melipona compressipes cf. fasciculata (Smith) or
afinis Moure Ms.
*mykrwat Frieseomelitta sp.
*tudjy Trigona amalthea (Olivier)
*+kukraire Trigona dallatorreana Friese
mehnora-kamrek Trigona cilipes pellucida (Ckll.)
mehnora-tyk Scaura longula (Lep.)
tThose species whose nests are taken to the village.
Those species that are encouraged to build nests in dry posts in the houses.
*These species are systematically raided in subsequent seasons.
circle. The circle also represents the sun. The smaller circle inside the nipok represents
the moon superimposed over the sun, The painted paths from the sky poles indicate
the paths of the sun and moon through the sky (kaikwa) and over the earth (pyka).
From a side view (Figure 3), the me-kutom represents another plane and the rela-
tionship between sky and earth. The wax hat itself is seen as a floating somewhat con-
cave, disc with small “feet” (pa). The circle (nipok) as seen from above is really an
elevated hump into which is inserted a thin stick. Onto the stick is woven an arch of
bamboo and cotton. Macaw feathers are inserted into the bamboo to produce a radiating
arc of red and blue feathers, This represents the sky (kaikwa). The Kayapo believe they
once lived above the sky and lowered themselves to the earth by means of a woven cotton
rope that was dropped through an armadillo hole. The stick represents the cotton string
that once brought the Kayapo from the upper world to the earth (Posey 1981b).
It is said that the wax used for the me-kutom is the same as that brought by the
ancient Kayapo from the sky. It is a direct and highly valued link with the very origins
of Kayapo culture. It is the one material continuity the Kayapo of today have with ther
most ancient ancestors,
«Pd
TNipok
kaikwa-kratx
kaikwa Tot pa
FIG, 2.—An Overview of the me-kutom, showing major symbolic components.
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 69
—~ Fi pdk
‘ax Ba
FIG, 3.—A lateral view of the me-kutom, showing the symbolic relationships k earth (pyka) and
sky (kaikwa),
CLASSIFICATION AND BEEKEEPING
As is frequently discovered in folk biology, several taxonomic systems seem to be
Superimposed and a particular classification paradigm brought to play depending on
functional context (Gardner 1976). One “functional” classification system is based on
the aggressive behavior of the bee when disturbed, There are four major divisions in this
system: (1) docile, (2) stinging, (3) biting, and (4) blister-causing. The two “stinging”
bees are the non-native European and the hybrid Brazilian bee (Apis mellifera).
This Brazilian bee is a source of great concern for the Kayapo because of its aggres-
sive behavior, Since its arrival in the area (the Indians say it arrived in 1966 during the
February full moon), the Brazilian bee has driven out or taken over the nests of native
bees. The Kayapo claim that the availability of native bee honey has drastically declined
because of the colonizing exuberance of the Apis mellifera. The Kayapo have grown to
like the abundant, sweet honey of the Apis mellifera (ngai-pere’y ), but still prefer the
flavor of the honey from stingless bees.
There is an elaborate system of bee classification based on nest structure and loca-
tion of the nest. Nests are grouped by: (1) nest site (in a tree, in the earth, in vines, in
abandoned termite hills, etc.); (2) the height of the nest from the ground; (3) the shape
and size of the entrance tube (length, shape, markings, size, etc.); and (4) nest size (based
on gross size, relative amount of honey per nest, etc.). These criteria correlate closely
with Willie and Michener’s (1973) descriptive typology. ;
Nests are raised using strategies consistent with the aggressive nature of the species.
For the most violent bees (akre), fire and smoke are used to expel the colony before the
nest is opened, If the nest is high up in a tree, the entire tree will be felled in order to
Set the nest. For less aggressive species (wajobore), the Indians tackle the nest with axes
and bare hands, despite clouds of furious, swarming insects (Posey 1981b). Table 1 sum-
marizes characteristics of principal species recognized by the Kayapo.
The Kayapo recognize six species whose nests can be raided and, if the queen and
part of the brood chamber are returned to the nest, the bees will return to re-establish
the colony, Thus there are trees known by, and in a sense owned by, certain Kayapo
men that are consistently raided year after year (Table 2).
The Kayapo also “keep” several species in or nearby their houses. For example
when nests of certain species of Trigona (T. dallatorreana and one unidentified species)
70 POSEY Vol. 3, No.1
are found in the forest, they are brought back still attached to their limbs and the com-
plete nests erected from an eave of the house. Yet other species (T. amlthea and M.
rufiventris) are brought with the nest intact in a hollow log and placed at the margin of
the forest near the village or field clearing. Other species (T. cilipes and S. longula) tend
to prefer building sites in exposed rafters of houses and are allowed to co-exist with the
household residents. The nests of all of these “kept” species are raided at prescribed
times when the honey cache is known to be optimal.
The Kayapo also encourage the establishment of bee nests in their fields. To do this,
they sometimes dig large holes or utilize existing armadillo holes. Into these holes they
place logs, which attract several Trigona species (including T. fuscipennis Friese). T.
fulviventris guinae Ckll. nests directly in the earthen walls of the hole. The presence of
bees is associated by the Kayapo with crop success, although there is no clear notion of
pollination per se. I do not know about the actual role of pollination by these species.
In my collection of bees from Gorotire, 56 folk species were discerned (Table 3).
J. M. F. Camargo, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Riberao Preto, kindly inspected and identi-
TABLE 3.—Species of APIDAE found in the Gorotire (Kayapo) Collection.
Family, Genus, Species Collection Code Number!
ANTHRPHORIDAE
Xylocopa (Schoenherria) dimidiata Latr. 540-2
X. (Schoenherria) lucida Smith 112-1
X, (Schoenherria) anthophoroides Smith 507-1
X. (Megaxylocopa) frontalis (Oliver) 540-1
Centris (Centris) inermis Friese 422,479 -6
C. (Centris) flavifrons (Fab.) sem no - 1
C. (Centris) aenia Lep sem no - 1
C. (Centris) spilopoda Moure 117-1
C. (Paremisia) similis (F ab.) 442-2
C. (Paremisia) dentata Smith 442 - 3
C. (Trachina) longimana (F ab.) 540-2
C. (Heterocentris) bicornuta Mocs. 103, 104-2
C. (Centris) sp 1 113,114-2
C. (Centris) sp 2 111-1
C. (Paremisia) sp 35-1
C. (Hemisiella) sp 105 - 1
C. (Melanocentris) sp 119, 120,118 - 3
Mesoplia sp (parasita) 278-1
Mesonychium asteria (Smith) (parasita) 603-1
Tetrapedia sp 222-3
HALICTIDAE
Halictus hesperus (Smith) 88 -2
eocorynura sp 280-1
Augochloropsis sp 451-1
MEGACHILIDAE
Megachile brasiliensis DallaTorre
M. (Austromegachile) sp a a
M. (Crysosaurus) sp 107 1
M. cf. giraffa Schrottky 97 1
Megachile sp 3
Megachile sp 2 a
Megachile sp 1
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
TABLE 3.—Species of APIDAE found in the Gorotire (Kayapo) Collection. (Continued)
Family, Genus, Species
Collection Code Number
Eulaema (Eulaema) meriana (Olivier)
Apinae
Apis mellifera (L.)
Meliponinae
Meliponini
Melipona rufiventris flavolineata (Friese)
M., tumupasae Schwarz
M. seminigra cf. pernigra (Moure & Kerr)
M. compressipes cf. fasciculata (Sm) or afinis (Moure Ms)
TRIGONONI
Paratrigona (Paratrigona) cf. peltata (Spinola)
Oxytrigona tataira cf. flaveola (Friese)
Plebeia (Plebeia) minima (Gribodo)
Scaura (Scaura) longula (Lep.)
Cephalotrigona capitata femorata (Smith)
Trigona (Trigona) spinipes (Fab.)
T. (Trigona) fuscipennis Friese
T. (Trigona) amalthea (Olivier)
T. (Trigona) fulviventris guianae Ckll.
T. (Trigona) chanchamayoensis Schwarz
T. (Trigona) pallens pallens
T. (Trigona) cilipes pellucida (Ckll.)
T. (Trigona) dallatorreana Friese
T. (Trigona) branneri Ckll.
Partamona (Partamona ) pseudomusarum Camargo
P. (Partamona) cf. cupira (Smith)
P. (Partamona) sp 1
P. (Partamona) sp 2
Nannotrigona (Scaptotrigona) nigrohirta Moure Ms.
N. (Scaptotrigona ) polysticta Moure
Tetragona (Tetragona ) quadrangula (Lep.)
T. ( Tetragona) goettei Friese 1900
T. (Tetragona) clavipes (Fab.)
T. (Tetragona) dorsalis (Sm.)
T. (Tetragona
se (Ptilotrigona) lurida (Sm.)
T. ( Tetragonisca) angustula fiebrigi (Schwarz)
ia (Lep.)
Frieseomelitta cf. modesta Moure Ms.
oa
540-2
218, 109, 106,
110, 108, 340
547-2
$31, 541, 382, $25 - 4
340-1
542-1
554-1
555,553-4
520-1
sem no- 1
509-1
328-6
557,89, 71-6
343, 504, 475, 94,
432, 512-3
436, 437,435 -9
522, 338 - 4
536, 327, 506-11
86 -1
72 POSEY Vol. 3, No.1
fied the Gorotire collection. He found 66 scientifically recognized species of which 11
were unknown or as yet not described (one species of Frieseomelitta; two of Partamona;
one of Tetragona; two of Centris; three of Megachile; one of Mesoplia; and one of Tetra-
pedia). am ‘ '
In a normative comparison between folk and scientific species, therefore, we find
that there is approximately an 86% correlation. Such high correlative quotients are not
uncommon (Berlin 1973, Hunn 1975). The complete species list is found in Table 3.
CONCLUSION
Bees and other social insects are of great symbolic importance to the Kayapo Indians.
The organization of the Hymenoptera is believed to be the basis of human social and
political organization. Honey and beeswax are directly related to Bepkororoti, a central
mythological figure who controls rain and lighning. The beeswax mekutom isa symbolic
representation of the Kayapo world and is said to be the one material link to origins of
the Kayapo people,
Various folk taxonomic systems operate to classify the 56 folk species of stingless
bees recognized by the Kayapo. The Kayapo utilize nine major “ecozones” to group bees
by nesting sites. Other taxonomic paradigms take into account specific nest types and
exact locations within a given “ecozone.” A morphological taxonomy also exists, but
appears to be utilized by only a few bee “experts.” Utilitarian considerations seem to
forge the predominant taxonomic system, taking into account the behavior of the bees,
honey taste and wax type. .
There is an 86% correlation between folk species and scientifically determined
species listed in Table 3, It is clear that the Kayapo are keen observers of nature in ae
eral and Meliponidae in particular. Bees are an important economic source to tropical
forest peoples like the Kayapo Indians of Brazil.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. I would like
to thank the staffs of FUNAI, INPA, CNPq, and the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi for their coopeta-
tion and assistance. Particularly I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Kwyra-ka and Ira
Kayapo; also the continued support of Lauro Menescal, chefe do Posto Gorotire. Without these
people, this project would have been impossible. Scientific identification of the insect specimens was
graciously provided by J.M.F. Camargo, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Riberao
Preto, Brazil. To him I am especially grateful.
LITERATURE CITED
BAMBERGER, JOAN. 1967. Environmental
BERLIN, B. 1973. Folk Systematics in Rela-
tion to Biological Classification and Nomen-
clature. Ann, Rev, Ecol. Syst. 4:259-271,
GARDNER, P. 1976, Birds, Words, and a
Requiem for the Omniscient Informant.
Amer. Ethnol. 3:446-468
1978b, Ethnoentomological Sur-
vey of Amerind Groups in Lowland Latin
America. The Florida Entomol. 61(4):225-229-
1979. Kayapo Controla Insectos
com Uso Adequado do Ambiente. Revista
de Atualidade Indigena 3(14):47-58.
1980. Algunas Observaciones Etno-
entomologicas sobre Grupos Amerindos “a
America Latina. America Indigena 15(1):
05-120.
1981a. Wasps, Warriors, and Feat
less Men: The Cultural Ecology of the Kare
Indians of Central Brazil. J. Ethnobiol. }+
165-174.
1981b. Apicultura Popular 40s
Kayapo. Revista de Atualidade Indeigen4
20(1):36-41, e
1982. Development of the Ama?
May 1983
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 73
LITERATURE CITED ( continued)
on an Indigenous Model. The Dilemma of
Amazonian Development (Emilio Moran, ed. }.
Westview Press.
————— !n press, Ethnomethodology as an
Emic Guide to Cultural Systems: The Case of
the Insects and the Kayapo Indians of Ama-
zonia. Anuario Antropologico 82.
In press. The Importance of Bees
to the Kayapo Indians of the Brazilian Ama-
zon. Florida Entomol.
—————In press. Folk Apiculture of the
Kayapo Indians of Brazil. Biotropica.
SCHWARTZ, H.F. 1948, Stingless Bees
(Miliponidae) of the “sea Hemisphere,
ull 90.
TURNER, T. 1965. oak Structure and
Political Organization among the Northern
Cayapo. Unpubl. ge dissert., (Social
Relations), Harvard Uni
LLIE, ALVARO and C MICHENER. 1973,
ica. Revista de Biologia Tropical 21 (Suple-
mento 1),
NOTES
The Collection Code Numbers refer to specimens from the Gorotire collection that are now in the
possession of J .M.F
Luis, MA (Brazil).
F. Carmargo, Dept. de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhao, 65.000 Sao
74 Vol. 3, No.1
Book Review
Photomicrographs of World Woods. Anne Miles. 233 pp. illus. Department of the En-
vironment, Building Research Establishment. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office,
London. 1978. 20.00 Pounds Sterling.
Although this volume may not appeal to the entire readership of the Journal of
Ethnobiology, it will be a welcome discovery for the archaeobotanist, paleoecologist,
plant anatomist, wood technologist, dendrochronologist, or plant taxonomist. Miles
has assembled photomicrographs of over 450 species in more than 375 genera of impor-
tant Angiosperm and Gymnosperm timbers. Each species is illustrated in transverse,
radial, and tengential views at 25 to 60 magnifications in black and white photographs.
The resolution is so fine that pit structure can be determined on the individual vessel
elements. One could do a detailed phylogenetic study of wood evolution, using only
the photographs in this book.
Of course it is impossible to illustrate all woody plants found on earth but Miles has
included enough species to give a detailed picture of the range of variation within indiv-
idual families and genera. This volume is slightly biased toward Old World species, but
there is excellent coverage of both temperate and tropical, as well as northern and south-
ern hemisphere genera. In any problem of plant identification, there is no substitute
for reliable comparative material, but this volume should prove to be a good starting
point and an invaluable reference tool.
CHM
J. Ethnobiol. 3(1): 75-95 May 1983
ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF SEASONALITY FROM
FRESHWATER FISH REMAINS: A QUANTITATIVE PROCEDURE
DARCY F. MOREY
Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37916
ABSTRACT.—Reliable, replicable procedures for archaeological assessments of seasonality
in North America are needed is paper presents a procedure for determining season of
death of archaeological freshwater catfish (Ictalurus) based on analysis of measurements on
incremental growth structures in pectoral spine thin sections from modern catfish from the
Middle South. The measurements are regressed with the date of death of each specimen,
resulting in a quantitative model for predicting the date of death of specimens for which
this is unknown. The predictive reliability of the model is assessed with a “blind” test on
modern specimens, Evaluation of modern specimens from regions north of the Middle
South suggests that predictive error results when specimens from more northerly latitudes
are assessed, though results are still usable. The procedure is applied to a sample of pectoral
spines from the Schmidt site (25HW301), a late prehistoric Central Plains Tradition settle-
ment in central Nebraska. This site was the object of a larger study of subsistence and
seasonality among horticulturalists in the Central Plains. Without this analysis little reliable
seasonal evidence would have been available.
INTRODUCTION
Seasonality studies are assuming an important role in current archaeological research
(cf. Monks 1981 and references contained therein). In spite of a growing interest in
archaeological seasonality studies, reliable, replicable procedures for assessing seasonality
are generally lacking in North America. However, recent research is helping to correct
this problem. For example, procedures have been developed for determining seasonality
of large scale aboriginal bison kills in the North American Plains (e.g. Frison and Reher
1970; Reher 1974; Frison 1978). Unfortunately, the data base upon which this work
rests is unavailable to most archaeologists. Research being conducted in coastal areas
around the world is also producing reliable procedures for assessing seasonality through
analysis of incremental growth structures in the hard parts of archaeologically repre-
sented marine organisms (e.g. Coutts 1970; Coutts and Higham 1971; Coutts and Jones
1974; Ham and Irvine 1975; Aten 1981).
Although the procedures developed for assessing seasonality from remains of marine
organisms have produced sound results, they have no direct application in non-coastal
situations. Moreover, comparable (i.e. reliable) procedures for assessing seasonality from
incremental growth structures in non-marine organisms have not been developed. Archa-
ecologists have attempted to derive seasonal information from incremental growth struc-
tures in mammal teeth (Benn 1974; Kay 1974; Spiess 1976, 1978, 1979; Lippmcott 1976;
Adair 1977; Bourque et al. 1978; Monk and Bozell 1980; Bozell 1981), fish scales (e.g.
Artz 1980; Peterson 1980) and fish vertebrae (Casteel 1972). No one has demonstrated
that seasonal interpretations based on mammal teeth are reliable and even the fish studies,
which are clearly promising, suffer from subjective evaluation criteria and a lack of
demonstrated validity. ae
Seasonal analysis of archaeological fish remains has been inspired largely by the
existence of established criteria for aging modern fish from scales. The principles under-
lying aging techniques (and, by extension, techniques for deriving seasonal information)
have been summarized many times (e.g. Lagler 1956; Casteel 1976; Bagenal and Tesch
1978; Peterson 1980). Briefly, fish are poikilotherms; their metabolic rate fluctuates in
relation to the surrounding water temperature. Thus, growth Emre decelerates during
cold periods (late fall and winter) and accelerates during warm periods (spring and sum-
mer). Undoubtedly other factors such as food availability, population density and local
water conditions also affect seasonal growth rate. The end of a period of decelerated
76 MOREY Vol. 3, No. 1
growth is visible on a fish scale as a narrow zone of closely spaced circuli, the outer
edge of which is called an arrest line or annulus. By determining what stage of growth is
represented on the outer edge of the scale when the fish died, an estimate of season of
death can be made.
Fish scales present some problems. First, they are not readily preserved in or recov-
ered from archaeological contexts. Even when preserved they are fragile and easily
damaged by routine field and laboratory processing procedures. In addition, one fish
may have hundreds of scales and, therefore, there is no reliable way of estimating how
many fish a series of scales represents. It is logical, therefore, to assume that fish bones
might provide an appropriate and more readily usable medium for assessing seasonality.
Fortunately, investigating seasonality from fish bones does not require starting from
scratch, Fish of the North American family Ictaluridae (catfish) are scaleless; yet there
exists substantial literature on aging modern catfish from bones, principally vertebrae
and pectoral spines (Lewis 1949; Appelget and Smith 1951; Sneed 1951; Schoffman
1954, 1955; Forney 1955; Marzolf 1955; Jenkins 1956). Three important points emerge
from this research: (1) when viewed properly, catfish vertebrae and spines exhibit arrest
marks analogous to arrest marks on fish scales, (2) these arrest marks are formed annually
(one each year) with a high degree (perhaps 85%) of reliability (cf. Appelget and Smith
1951; Sneed 1951; Marzolf 1955) and (3) on average, catfish grow at approximately
the same rate from year to year throughout life (Appelget and Smith 1951; Sneed 1951).
With regard to the latter point, while extensive data compiled in Carlander (1969:538-
554) also suggest that this is generally true, some catfish populations do show variability
in yearly growth rates (usually decelerated growth), especially among older age groups
(about 7-8 years and older).
Ictalurids have several additional things to recommend them for archaeological
analysis. Catfish are abundant and widespread and are commonly represented in arch-
aeological contexts in many parts of North America, Their cranial elements and spines
are easily recognizable and comprehensive osteological guides are available (Mundell
1975; Grizzle and Rogers 1976:74-85). If specific identification is desired several keys
may be consulted (Paloumpis 1963, 1964; Calovich and Branson 1964; Krause 1977).
< forest interpretation of Seasonal growth in archaeological samples of any species
sees on (1) an understanding of seasonal growth patterns in modern individuals and
(2) the validity of the necessary analogy between modern samples and archaeological
samples, Therefore, in 1980 a study of seasonal growth in modern catfish was initiated
(Morey 1981), leading to the development of a procedure for assessing seasonality from
archaeological catfish remains (Morey 1982:76-102).
ANALYSIS OF SEASONAL GROWTH IN
MODERN CATFISH SPINES
This research is based on analy
channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatu
1); they are compact and durable
sis of seasonal growth in pectoral spines of modem
s). Pectoral spines are paired in each individual (Fig.
ey and are as likely to preserve archaeologically as most
animal bones. The modern sample consists of 97 specimens from fish taken from
one of three locations in the Middle South!: the impounded Tennessee River in Decatur
County, Tennessee (n-55); the unimpounded Duck River in Maury County, Tennesse¢
(n=27); and the impounded Cumberland River in Trigg County, Kentucky (n=15). Thé
are represented, Based on annuli counts, 80 of the 97 (82.5%)
ears old or less when they died. Linear regression is used to
er two variables, the date of death and a calculated growth index from each speci-
mené,
Growth Index.—In order to calc
tions of each pectoral spine.
illustrated. The sectioning po
ulate the growth index it is necessary to obtain thin se~
F igure 1 shows a pectoral spine with the sectioning point
int follows Marzolf (1955) and Sneed (1951). One spine
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 77
FIG. 1.—Photograph of a catfish pectoral spine, showing the sectioning point.
usually the right, is used from each modern fish. They are cut on a Buehler Isomet low
400 microns. No grinding, polishing, embedding or chemical staining is necessary with
modern specimens; untreated sections are stored in a small vial containing a mild water/
ethanol solution. To view them they are removed from the solution, dried, and placed
on a glass slide.
When viewed microscopically with polarized transmitted light the sections show
arrest marks which appear as continuous, narrow, dark blue bands visible on all portions
of the section. These reflect arrested growth during winter/early spring. Following Mar-
zolf (1955), the entire darkened arrest line is regarded as an annulus. Areas reflecting
accelerated growth are visible as wider, whitish zones between annuli. In most fish the
transition between arrest lines and zones of accelerated growth is distinct. Figure 2 shows
. Schematic view of a pectoral spine thin section. Arrest lines (i.e. annuli) are illustrated
with reference to two measurement locations, A and B, on the posterior portion of the
section, The two lines which encompass B represent the most recent full yearly growth
mcrement. The measurement points are from inner edge to inner edge of the last two
annuli. Measurement A represents the most recent partial yearly growth increment. It is
taken from the inner edge of the last annulus to the edge of the spine. The measurements
are taken with an ocular micrometer in units of .01 mm.
MOREY Vol. 3; No, 1
78
Posterior
EDGE OF SPINE
Anterior
° ts
FIG, 2.—Schematic view of a catfish pectoral spine thin section, showing the location of measuremen
A and B.
Measurements A and B are used to calculate the growth index:
A
Growth Index = — x 100
B
. 1 i :
Figure 3 shows two photomicrographs of a pectoral spine thin section from a Duck aa
(Maury County, Tennessee) catfish that died on July 12, 1980. The location of meas
ments A and B is illustrated
May 1983
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
FIG. 3.-Two photomicrographs of a pectoral spine thin section from a Duck River —— ety ,
Tennessee) catfish that died on July 12, 1980, with the location of measurements A and B illustrated.
The upper half is an enlargement of the contained area in the lower half,
assimilated for all year classes with 25 or more observations, which includes year classes
-5. The mean value of P for these year classes is presented below:
Year Class Mean of P
85.32
Z
8 83.36
4 76.19
5
80 MOREY Vol. 3, No.1
These data suggest that, at least during years 2-5, a fish is likely to produce an increment
with a width of approximately 75-85% of the previous increment. In other words, a
spine from a three year old catfish with a growth index of 30 is probably comparable to
a five year old catfish with a similar growth index.
Date of Death.—Date of death for each specimen is recorded as a whole number from
1-52. A fish that died in the first week of January is assigned a value of 1, a fish that died
in the second week a value of 2, and so on through 52 for a fish that died in the last week
of December. The starting point for this scale is more than a matter of convenience; a
sample of mid-January fish consistently showed the initial stage of annulus formation on
the outer edge of the spine whereas a mid-December sample from the same calendar year
id not. Recognizing that there is undoubtedly year to year variation in the time when
annuli begin to form in most fish, January 1-7 is a reasonable estimate based on the data
at hand, Annulus formation in catfish pectoral spines seems to take several weeks, begin-
ning in mid-winter and terminating in the spring, perhaps in April, when accelerated
growth resumes,
Aberrant Specimens.—Overall, approximately 15-20% of the modern specimens examined
were rejected due to aberrant irregularities in growth. Sometimes annuli are too indis-
tinct to permit reliable measurement. Occasionally a fish produces an arrest mark that is
not annual, called a false annulus. False annuli are usually less distinct than true annuli
and result in obvious departure from the normal pattern (i.e. gradual reduction in abso-
lute increment width from year to year). Fish showing a false annulus in either of the
increments used to calculate the growth index are rejected.
Sometimes a fish shows irregularities which cannot clearly be attributed to false
annuli (i.e. the arrest marks are uniformly distinct). During the course of this research
such specimens were accepted or rejected on the basis of my subjective impression as to
their degree of regularity. Anticipating archaeological application, this may be operation-
alized to produce a replicable rejection criterion. To do this it is necessary to return
briefly to a consideration of the variable P. The means of P for year classes 2-5 are com-
parable; therefore, the raw data have been pooled to produce a grand mean of P for these
year classes which is 79.7. The standard deviation of the pooled data is 27.558. By con-
sidering 1.5 standard deviations (41.3), an arbitrary decision, it can be stated that ap-
proximately 87% of the P values from fish considered acceptable fall within a range of
79.7 + 41.3 if a normal distribution is assumed (cf. Arkin and Colton1963:119). There-
fore, a rejection criterion for future specimens is proposed. A specimen with an irregular
growth pattern not clearly attributable to false annuli is rejected if it has a value of P for
any increment below 40 or exceeding 120. This conservative rule can only increase the
predictive reliability of the final model when it is applied to archaeological specimens.
Figure 4 shows an example of another type of aberration, This specimen shows an
arrest mark on the outer edge of the section with a width already exceeding the entire
phi year’s growth. The reason for this aberration is unknown. This type of aber-
ration was encountered in only one sample of fish (to be discussed).
as the X term (date of death)
ered in time
saad : gression assumes constancy of the error variance.
oo e Bier: — _— often help stabilize non-constant error variance. The
ation applied here is based on Taylor’s power law (Taylor 1961) which states
Data
transform
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 81
F
ae as
FIG. 4.—Photomicrograph of a rejected pectoral spine thin section from a Fort Loudoun Lake (Blount
County, Tennessee) catfish that died on July 4, 1980.
120 4
10 - 1
100 4 '
90 + :
——@- eo We —
o
°o
UI
--w-
--wn
GROWTH INDEX
$8 8
ow
°o
1
—-Gan
2.8: GB NO 18 O16 BO 28-84-90 20-90-28 OS Oe ges nih aoe
[_JAN. | FEB. |MARCH| APRIL | MAY | JUNE JULY [AUGUST] SEPT. : :
DATE OF DEATH
G. 5.—Plot of pectoral spine growth index by date of death for 97 modern channel catfish from the
Middle South. 1 = one observation, 2 = two observations, etc.
e MOREY Vol. 3, No. 1
that the variance of a population is proportional to a fractional power of the mean. The
appropriate transformation is to raise each original observation (growth index) to the
fractional power 1 - b/2, where b represents a slope coefficient (cf. Elliot 1977:71-73).
The value of b is derived as follows. First the mean and variance of each discrete sample
in the data set is obtained, Examination of Figure 5 shows six discrete (i.e. single date of
death) samples from January, April, September, October, November and December. By
pooling observations from a three week period in July (date of death 29-31) to obtain
a much needed variance term from the scattered summer series, a seventh discrete sample
is approximated. The seven mean and variance terms are then transformed to their com-
mon log values. The resulting terms are regressed (log variance by log mean) and a least
squares line fit to the data, It is the slope coefficient from this regression that is needed.
In the present case the slope coefficient is 1.274 which, when substituted for b (recall
1 - b/2), yields a value of .363. This value is the desired fractional power; when each
original growth index is raised to the .363 power the results are as shown on Figure 6.
This plot suggests that the error variance has been effectively stabilized, a preliminary
evaluation confirmed by analysis of residuals after an appropriate analytical function has
been fit (see below).
Though inconvenient, the desired function must be obtained with growth index
treated as the Y (predicted) variable since it is measured with error. The alternative
procedure will produce invalid results. There are two curves in the transformed data,
suggesting that a third order polynomial might provide an appropriate curvilinear func-
tion, This is accomplished by squaring and cubing the X term (date of death) and adding
the two new terms to a simple linear model. The form of the polynomial model is
Y = Bot BiX + B2X2 + B3X3
where Bo is the intercept and Bj, Bg and Bg are slope coefficients. Calculations for
GROWTH INDEX ©
ry ce 10 12 4 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32° 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
LAN. | FEB. |MARCH| APRIL] MAY | JUNE | JULY |AUGUST| SEPT. | OCT. | NOV. | DEC.
DATE OF DEATH
FIG. 6.—Plot of transformed
. . f
fo thon tk MA pectoral spine growth index by date of death for 97 modern channel ¢#
1 = one observation, 2 = two observations, etc.
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 83
this regression were done at the University of Tennessee Computing Center, using SAS,
PROC GLM (SAS Institute 1979).
Applying the above model to the transformed data yields positive results. F ratios
indicate that all terms in the model are significant at the .05 level. Residual analysis
(Fig. 7) indicates that the curve fits nicely; points are distributed approximately evenly
on either side of the zero point axis with no pattern evident, Figure 7 should also be
inspected with reference to the error variance problem, The R* coefficient of correlation
between the two variables is .928.
The polynomial model fit to these data yields the following function:
Y = 1.74863 — .0583847X + .00678332X7 — 000085 1173x°
The curve produced by this function is shown on Figure 6. It should now be evident why
treating growth index as the predicted variable is inconvenient. To predict the date of
death of an “unknown” specimen, a transformed growth index must be obtained and X
solved for on the right-hand side of the equation. Fortunately, a less tedious procedre is
available that produces the same results. Consider, first, that only whole number values
of X from 1-52 are of interest. Using the polynomial to solve for all 52 values of X, 52
corresponding solutions for Y may be derived. This step has been taken, producing the
results shown on Table 1. With this table it is possible to predict the date of death of
“unknowns” without again referring to the polynomial equation. To accomplish this
the transformed growth index of a given specimen is compared to the values of Y on
Table 1 to determine which one is the closest. The value of X corresponding to this Y
is the predicted date of death. This simple procedure yields the same results as deriving
the tedious solution for the growth index and then rounding X to the nearest whole
number,
-n =—- =<
RESIDUAL VALUES
-—_ =— w=
pester te
a oo
-0.4- '
-0.6- i
-0.8-
-1.0-
44 46 48 50
2 4 6 8 10 l2 4 6 18 oe eee ee tact ce a-ak
JAN. | FEB. |MARCH| APRIL] MAY | JUNE | JULY AUGUST| SEPT. :
DATE OF DEATH
, . . l=one
FIG. 7.—Plot of the residual values from the polynomial regression model by date of death. 1 = on
observation, 2 = two observations, etc.
84 MOREY Vol. 3, No.1
TABLE 1.—Solutions for Y (growth index?) for every value of X (date of death, 1-52) based on the
polynomial function,
X (corresponding week) ¥ X (corresponding week) ¥
1 (Jan. 1-7) 1.69694 27 (July 2-8) 3.44191
2 (Jan. 8-14) 1.65831 28 (July 9-15) 3.56349
3 (Jan. 15-21) 1.63228 29 (July 16-22) 3.68430
4 (Jan. 22-28) 1.61818 30 (July 23-29) 3.80389
5 (Jan. 29-Feb. 4) 1.61565 31 (July 30-Aug. 5) 3.92173
6 (Feb. 5-11) 1.62413 32 (Aug. 6-12) 4.03730
7 (Feb. 12-18) 1.64312 33 (Aug. 13-19) 4.15009
8 (Feb. 19-25) 1.67211 34 (Aug. 20-26) 4.25959
35 (Aug. 27-Sept. 2) 4.36531
any Y less than 1.70 is predicted as 36 (Sept. 3-9) 4.46672
January-February 37 (Sept. 10-16) 4.56329
38 (Sept. 17-23) 4.65454
9 (Feb. 26-Mar. 4) 1.71056 39 (Sept. 24-30) 4.73997
10 (Mar. 5-11) 1.75799 40 (Oct. 1-7) 4.81902
11 (Mar. 12-18) 1.81388 41 (Oct. 8-14) 4.89122
12 (Mar. 19-25) 1.87773 42 (Oct. 15-21) 4.95605
13 (Mar. 26-Apr. 1) 1.94902 43 (Oct. 22-28) 5.01299
14 (Apr. 2-8) 2.02722 44 (Oct. 29-Nov. 4) 5.06155
15 (Apr. 9-15) 2.11184
16 (Apr. 16-22) 2.20235 any Y greater than 5.07 is predicted as
17 (Apr. 23-29) 2.29829 November-December
18 (Apr. 30-May 6) 2.39909
19 (May 7-13) 2.50429 45 (Nov. 5-11) 5.10119
20 (May 14-20) 2.61332 46 (Nov. 12-18) 5.13143
21 (May 21-27) 2.72571 47 (Nov. 19-25) 5.15173
22 (May 28-June 3) 2.84097 48 (Nov. 26-Dec. 2) 5.16160
23 (June 4-10) 2.95853 49 (Dec. 3-9) 5.16052
24 (June 11-17) 3.07992 50 (Dec. 10-16) 5.14799
25 (June 18-24) 3.19862 51 (Dec. 17-23) 5.12348
26 (une 25July 1) 8.82013 52 (Dec. 24-81) 5:006ae
Table 1 also allows further assessment of the aptness of the polynomial model. The
52 solutions of Y for X yield 52 coordinates for the curve fit to the data on Figure 6.
A complication
detected by comparing Fj : : ‘
Yet, from Figure 5 j
mid-November, mid-
The mean growth in
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 85
tively. These three samples are from the same year (1981) and from the same general
location from the Tennessee River in Middle Tennessee. The year 1981 was evidently an
exceptionally “good” year for growth among catfish in this portion of the Tennessee
River.
From the above discussion it is reasonable to suspect that “unknowns” that died
during the late fall will tend to be slightly underpredicted. However, this problem is
minimized by the polynomial function. From the residual plot (Fig. 7) it can be seen
that approximately two-thirds of the mid-October observations fall above the curve,
indicating that the specific fit of the curve will help compensate for this source of error.
For example, if a specimen with a growth index equal to the mean of the mid-October
sample (87.87) is evaluated, it will be more accurately predicted in the November-Decem-
ber range. Any fish with a growth index in the range of 75-85 will be predicted as Octo-
ber, which is entirely rational based on analysis of the variable P. It must be borne in
mind, however, that fish with a growth index in the range of 75-85 could have died in
November or perhaps December.
More importantly, it must be realized that there is always decreased predictive reso-
lution during periods of decelerated growth. Data presented here suggest that weekly
predictions in the mid-October to mid-April range must always be evaluated cautiously.
The empirical distinction between fish with a high growth index (75+) and fish showing
the initial stage of annulus formation allows reliable separation between late fall/early
winter and late winter/early spring fish. However, specific weekly predictions during
these periods are undoubtedly subject to substantial error. For this reason the summary
rules of evaluation for November-December and January-February estimates (Table 1)
are especially useful since they encompass that period of the year when confusion is most
likely,
Overall, this procedure provides an efficient predictive tool. There is no danger of
misleading extrapolation beyond the range of the data set, a common problem with
polynomial regression (cf. Neter and Wasserman 1974:275). By definition, X has a finite
range; it can never be less than 1 or exceed 52. The summary rules of evaluation on Table
1 prevent mathematically feasible but logically impossible predictions outside this range.
A Test of Validity.—The only real test of this methodological tool is whether or not it
works. This cannot be assessed with archaeological specimens since it 1s impossible to
To do this 17 pectoral spines from 17 modern channel catfish with known dates of death
were evaluated. However, this was a “blind” test; the dates of death were unknown to
me at the time of evaluation. All 17 specimens are from the impounded Tennessee River
in Blount County, east Tennessee, a source different than any in the regression series.
Nine of the 17 specimens were immediately rejected. Figure 5 shows one of these
rejected specimens. This fish, with abnormally wide annuli, died on July 4 and would be
Predicted incorrectly by several months. Six additional specimens showed a similar
abnormality. Two more had annuli too indistinct to permit reliable measurements.
Table 2 summarizes results on the remaining eight. One specimen (LL-108) was missed
completely. It showed no significant irregularity, had developed an arrest mark on the
Outer edge, and was measured accordingly. The arrest mark was evidently nso
Unfortunately, when such specimens occasionally do occur, an unavoidable risk 0
significant error results, Predictions on the remaining seven are relatively close; all are
Predicted correctly to general season, five within one month, Age at death of the eight
fish represented ranges from two to seven years and there is no apparent correlation
between age and accuracy of prediction.
gp etn met pis from this test. First, the procedure works; =a bs
eight specimens show a good correlation between predicted and actual date of death.
Second, knowing when to reject specimens is as important as knowing how to measure
€m.,
TABLE 2.—Comparison of regression
Tennessee, based on pectoral spines.
-based predicted week of death and actual date of death of eight channel catfish from Fort Loudoun Lake, Blount County,
Specimen Growth Index Growth Index:?63 Predicted Week Actual Date of Death Error
LL-108 5.79 1.8917 March 19-25 September 12, 1978 6 months
LL-154 29.03 3.39636 July 2-8 June 9, 1980 +3-4 weeks
LL-156 52.50 4.21132 August 20-26 June 8, 1980 +6-7 weeks
LL-158 $1.25 3.48843 July 2-8 June 9, 1980 +3-4 weeks
LL-159 7.27 2.05465 April 2-8 April 21, 1980 —2-3 weeks
LL-160 9.42 2.25725 April 23-29 April 21, 1979 +0-1 week
LL-162 54.05 4.25603 August 20-26 June 9, 1980 +10-11 weeks
LL-163 18.35 2.87541 May 28-June 3 June 9, 1980 +1-2 weeks
ATUOW
TON ‘€ “TOA
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 87
Additional Tests on Modern Specimens.—Because this procedure will have application
outside the Middle South it is desirable to explore the possible effects of latitude on its
predictive accuracy. Two additional series of modern catfish spines were obtained, one
from the Sangamon River drainage in Cass and Mason counties, west-central Illinois, and
the other from the Missouri River on the Nebraska-South Dakota border. All specimens
were five years old or less when they died and the date of death was known when they
were evaluated.
Tables 3 and 4 summarize results of these tests. The correlation between predicted
and actual dates of death is good. The reader should note that six of these specimens
(Table 3) are black bullhead (Ictalurus melas) rather than channel catfish (I. punctatus).
Overall, the bullheads were predicted as accurately as the channel catfish. Since all fish
in the Illinois series died within three days of each other, Table 3 presents an evaluation
based on the mean growth index. The error factor associated with this group prediction
(—1-2 weeks) is very small. Nine of the 11 specimens were underpredicted; the error factor
associated with the group prediction might be larger if not for the remaining two speci-
mens which were overpredicted by surprisingly high margins considering the tendency of
the other nine to be underpredicted. Overall, this test suggests that evaluating fish from
about 350 km north of the Tennessee/southern Kentucky region may introduce a ten-
dency toward underprediction.
Moving farther north, the tendency toward underprediction with the Missouri River
series (Table 4) is more pronounced. The correlation between underprediction and more
northerly latitude makes intuitive sense. It is likely that fish in this region start their
yearly growth cycle later than fish in the Middle South since winter (i.e. lower tempera-
tures) lasts longer. According to Weatherly and Rogers (1978:67), “Growth is ‘released’
in fish at various species-specific threshold temperatures below which it cannot occur and
above which an optimum will be located.” Whatever the threshold temperature is for cat-
fish, it is surely reached sooner in the spring in Middle South waters than in more norther-
ly waters.
Evaluations on four of the eight specimens on Table 4 are based on dorsal rather than
pectoral spines. Dorsal spines were the only bones available from these specimens and it
is assumed that their seasonal growth is similar to that of pectoral spines. Like pectoral
spines, they were sectioned near the base and measured on the posterior portion of the
sections, as .
Results of the above tests suggest a tendency toward underprediction with increasing-
ly northerly latitude. Modest correction factors for specimens from Nebraska (see below)
are considered reasonable, though tentative.
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPLICATION FROM
CENTRAL NEBRASKA
TABLE 3.—Comparison of regression-based predicted week of death and actual date of death of eleven channel pate (Ictalurus punctatus) and black bullheads
(Ictalurus melas) from the Lower Sangamon River drainage in Cass and Mason counties, Illinois, based on pectoral spin
Specimen/Species Growth Index'3®3 Predicted Week Actual Date of Death Error
LSD-11-16//. punctatus 4.35792 Aug. 27-Sept. 2 September 7, 1971 —1-2 weeks
LSD-11-11//. punctatus 4.33918 Aug. 27-Sept. 2 September 7, 1971 —1-2 weeks
LSD-11-9/J. punctatus 4.38329 Aug. 27-Sept. 2 September 7, 1971 —1-2 weeks
LSD-11-4//. punctatus 4.01878 Aug. 6-12 September 7, 1971 —4-5 weeks
LSD-11-8//. punctatus 3.65071 July 16-22 September 7, 1971 —7-8 weeks
LSD-17-2/I. melas 4.42047 Sept. 3-9 September 10, 1971 —0-1 week
LSD-17-3//. melas 4.31812 Aug. 27-Sept. 2 September 10, 1971 —1-2 weeks
LSD-17-4/I. meias 4.35792 Aug. 27-Sept. 2 September 10, 1971 —1-2 weeks
LSD-11-2//. melas 4.91262 Oct. 8-14 September 7, 1971 +5-6 weeks
LSD-17-5/I. melas 4.06695 Aug. 6-12 September 10, 1971 —4-5 weeks
LSD-17-1//. melas 5.32108 Nov.-Dec. September 10, 1971 +7-16 weeks
Mean Evaluation 4.41261 Aug. 27-Sept. 2 September 7-10, 1971 —1-2 weeks
ATAOW
ION ‘g “IOA
TABLE 4.—Comparison of regression
South Dakota border,
based on pectoral and dorsal spines.
-based predicted week of death and actual date of death of eight channel catfish from the Missouri River along the Nebraska-
Specimen/Spine Growth Index’? 63 Predicted Week Actual Date of Death Error
SUSD-72-1/pectoral 4.46396 Sept. 3-9 September 16, 1972 —1-2 weeks
SUSD-72-2/pectoral 4.96436 Oct. 15-21 October 10, 1972 +1-2 weeks
SUSD-72-3/pectoral 3.95824 July 30-Aug. 5 September 16, 1972 —6-7 weeks
SUSD-72-4/pectoral 3.72206 July 16-22 September 16, 1972 —8-9 weeks
SDFR-66-2/dorsal 3.01081 June 11-17 July 13, 1966 —4-5 weeks
SDFR-66-1/dorsal 3.09629 June 11-17 July 13, 1966 —4-5 weeks
SDFR-66-4/dorsal 3.0686 June 11-17 July 13, 1966 —4-5 weeks
SDFR-66-5 /dorsal $.5$252 July 9-15 July 13, 1966
ADO'TOISONHLG JO TYNUNOL 861 AWW
68
90 MOREY Vol. 3, No. 1
complete abandonment for communal bison hunts during the winter and summer. The
modeled seasonal pattern is believed to have had its roots well back into precontact times
in spite of the various effects of Euro-American contact, including the introduction of
the horse.
The long term stability of the modeled seasonal pattern resulted because Central
Plains villagers, both prehistoric and historic, responded to similar environmental circum-
stances. Specifically, a restricted growing season of 100 to 140 days during most years
resulted in a high level of dependence on food storage strategies among these groups,
a circumstance which favored extended communal bison hunts during summer and winter
(Morey 1982:60-66). Prehistoric Central Plains horticulturalists were surely no less
affected by the restricted growing season and procurement requirements of bison, the
critical animal food resource in this region. Therefore, it was proposed that seasonal
evidence from the Schmidt site should indicate that it was occupied only during the
spring (April-late June) and fall (September-October) (Morey 1982:66).
Seasonal Evidence from the Schmidt Site.-The major source of seasonal evidence from
the Schmidt site is a series of catfish pectoral spines from several provenience units.
Archaeological catfish spines are embedded in epoxy prior to sectioning; otherwise,
preparation is identical to that of modern specimens, The rejection rate on archaeolog-
ical specimens is similar to that of most modern samples (15-20%) if none are burned;
burned specimens are presently unanalyzable. Figure 8 shows an archaeological spine
section from a Schmidt site specimen in which the arrest lines, which are clearly visible,
are identified.
The most useful series of spines from the Schmidt site are 15 specimens from the
second arbitrary level (15 cm) of a large undercut pit. At least eight individuals are
represented; they are tentatively identified as Ictalurus melas (black bullhead). All 15
spines are from fish three years old or less when they died. Table 5 summarizes results
of evaluation of these specimens. The estimates clearly cluster in the late April-May-June
range. Several lines of evidence suggest that it is reasonable to assume that a single pro-
curement episode, perhaps a single day, is represented. They are all from a single arbit-
FIG. 8,.— j : : ;
207-1) Photomicrograph of a thin section from a Schmidt site catfish pectoral spine (specime?
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 91
rary level of a feature, are of uniformly small size, and their state of preservation is
identical. Moreover, the unimodal distribution of predicted dates of death supports this
assumption. Therefore, Table 5 includes an evaluation based on the mean growth index
of the series that yielded a predicted week of death of May 21-27. Fora series from this
latitude, falling early in the year, a correction factor of adding 1-2 weeks is tentatively
suggested, This places the series squarely in the first half of June.
Several other provenience units yielded five isolated spines that were measureable.
Age at death was four years old or less for all five specimens. Table 6 summarizes results
TABLE 5.—Regression-based predicted week of death for 15 bullhead (Ictalurus mete pectoral
spines from a single arbitrary level (15 cm.) of a large undercut pit at the Schmidt si
Specimen Growth Index Growth Index'?63 Predicted Week
282-1 12.22 2.48089 May 7-13
282-2 lial 2.39659 April 30-May 6
282-4 13.95 2.60304 May 14-20
282-6 22.50 3.09629 June 11-17
282-7 10.14 2.31842 April 23-29
282-8 25.0 3.21701 June 18-24
282-9 18.88 2.90528 May 28-June 3
282-10 29.03 3.39636 July 2-8
282-11 7.34 2.06181 April 2-8
282-12 13.04 2.54007 May 7-13
282-13 14.14 2.61585 May 14-20
282-16 23.08 3.12503 June 11-17
282-17 11.30 2.41139 April 30-May 6
282-18 10.71 2.3649 April 30-May 6
282-19 27.63 3.33596 June 25July 1
Mean Evaluation 16.67 2.77699 May 21-27
ee oe Oe
TABLE 6.—Regression-based predicted week of death for five catfish (Ictalurus sp. ) pectoral spines
from several provenience units at the Schmidt site.*
ee eteemnencretensineeennes
Specimen Growth Index Growth Index’? 63 Predicted Week
es tnsineitiiees
me: 66.67 4.5929 Sept. 10-16
— 60.78 4.44125 Sept. 3-9
nt 46.48 4.02919 August 6-12
mee 48.15 4.08115 August 6-12
290-2 51.11 4.17049 August 13-19
Sat SMM oe a ee
*Specimens 96-1, 17-1 and 207-1 were recovered from three different large undercut pits at the
Schmidt site — see text for explanation of specimens 290-1 and 290-2.
92 MOREY Vol. 3, No. 1
of evaluation of these specimens. The estimates clearly fall in the late summer/early fall
range. Correction factors of + 2-3 weeks for the mid-August estimates and + 1-2 weeks
for the September estimates are tentatively suggested. This places estimates on two
specimens (96-1 and 17-1) in late September and estimates on the remaining three during
late August/early September.
Specimens 290-1 and 290-2 are problematical in that they are from the third level
of the same feature as the previously described series of 15 specimens. However, field
notes on file at the Department of Anthropology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln provide
evidence of a stratigraphic separation between levels 2 and 3. Level 1-2 fill was evidently
looser and less compact than level 3 fill. In any case, predictions on the level 3 specimens
are inconsistent with predictions on the level 2 series and it is assumed that a different
procurement episode is represented.
It is assumed that Middle South catfish start their yearly growth slightly earlier than
Central Plains catfish. Yet, it is also reasonable to assume that the average value of P
from spines of Middle South and Central Plains catfish is the same, leading to the con-
clusion that Central Plains catfish must have a slightly more rapid growth rate than
Middle South catfish at some point, probably during mid- to late summer. Perhaps the
average temperature of Middle South waters during this period exceeds the optimum for
catfish growth (cf. Weatherly and Rogers 1978:67). Moreover, there is no evidence that
suggests the overall growth rate of catfish varies systematically between different regions
in North America (Carlander 1969:550). Therefore, it is likely that predictive error
between the two regions will be greatest during mid-summer (July to mid-August) when
Central Plains catfish are “catching up” in growth, Error should be least pronounced in
spring and fall, This is the reason for variation in the suggested correction factors for
Schmidt site specimens. It should be emphasized that the proposed correction factors
are tentative estimates with no statistical basis; they are considered subject to amend-
ment if additional data suggest that this is warranted.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
This paper has presented a reliable, replicable procedure for archaeological assess-
ment of seasonality from freshwater catfish remains based on analysis of incremental
growth structures in pectoral spines of modern channel catfish, The reliability of the
procedure was assessed with a “blind” test on modern specimens. Tests on modern
specimens from locations north of the Middle South suggest that patterned predictive
error results when such specimens are evaluated.
Although there are potential problems with any archaeological seasonality study
(cf. Monks 1981) evaluation of archaeological catfish spines provided the most reliable
WN as Sica on the seasonal Occupation of the Schmidt site. As predicted, analysis
neva ' = gies Spies suggests, minimally, fall and spring occupation on the site.
me: senate e traditional lines of seasonal evidence, though more tenuous, - consis
"idence from the catfish spine analysis. Specifically, age-at-death estimates 00
deer eke bison mandibles based on tooth eruption and wear schedules and inferr
Phi aa ania pings od of several groups of migratory birds represented at the
eer ae Senies ores 1982: 20-152),
iaike Goieaiek tons ka with @ model of seasonal site occupation is We aay
an argument for onl ay eg as on (Morey 1982). It is saioie or ss to
Peace eile Addit ee a ate requits ae
amily ae oe : ional sources of seasonal information, if available, might we
ested in the reconstru ages ieee gis amen task facing archacologu®: am
methodological ction ” settlement-subsistence systems is to develop additio
Bical tools for assessing archaeological site seasonalit
y.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
esearch reported here was cond
R
. ucted as part of my M.A he University of Tennes
see-Kni y M.A. program at The Univ y :
oxville, Department of Anthropology. The members of my thesis committee—Drs. Paul W. Par
May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 93
malee (chairman), Walter E. Klippel, Gerald F. Schroedl and Carl R. Falk—all made substantive contri
cna to this research in different but complementary ways. Drs. Walter E. Klippel and Paul W.
d an earlier draft of this paper and offe
a paicva peotaunedeineietes : p red many useful comments. Terry Faulkner and
ork was conducted at the Schmidt site by both amateu
from 1976- 1978. Professional work was undertaken i crews from a: eae oceans
with support from a grant provided by the University of Nebraska Happhold Foundation. Field work
was directed by Steve Holen under the overall supervision of Dr. Peter Bleed and Carl R. Falk. The
site is on land owned by Anton Schmidt, whose generous hospitality to the various field crews is
gratefully acknowledged. sincere appreciation goes to all those individuals who participated in
the eu. project at various time
research would not ae riition the help of the following individuals who helped me col-
24 . catfish: D. ae C. Hall, J. Hofman, P. scaeeeneoe W. Klippel, D. Klippel, R. Klippel,
B. Manzano, Dr. P.W. malee, M. Smith, D. Turner and W. Turner. I also gratefully acknowledge
enneth Brown, Carl ik and Walter Klippel, who sberere modern specimens from their personal
or institutional collections. Most of the fall samples were originally collected by commercial fisher-
men working on the Tennessee River near Perryville, Tennessee. I obtained these samples through the
Westm oreland and Dock Maxwe
Tennessee Department of Zoology.
ll at ri Restaurant in Culleoka,
of Botany, University of Southern IJlinois-Carbondale) and Donald J. Wheeler (Department of Statis-
tics, The University of Tennessee) for their helpful advice on the statistical portion of this study.
Special thanks go to Dr. Walter Klippel for his enthusiastic support of this research.
I am, of course, solely responsible for the contents of this paper.
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CARLANDER, K. D. 1969. Handbook of
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CASTEEL, R. W. 1972. Some archaeological
uses of fish remains. Amer. Antiquity 37(3):
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94 MOREY
Vol. 3, No.1
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KRAUSE, J. D. 1977. Identification, cultural
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May 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 95
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
SPIESS, A. 1976. Determining season of Hunters: An Archaeological Study. Acad.
death of << fauna by analysis of Press, New York and London
teeth. Arctic 29:53-5 TAYLOR, L. R. 1961. Aguiegation, variance
and the mean. Nature 189:732-735,
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NOTES
iy
*
The Middle South includes the states of 3.
Tennessee, southern Kentucky, northern
Georgia, northern Alabama and northern
Mississippi.
Ra
The Central Plains includes the states of
ird
in
w data on all specimens used in this
study are presented elsewhere (Morey
1982),
extreme northwestern Missouri.
96 Vol. 3, No. 1
Book Review
Medicinal Uses of Plants by Indian Tribes of Nevada. Percy Train, James R. Henrichs,
and W. Andrew Archer. 139 pp. Quarterman Publications, Inc., Lawrence, MA,
1981. $25.00.
Medicinal Uses of Plants by Indian Tribes of Nevada began as a Depression-era
project with three major objectives: recording the medicinal uses of native plants, col-
lecting sufficient material for pharmacological screening, and accumulating herbarium
specimens for a flora of Nevada. Percy Train collected data on the medicinal uses of 194
species of plants by the Moapa Paiutes, Paiutes, Shoshone, and Washoe along with native
plant names, One hundred and nine of these plant species were screened for bactericidal
properties, chemotheraputic effects, alkaloids, ascorbic acid content, effect on blood
pressure, and effect on rabbit smooth muscle. Standard extracts of 83 species were also
tested for toxic effects and minimum lethal dose.
A volume on medicinal plants with detailed pharmacological data is a rare find
indeed and herein lies the major utility of this work. Species or genera are common to
most of the surrounding states so researchers outside the borders of Nevada will appre-
ciate this book. This volume should be added to the libraries of Poison Control Centers
in the western United States.
The basic botanical data in this volume first appeared in Contributions Toward a
Flora of Nevada No. 33, 1941. An edited version with a summary of the pharmacological
research was published by W. Andrew Archer as Contribution No. 45 in 1957. The Quar-
terman edition is a facsimile reproduction of the 1957 publication. Unfortunately,
$25.00 is a little expensive for a typescript copy of an earlier work.
CHM
Vol. 3, No. 1 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 97
NEWS AND COMMENTS
SEVENTH ANNUAL ETHNOBIOLOGY CONFERENCE
meetin For ie ethnobiology conference, a reception is planned on Sunday evening, April 15th
with icant sessions on Monday and Tuesday. A call for papers will be issued later. For further infor-
mation contact Dr. Eugene Hunn, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle,
WA 98195,
ON ANTS AND ARTHRITIS
Nina M. Woessner, plant recorder for the Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, Florida, responded to
our note in the last issue (Vol. 2, No. 2, pg. 179) concerning a jungle a t the venom of
which was thought to be of value in the treatment of arthritic ic pain and inflammation. Mrs. Woessner
sent a clipping from the April 1982 Newsletter of the University of Secelitateie Memorial Medical
Center describing the work of Drs. Duane R. Schultz and Roy Altman of the University of Miami’s
School of Medicine assessing the therapeutic value of an extract of the venom of a species of Pseudo-
myrma (cited as Pseudomyrmex ) which inhabits the polygonaceous tree Triplaris americana L.
Dr. Schultz became intrigued by the potential of such treatment after observing Bolivian Indians
suffering the very painful bits of this ant to relieve their arthritis. The sufferer “strikes the tree with
the affected part of the body. The ants swarm out, inject venom devo their abdominal lancets, and
the person’s arthritis is often relieved.” Double-blind studies at the UM Medical Center—supported by
the Kroc Foundation—have confirmed that the venom extract indeed facilitates remission in rheuma-
toid arthritis patients. A pharmaceutical company is planning to market a derivative drug when testing
is seo ed, fs
se ants are part of a fascinating community of coevolved organisms described by William
Morton neces | in his ‘‘Studies of Neotropical Ant-Plants and their Ants” (Bulletin of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Vol. 90, No. 1, 1942). The several species of Triplaris grow
by preference in low, swampy places throughout the American tropics from Mexico south. Each hosts
a menagerie of ants, scale insects, fungi, and round worms within the hollow internodes of their trunks
(which in some species may grow to 30 meters), branches, and twigs. A structural feature of stem
growth gives rise to an an opening in the bud scar of each node by which the ants and other resident
forms enter. The relationship of the ants and the tree is quite likely symbiotic as the ants vigorously
attack any animal which has the misfortune to touch the tree. In som ¢ instances the ants kill all
ground vegetation within a ring of a few meters radius, which may reduce competition for nutrients
needed by the host tree. Yet, in contrast to other myrmecophilous pas, no extrafloral .
are provided to attract and sustain the ants. How such th ees whict
may be isolated by floodwaters for months each year pissed researchers until the aapies relation-
ships between the ants and their coresidents of the inner world of the Triplaris trunks w
their larvae. Occasional forays outside by the adult ants for other insect prey is apparently PTO
for the growth and energetic needs of the ant colony. A veritable Journey to the Center of the Earth
ETHNOZOOCRIMINOLOGY
B. Berlin forwards the following report from Ted Mann’s column in Omni (Vol. 5, No. 6, March
1983), Canadian customs agents sought a less obtrusive means to sniff out contraband drug shipments
than the trained dogs widely employed south of the border. They embarked (sic.) upon an ambitious
experiment training gerbils to push a button activating a red light alerting the law at the first olfactory
hint of narcotics. “But before the gerbils could be deployed, tragedy struck. By accident, or perhaps
by crimi criminal design, the eight-rodent team was given contaminated water” and shortly were found
“paws up, on ob hottoak of their cage/barracks.” The project continues under tightened securi
98 NEWS AND COMMENTS Vol. 3,No. 1
WILL COTTONSEED OIL CURE CHAUVINISM
As reported by Don Carter in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dr. Guozhen Liu, member of the
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and staff member of the Capital Hospital in Peking, is in Seattle
to further his investigation of gossypol, a derivative of cottonseed oil, as a male contraceptive agent.
Chinese researchers first noted the association of gossypol and low fertility while investigating out-
breaks of an unfamiliar illness called by rural Chinese “the burning fever.” It was traced to the toxic
action of gossypol, a constituent of cottonseed oil which had been neutralized by traditional heat-
processing techniques of extracting the oil, but which remained in cold-pressed oil. An epidemiolog-
ical link to low fertility led to the discovery that very small does (50 milligrams per week) vil prevent
sperm production in the human male. Most subjects studied regained their fertility a few months after
terminating treatment, however, the possibility of permanent loss of fertility and other serious side
effects is the subject of continuing investigation. If the drug proves safe, Dr. Liu foresees it be oviding
a way to overcome one of the greatest obstacles to birth control, that is, “male chauvinism,” which
Liu believes inhibits adoption of the traditional male birth control measures, vasectomy and the
condom,
NOTICE TO AUTHORS
The Journal of Ethnobiology accepts papers on original research in ethnotaxonomy
and folk classification, ethnobotany, eth logy, cultural ecology, plant domestication,
zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, palynology, dendrochronology and ethnomedicine,
Authors should follow the format for article organization and bibliographies from articles
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If native language terminology is used as data, a consistent phonemic orthography
should be employed, unless a practical alphabet or a more narrow phonetic transcription
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should submit all appropriate material to Eugene Hunn, Department of Anthropology,
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CONTENTS
ee OO RN oe ge oe 6 hig ke kn oe Se ee eee eee i
THE ROLE OF PLANTS FOUND IN THE MEXICAN MARKETS AND
THEIR IMPORTANCE IN ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDIES,
Mere er a, Oe Pe OS eS ee ee wk se 8 ee 1-13
CHANGING SUBSISTENCE PRIORITIES AND EARLY SETTLEMENT
PATTERNS ON THE NORTH COAST OF PERU, Sheilia Pozorski .........- 15-38
POLLEN FROM ADOBE BRICK, Mary Kay O’Rourke .............00005 39-48
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF DOMESTICATED
CAPSICUM SPECIES, W. Hardy Eshbaugh, Sheldon I. Guttman
ROME AEM SRC ns SS eee 49-54
PUFFBALL USAGES AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
WHE Er ee ee 55-62
KEEPING OF STINGLESS BEES BY THE KAYAPO’
INDIAN OF BRAZIL, Darrell A. TOMO ea eo a ee ee 63-73
ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF SEASONALITY FROM
FRESHWATER FISH REMAINS: A QUANTITATIVE PROCEDURE
Darcy F. Morey 75-95
8. Sas Oe
sae dbs th Sage pea ark cada. PS oe Pe, Viale ee AS RECY AY coke a) Gey NMOL eg ee ee leer ea eer one ee wee Ao Sh
Journal of
Ethnobiology
JOURNAL ORGANIZATION
EDITOR: Willard Van Asdall, Department of General Biology, University of Arizona,
Tucson, Arizona 85721.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Karen R. Adams, Department of General Biology, University of
Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
PRESIDENT: Steven A. Weber, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsyl-
vania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Steven D. Emslie, Department of Zoology, University of
Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611.
NEWS AND COMMENTS EDITOR: Eugene Hunn, Department of Anthropology, DH-
05, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
BOOK REVIEW EDITORS: Richard S. Felger, Office of Arid Land Studies, University
of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 85721 and Charles H. Miksicek, Office of Arid Land
Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
EDITORIAL BOARD
BRENT BERLIN, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley,
California 94720; ethnotaxonomies, linguistics.
ROBERT A. BYE, JR., Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic
Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder; ethnobotany, ethnoecology.
RICHARD S. FELGER, Office of Arid Land Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson,
Arizona 85721; arid land ethnobotany, desert ecology.
RICHARD I. FORD, Director, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor; archeobotany, cultural ecology.
B. MILES GILBERT, Adjunct Research Associate, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology,
University of Kansas, Lawrence; zo oarchaeology.
TERENCE E. HAYS, Department of Anthropology and Geography, Rhode Island Col-
lege, Providence; ethnobotany, ethnotaxonomies.
RICHARD H. HEVLY, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University,
Flagstaff; archaeobotany, palynology.
EUGENE HUNN, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle;
ethnotaxonomies, zooarchaeology, cultural ecology.
HARRIET V. KUHNLEIN, Division of Human Nutrition, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver; ethnonutrition.
GARY P. NABHAN, Native Seeds/SEARCH, 3950 W. New York Drive, Tucson, Aine
85745, and Office of Arid Land Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
85721; cultural ecology, plant domestication.
DARRELL A. POSEY, Center of Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh
ethnoentomology, tropical cultural ecology.
AMADEO M. REA, Curator of Birds and Mammals, San Diego Museum of Natural
History; ethnotaxonomies, zooarchaeology, cultural ecology.
‘ a of watts is published semi-annually. Manuscripts for publication and information
“News and Comments” section should b i i ained on the in
beckinetibat ec uid be sent to the appropriate editor as explaine
ee etneerennntenentunnsniniiiensnentnuauecseuee
© Society of Ethnobiology
ISSN 0278-0771
Journal of
Ethnobiology
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 2 DECEMBER 1983
SKETCHES IN THE SAND
In an early recollection from childhood I see my older brothers and sisters practicing
homework using stubby pencils and wrapping paper which had been ironed smooth of
wrinkles to be copied later in pads of yellow paper. I also see my parents making prelim-
inary lists on wrapping paper then copying the final, pared-down versions on order blanks
from the mail order catalogues.
I was still a towheaded preschooler when I became aware that sometimes there’s a
need to communicate in writing or through drawings and there’s no pencil and paper
handy. During an exciting summer, after the hay was in the loft and the corn laid by,
my family resumed work on digging a basement for a new house. My father—“Dad” to
all his children and to all the kids in the community—had stopped work on the excavation
to instruct my older brothers how to shore up the collapsing walls. When both talk and
gestures produced only uncertain results, Dad solved the problem with sketches scratched
into the sand.
As far as I can recall, my first use of this handy technique happened after I had com-
pleted the first grade. By this time my hair had darkened and I was no longer called a
towhead, y mother—“Mom” to all the youngsters around—had been hailed to the
driveway by the honking of a horn. Mrs. “X”’, from town, had driven out to our farm for
butter and eggs. These transactions were made from the car, for although Mom always
invited her in for refreshments, Mrs. ‘‘X”’ protested that she was in a hurry. Both women
knew the real reason: likely the kitchen would appear a clutter with food in various states
of being processed—butter being churned, cottage cheese being drained, peas being can-
ned, strawberries being turned into jam. On this occassion Mom called me to the drive-
way to fetch the merchandise and to help with the figuring. I amused both my mother
and Mrs, ‘*x” by using my bare big toe to calculate in the sand the price of three dagen
of butter at 35c per pound and four dozen eggs at 27c a dozen. Knowing that Mrs. “X
often changed her mind deciding that on second thought she really could use more CB8s,
I hastily retreated for my mastery of multiplication tables ended at five and I didn’t
want to expose my limited arithmetic abilities!
By the time I was in the fifth grade my hair had darkened to a warm brown shade—
the same shade as certain strands in the coat of “Pete”, our pet racoon. During the week
after we had finished putting all the corn fodder in the shocks, my teacher told her ver-
Sion of the story of Dido and Aeneas, mentioning that it was part of a larger work—an
epic poem. And it was this vision of past glory that inspired my magnum opus in the
8enre of sand sketching. I determined to write an epic poem. :
The following Saturday, after spending the morning gathering and hulling walnuts,
I alternately scooted my behind and my knees along the footpath that led from the back
door of the house past the Chinese elm tree, three black walnut trees, a Maiden Blush
apple tree, and ended at the shed where we boiled down the juice from cane sorghum to
make molasses. Ags | gradually moved along the lengthy path (about half the length of a
football field) | managed to stain my faded overalls on the grass, wear out the seat of my
Pants and write a poem about the Huckleberry Queen, a local almost legendary rough-
and-tumble character who operated a berry picking camp about whom old-timers some
‘mes spoke in a vague, almost forgotten manner. So in my version she became a Potta-
Watomie Indian Princess who fell in love with and was abandoned by her French lover/
*xplorer and who then lived forever within the confines of the many bogs of the area.
Unfortunately for this work, I was unsuccessful in convincing family members to avoid
Ww ing on the path until I could copy my masterpiece on paper. Thus my sian i
Well be the longest in all history and also the shortest lived. Sketches in the sand are
Indeed ephemeral.
lt Was a revelation of high school years to learn, as | did when I first read ae
Steinbeck’, celebrated novel: ‘The Grapes of Wrath”, that my family had no monopoly
on using the earth as a slateboard. I recall being a bit miffed to learn that this craft was
not invented by my family and being forced reluctantly to accede that this was yet
another example of the adage that there’s nothing new under the sun. Since then, of
course, I have observed many rural folks engaged in this sort of activity and it has been
reported in the ethnobiological literature. Gary P. Nabhan gives an excellent example
(Papago Fields: Arid Lands Ethnobotany and Agricultural Ecology, unpubl. dissert.,
Univer. Arizona, 1983:164): “The positioning of brush weirs to control meanders, divert
water into fields from nearby channels, and encourage the deposition of floodwash is a
folk engineering science that Papago farmers often discuss among themselves. By drawing
diagrams in the dirt with sticks, they illustrate the logic of various brush weir placements.”
As a young adult changes in hormone balance (so I’m told) promoted the progressive
loss of my hair and after wearing a toupee for many years, I became liberated this past
summer. Sketches in the sand, like hair or at least our reaction to it, may be of tempor-
importance, may be an idle, self-satisfying activity, or may influence a family or
society for many years or decades. What better title for an editor’s column?
WV
J. Ethno biol. 3(2):99-108 December 1983
PREHISTORIC BIRD BONE
FROM THE BIG DITCH SITE, ARIZONA
ALAN FERG
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona j
Tucson, AZ 85721 vy
and
AMADEO M. REA
San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92112
ABSTRACT.—Fifteen individual bones and one nearly complete skeleton, representing eight
bird species, were recovered from the Big Ditch Site, a large Hohokam pithouse village in the
lower San Pedro River Valley, Pinal County, Arizona. Contexts date primarily from late
Santa Cruz and early Sacaton Phases, around A.D. 850-950. We present osteological and
provenience data for each bone and note other Hohokam occurrences for each species.
€ document a Northern Cardinal premaxilla from Big Ditch (dating apparently
around A.D. 550-700) and another premaxilla dating around A.D. 1150-1225 from a site
40 km upstream. The apparent absence of this species from southern Arizona prior to the
late 1800s leads us to suggest that brilliantly colored cardinals, like macaws, may have been
a prehistoric trade item to southern Arizona derived from somewhere farther south in Meso-
america,
INTRODUCTION
The Big Ditch Site (AZ BB:2:2 - ASM) is a Hohokam pithouse village located on the
second terrace above the east side of the San Pedro River. The locality is about 1.6 km
North of the river’s confluence with Aravaipa Creek in Pinal County, Arizona (Fig. 1). It
Was occupied from at least late Snaketown Phase times through the middle of the Seden-
tary Period (circa A.D. 500 to 1050 or 1100). This was possibly followed by a short
hiatus, succeded in turn by a Tanque Verde Phase occupation (circa A.D. 1150-1250).
Calendrical dates for periods and phases follow Haury (1976: Table 16:1). The earliest
Sccupation at Big Ditch is represented by at least several pithouses, with the greatest
extent of the village occuring during the late Santa Cruz and early Sacaton Phases, about
A.D. 850-950. At present, it is estimated that as many as 25-30 pithouses may have been
ccupied contemporaneously at the height of occupation, with the absolute number of
Structures at the site being much greater (Masse 1980a:208, 216). A ballcourt was also
Present at the site during this maximum occupation.
As of this writing, nine pithouses and some thirty cremation deposits have been
excavated, with test excavations made in six areas of sheet trash and in four of the 48
Yash mounds at the site. This excavation probably represents less than 5% of the areal
“xtent of the Big Ditch Site (Masse 1980a: 208).
Located in the Lower Sonoran Life Zone (Lowe 1964) at an elevation of approxi-
Mate]
ake, a small marshy body of water that attracts water birds. This natural lake was
Probably available to water fowl prehistorically as well. ;
© report here one bird bone recovered during the 1974-1975 excavations directed
by Dudley Meade, and all of the bird bones recovered during the 1975-1977 excavations
directed by W. Bruce Masse, Arizona College of Technology Archaeological Field School
5 elements and one virtually complete skeleton; Table 1). In the following text and os
Table 1, reference is made to upper, middle, lower and floor fill in pithouses. Floor fill
FERG & REA Vol. 3, No. 2
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is defined as the 10 cm of fill immediately above the pithouse floor, and is so segregated
because of its potential for containing materials that were on or near the floor when the
structure was abandoned. This is distinct from the rest of the pithouse fill, which,
although it contains cultural material, has usually washed in from adjacent areas or ee
thrown in as trash, and is consequently of little or no use in interpreting activities in ios
pithouse. It must be stressed that “floor fill” too can consist of materials thrown OF
washed into an abandoned structure, which may actually be more closely related (con-
textually) to items above them, rather than to anything on the floor. The two fragments
of a Snow Goose humerus discussed below illustrate this well. The species descriptions
below are presented in phylogenetic order following the American Ornithologists’ Unio"
Check-List of North American Birds (1 ;
SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens) 4
ght humerus and part of the shaft of the same bone were rec
The distal end of a ri e
ered from the floor fill and lower fill, respectively, of House 3. Both pieces we pre’
(except for the tip of the articular end). A presumed food item, this species is dis
December 1983
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
TABLE 1.—Tabulation of bird bone from the Big Ditch Site (AZ BB:2:2- ASM).
SPECIES
Anser caerulescens
Buteo jamaicensis
Callipepla gambelii
Quail, sp?
Zenaida ma croura
Geococcyx californianus
Tyto alba
Salpinctes o bsoletus
C; . *.
ardinalis cardinalis
CA Sigeas cee OSM SS LER ME
ELEMENTS
humerus (R)
1 skeleton
femur (L)
coracoid (R)
coracoid (R)
coracoid (L)
sternum
radius (R)
femur (R)
coracoid (R)
humerus (R)
tibiotarsus (L)
ungual phalanx
ulna (L)
humerus (L)
ulna (L)
premaxilla
PROVENIENCE
AGE
House 3, lower and
floor fill
animal burrow (non-
cultural) in Excava-
tion Area 6
House 2, middle-
upper fill
House 2, floor
House 2, floor
House 2, floor
House 2, floor
Trash Mound 1,
Level 3
House 4, floor fill
House 4, fill
House 2, middle-
upper fill
House 2, middle-
upper fill
House 7, lower fill
House 1, upper fill
House 2, floor
House 2, floor
Found in child’s
burial in or below
Trash Mound 1
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz or
earlier
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz
Tanque Verde
Tanque Verde (?)
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz
Sacaton or Tanque
Verde
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Santa Cruz/
Sacaton
Gila Butte (?)
102 FERG & REA Vol. 3, No. 2
guishable from the similar sized Anser albifrons (White-fronted Goose) by the shape of
the internal and external condyle and of the intercondylar furrow. This bird would have
been a winter visitor, available between October and March (Phillips et al. 1964:11).
Anser “hyperborea” and Anser caerulescens are the white and dark morphs, respectively,
of a single species, once thought to represent two populations (A.O.U. Committee 1973).
Generic usage follows Mayr and Short (1970), Phillips, et al. (1964) and Rea (1983).
The only other Hohokam site that has produced Snow Goose bones is Snaketown,
Where McKusick (1976) reported (as Chen hyperborea) four occurrences from the Pio-
neer Period (300 B.C.-A.D. 550), considerably earlier than this Santa Cruz/Sacaton Phase
specimen (circa A.D. 850-950). We have examined the Snaketown Phase (A.D. 350-550)
perforated furcula listed as “Blue Goose (?)”’ from the 1934-1935 excavations at Snake-
town (Gladwin, et al. 1937:Plate CXXIXc - ASM Cat. No. GP-47549), and find it is in
fact a White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons). This latter bone is distinguishable from the
furculae of Snow Goose, Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), and Ross’ Goose (Anser
rossii) by the strong intermuscular lines on the interior surface which continue to the
apex of its very pronounced furcular process. Also, the large pneumatic foramen in the
ramus of A. albifrons is absent in the other three species. This is the only bird bone that
has survived from the first dig at Snaketown, undoubtedly because it was worked.
Other Southwestern cultural groups also used geese furculae for pendants. Four
perforated Canada Goose furculae, the two illustrated being virtually identical to the
White-fronted Goose specimen from Snaketown, were found in the A.D. 1300s deposits
at Pindi Pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico (Stubbs and Stallings 1953:138, Plate 34h).
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
A single, almost complete skeleton of a Red-tailed Hawk was found partially arti-
culated in an animal burrow in Excavation Area 6. All major elements were present
except the left humerus, the right coracoid, the right carpometacarpus, both scapulae
and the mandible. The specimen was compared with other expected buteonine species
Hawk), and Buteogallus anthracinus (Common Black Hawk). Although this specimen
is non-cultural, the burrow mouth was sealed by Santa Cruz/Sacaton Phase trash and it
can be considered of Santa Cruz age (A.D. 700-900) or slightly earlier. Red-tailed Hawks
are year around residents virtually statewide in Arizona.
Culturally deposited remains of Red-tailed Hawk of an approximately equal age have
been found at the Cemetary Ridge Site along the middle Santa Cruz River (S. Olsen
1977:178), dating around A.D. 900. Utilization of all species of hawks and eagles is
much greater during the Classic Period, at which time they often show up as single or
multiple burials (Bradly 1979:10; Emslie and Hargrave 1979:123-126; Ferg, in pressi
Fewkes 1912:91, 93; Gerald 1975: 190; McKusick 1976; Mills and Mills 1969:136; Spar-
ling 1974:237), Additionally, from a site near Santan, McKusick identified a Swainson’s
Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk burial (materials and notes in the Additional Site Information
File for AZ U:14:8 at the Arizona State Museum). Found in a trash mound, associated
with primarily Santa Cruz and Sacaton Red-on-buff sherds, this burial may be intrusive
into the mound and actually of Classic Period age, ;
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Gambel’s Quail (Callipepla gambelit)
Four bones representing at least two individuals were collected in House 2. The
tg left femur, one left and two right coracoids all date to Santa Cruz/Sacaton
mes. As might be expected from this quail’s wide distribution and its relative ¢as¢ 2
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 103
hunting and trapping, bones from this ready source of meat are found in Hohokam sites
of virtually all ages. Of the two quail species expected from the San Pedro drainage, the
Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata) is partial to grasslands and Gambel’s Quail to mesquite
and cactus (Phillips et al. 1964; Rea 1973; Gavin and Sowls 1975). Because of the pre-
sence here of the Gambel’s Quail, it would appear that there were probably no grasslands
in the immediate vicinity of the Big Ditch Site. Generic usage follows Phillips et al.
(1964), Mayr and Short (1970) and Rea (1983).
Unidentifiable Quail
Three quail bones (a partial sternum, a distal right radius and a partial right femur
shaft) were too fragmentary to be identified as either Scaled Quail or Gambel’s Quail.
The sternum from House 2 may well be from a Gambel’s Quail in that the other four
quail bones from this pithouse are Gambel’s.
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
The right coracoid of a Mourning Dove was found in the fill of House 4 and is
probably Tanque Verde Phase in age (A.D. 1150-1250). This bird would have been a
year around resident in the San Pedro Valley and is distinguished osteologically from
its close relative the White-wing Dove (Z. asiatica) by smaller size. i
Various archaeological finds of Mourning Dove have been made, including speci-
mens of both older and younger age than the Big Ditch specimen, from Snaketown
(McKusick 1976), Ventana Cave (Haury, et al. 1950:Table 11), the Davis Ranch Site
(Gerald 1975:Table 3), and the Hardy Site (Gregonis, in prep.; Gregonis and Reinhard
979). Mourning Doves, like quail, were probably utilized as a food resource.
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) -
This full-time resident of southern Arizona is represented by a distal left tibiotarsus
and a distal right humerus. Both are from the middle-upper fill of House 2 and could
well be from the same individual. ec
Archaeologically, the Roadrunner, too, is present at a number of sites, in oe
both older and younger than the Big Ditch specimens, including Snaketown a5 9
1976), Ventana Cave (Haury et al. 1950:Table 11), the Davis Ranch Site (Gera 7 4te :
Table 3), Las Colinas (Rea 1981), Pisinimo (Masse 1980b:270) and the University In a
Ruin (Ferg, in press). Roadrunner feathers continue to be used in eae
items, but among historic Pimans they were avoided as being a source of sickness
etal. 1974),
Order: Strigiformes
Hee Tytonidae
arn Owl (Tyto alba
One sehen sco phalanx (claw) was recovered from the lower a ae ie
700-900) age fill of House 7, and the distal end of a left ulna came from the pee
Tanque Verde age upper fill of House 1. Barn Owls are permanent residents in the San
Pedro Valley. ee
The only other known archaeological occurrences of the Barn Ow! in a Hoho ae
site are three bones from the upper (dry) midden (levels 1 through 4) in siting a8 9
at Ventana Cave (Haury et al. 1950:Table 11). While these bones are proba y CS 7
Hohokam Occupation, because of the considerable mixing of the upper deposits (Haury
104 FERG & REA Vol. 3, No. 2
et al. 1950:341-342) all that can be said with certainty is that they probably date after
about A.D. 1. Upper level bones could relate to Papago use of the cave, or could even
be post-occupational (as the White-wing Dove may be; see Rea 1983:159-160).
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Troglodytidae
Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus)
A complete left humerus and left ulna were found on the floor of House 2. Both
bones are well preserved and appear to be from the same individual. These are larger
than the Cafion Wren (Catherpes mexicanus) and Bewick’s Wren (Troglodytes bewickii).
This bird is probably a full-time resident in the San Pedro Valley, and prefers living in
cliffs, hills, and even in areas with high dirt banks. No other archaeological specimens
are known for the Hohokam area.
Family: Emberizidae
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
During the 1974-1975 work at Big Ditch, the premaxilla of a Northern Cardinal
was found, apparently associated with what is seemingly a Gila Butte Phase (A.D. 550-
700) burial in or below Trash Mound 1. The burial was that of a child, three to six years
of age, with Gila Butte Red-on-buff ceramics in the lower fill of the grave (Dudley Meade,
pers. comm.),
Only two other prehistoric occurrences of the Northern Cardinal in Arizona are
known, The first is from another Hohokam site, Alder Wash Ruin (AZ BB:6:9 - ASM),
located 40 km upstream (south) from Big Ditch, on the west bank of the San Pedro River
(Fig. 1). This specimen is also a premaxilla, but dates to about A.D. 1150-1225, having
been found on the floor of an early Classic Period pithouse, House 17 (Masse, in prep;
Johnson n.d.a.).
Three Northern Cardinal elements (one mandible and one right tibiotarsus with an
associated terminal phalanx) have been reported from the fourteenth century Grass-
hopper Pueblo (AZ P:14:1 - ASM) in the White Mountains of east-central Arizona (J.
Olsen 1980: 163-164; 1982:66). None show any modification.
The bill of the related Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus) is quite differently shaped,
Both Hohokam archaeological specimens are illustrated in Fig. 2, along with modern
specimens of the Northern Cardinal and Pyrrhuloxia.
DISCUSSION
All eight bird species in the archaeological assemblage (including the non-cultural
Red-tailed Hawk) can be found year-round in the vicinity of the site today, except for
the winter visitor Snow Goose, Although the Northern Cardinal is now a common rest
dent of southeastern Arizona north to the Mogollon Rim, such was apparently not always
the case. Phillips (1968:151) notes that “This gorgeous bird, apparently rare and loc
in the early 1870’s and conceivably absent from Arizona a few years before, had spread
by 1885 north to the Agua Fria River.” Its colonization of the Big Sandy-Bill Williams
drainage has occurred since about 1940 (Monson and Phillips 1981). A similar recent
. An alternative (and not mutually exclusive) expla-
ardinal beaks represent the remains of live birds of
“original” ranige, Iw pirchigtiets Hohokam area from somewhere farther south, in ie
is Macale oben a as oric times. It has been well documented that other birds, su
*, obtained originally from far to the south in Mesoamerica, were traded into the
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 105
FIG, 2, —Dorsal, lateral, and palatal views of (A) modern Pyrrhuloxia skull (No. 6202 in the University
of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Bird Collection), (B) prehistoric Nor-
thern Cardinal premaxilla from Alder Wash Ruin (AZ BB:6:9), (C) prehistoric Northern Cardinal
Premaxilla from Big Ditch Site (AZ BB:2:2), (D) modern Northern Cardinal skull (No. 11840 in the
University of Arizona Department of Ecolosy and Evolutionary Biology Bird Collection).
106 FERG & REA Vol. 3, No. 2
Southwest (Hargrave 1970). Presumably the Cardinals traded would have been the males
with their brilliant red plumage and bills.
With the present data it is not possible to say whether the Cardinal was a trade item
or occurred naturally on the San Pedro in prehistoric times. The reinvasion hypothesis
is unlikely. Archaeological dry cave deposits in the Hohokam area could yield identifi-
able Cardinal feathers, but so far have not, to the best of our knowledge. The recovery
of Cardinal bones or feathers from dated prehistoric but non-cultural deposits, such as
fossil packrat middens, would argue strongly for the natural presence of Cardinals in
Arizona prior to the late 1800s. Again though, no such specimens are presently known.
he distribution of bird bones within the site also merits some comment. Of the
sixteen bird bones reported here (the non-cultural Red-tailed Hawk being excluded), over
half (nine bones or 56%) came from a single provenience, House 2 (Table 1). Of these,
six bones representing at least two Gambel’s Quail and one Rock Wren, were directly
associated with the floor. Although the fill of House 2 represented the largest single
trash deposit excavated at the site, virtually all proveniences were screened through 4
inch mesh screens (Masse, pers. comm.), hence the high proportion of bird bones in
House 2 cannot be dismissed as a problem in the manner in which the various proven-
iences were sampled. When the analysis of the complete floor assemblage (including all
artifactual, floral and faunal materials) is completed by Masse, some further comments
on this distributional situation may be possible.
A second notable relationship is that only two (12.5%) of the bones were recovered
from non-pithouse proveniences even though the sampled trash mounds produced large
quantities of large and small mammal bones. It is uncertain whether this restricted dis-
tribution of bird bone at the site is the result of cultural practices or of differential pre-
servation of bird bone in different types of features.
Finally, from the 1975-1977 excavations, 2618 mammal bones were recovered,
820 of which were considered identifiable (Johngon n.d.b). Accordingly, bird bone
(15 elements) represents 0.6% of all recovered bone, and 1.8% of all identifiable bone.
no large, analyzed faunal assemblages from Hohokam sites with which to compare these
figures. They are noted here for comparison with any future faunal reports which may
be sufficiently clearly presented that similar proportions may be calculated from them.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dudley Meade of Central Arizona College, Coolidge, kindly loaned us the Northern Cardinal
beak found at the Big Ditch Site and provided information on its provenience. W. Bruce Masse of
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, provided all data for the 1975-1977 excavations. Bruce
also read and made valuable suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper. Ronald J. Beckwith, At
zona State Museum, University of Arizona, drafted the locality map, and Alison Habel of Fuchs
photographed the Cardinal premaxillae (the negatives are accession maker 80-27 at the Arizona
tate Museum, Tucson),
LITERATURE CITED
Ba ei ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. DAVID I. LOPEZ and ALBERT ALVAREZ.
6 ‘as Check-list of North American birds. 1974. Piman shamanism and Staying Sick-
: €dition. Lord Baltimore Press, Inc., ness (Kd:cim Mimkidag). Univ. Arizona
Press, Tucson.
BRADLEY, BRUCE. 1979. Arizona BB:11:2
ci —Redington Ruin: report on the nanos
Ng ast © the American Orni- of Feature No. 1. Unpubl. Ms. deposited @
thologists Union Check-list of North Amer- Arizona State ae Library, Univ.
Peg birds, Auk 90:411-419, Arizona Tucson
R, DONALD M., JUAN GREGORIO, EMSLIE, STEVEN D. and LYNDON L. HAR
Baltimore,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTs’ UNION
CHECK-LIST COMMITTEE, 1973, Thirty -
second supple
December 1983
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 107
LITERATURE CITED ( continued)
RAVE. 1979. Avifauna from the Curtis
Site, southeastern Arizona. Kiva 44(2-3):
£23-151,
FERG, ALAN. in press. Avifauna of the Uni-
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FEWKES, J.W. 1912. Casa Grande, Arizona.
a Annu. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., Wash-
ngton, D.C.
GAVIN, THOMAS A. and LYLE K. SOWLS.
75. Avian fauna of a San Pedro Valley
gan forest. J. Arizona Acad. Sci. 10
(10): 33-41,
GE pe REX ERVIN. 1975. Drought cor-
related changes in two prehistoric pueblo
communities in southeastern Arizona. Un-
publ. Ph.D. dissert. (Anthr.), Univ. ae
GLADWIN, H.S., EMIL W. HAURY, EDWIN
B. SAYLES, - NORA pee ah 1937.
Excavations at Snaketown: material culture.
Medallion Papers 25, Gila Pueblo, Globe,
izona.
GREGONIS, LINDA M. in prep. The Hardy
ite at Fort Lowell Park.
GREGONIS, LINDA M. and KARL J. REIN-
HARD, 1979. Hohokam Indians of the
Tucson Basin. Univ. Arizona Press, Tucson.
HARGRAVE, LYNDON L, 1970, Mexican
macaws: comparative osteology and survey
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HAURY, EMIL W. 1976. ae Hohokam:
desert farmers & craftsmen. Univ. Arizona
Press, Tucson.
HAURY, EMIL W., K. BRYAN, E.H. COL-
1950. The stratigraphy
and archaeology of Ventana Cave, Arizona.
Univ. Arizona Press and Univ. New Mexico
Press, een and Albuquerque.
JOHNSON, AUL C. n.d.a An analysis of
animal Temains from Alder Wash Ruin
(BB:6:9) and the Dos Bisnagas Site (BB:
6:6). Appendix D, in The Pe eppersauce
Wash Project: excavations at three multi-
Arizona State Museum, Univ.
Arizona, ns
ue repaalee Archaeological fauna from
the Big Sia Site, Unpubl. Ms. deposited
with the author.
LOWE, CHARLES H. (ed.). 1964. The verte-
aie 8 of Arizona. Univ. Arizona Press,
Meta CHARMION RANDOLPH. 1976.
Avifauna. Pp. 374-377, in The Hohokam:
desert farmers & craftsmen (Emil W. Haury).
Univ, Arizona Press, Tucson.
MASSE, W. BRUCE. 1980a. The Hohokam of
the lower San Pedro Valley and the northern
ceedings of a symposium (David Doyel and
Fred Plog, eds.). Arizona Sou Univ.
Anthrop. Res. Papers 23, T
1980b Sissies « at Gu Achi:
a résgabeinel of Hohokam settlement and
subsistence in the Arizona Papagueria.
Western Archaeol. Center Publ. Anthr.
12. National Park Service, Tucso
e Peppersauce Wash
nent sites in the lower San Pedro Valley,
i ntr. to Highway Salvage Arch.
in Arizona 53. Arizona State Museum,
Univ. Arizona, Tucson.
MAYR, “ERNST and LESTER L. SHORT.
1970 patnh taxa of North American
birds: a contribution comparative sys-
tematics, Publ Nuttall. Ceak Club 9.
MILLS, JACK P. and VERA M. MILLS.
1969. The Kuykendall Site: a prehistoric
Salado village in southeastern Arizona.
1981. Annotated checklist of the birds of
Arizona, 2nd edition. Univ. Arizona Press,
Tucson.
OLSEN, JOHN W. 1980. A zooarchaeological
analysis of vertebrate faunal remains from
the Grasshopper Pueblo, Arizona. Univ.
Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor
1982. Prehistoric environmental
seouietruction by wees ar analy-
3-
sis, Grasshopper Pueblo. 63-72, in
ieee research at ‘ sshopper
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Sally J. Holbrook and Michael W. ves.
eds.). Anthrop. Papers ie Arizona 40,
Tucson.
OLSEN, SANDI L. 1977. Faunal analysis of
Museum, Univ. Arizona,
Tucson.
PHILLIPS, ALLAN R. 1968. The instability
of the distribution of land birds in the
Southwest. Pp. 129-162, im Collected
108 FERG & REA Vol. 3, No. 2
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
papers in honor of Lyndon Lane Hargrave ——_——. 1983. Once a river: bird life and
ee H. Schroeder, ed.) Papers Arch- habitat changes on the middle Gila. Univ.
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PAILLIS, ALLAN, JOE MARSHALL and SPARLING, JOHN B. 1974. Analysis of
SON. see The birds of faunal remains from the Escalante Ruin
pete Univ. Arizona Press, Tucson. Group. Pp. 215-253, in Excavations in the
REA, AMADEO M. 1973. The Scaled Quail Escalante Ruin Group (David E. Doyel).
ee squamata) of the Southwest: Arizona State Mus. Archaeol. Ser. 37.
and historical consideration. Arizona State Museum, Univ. Arizona,
Hiei 758) “4 $29. ucson.
AES Ms Avian remains from Las STUBBS, STANLEY A. and W.S. STALLINGS,
Colinas, “is = 302, in The 1968 exca- JR. 1953. The excavation of Pindi Pueblo,
vations at Mound 8, Las Colinas Ruins New Mexico. Monographs of the School of
Group, Phoenix, Arizona (Laurens am- American Research and the Laboratory of
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State Mus. Archaeol. Ser. 154. Arizona
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laine neneei i ee)
J. Ethnobiol. 3(2):109-120 December 1983
lenin a
AN ETHNOBOTANICAL AN OMALY:
THE DEARTH OF BINOMIAL SPECIFICS IN A FOLK TAXONOMY
OF A NEGRITO HUNTER-GATHERER SOCIETY
IN THE PHILIPPINES
THOMAS N. HEADLAND
Summer Institute of Linguistics
Box 2270, Manila, Philippines
Berlin. While the Agta data substantiate the Berlin model in most aspects, there is one
salient area of conflict. The model proposes that specific biological taxa in any language
are composed of binomials. It is argued here that the Agta case is an anomaly, in that their
specific plant taxa are monomials, Four hypotheses are proposed as possible explanations
for this anomaly.
INTRODUCTION
Certain cognitive anthropologists, particularly Brent Berlin and his associates, argue
that in any ethnobiological taxonomy the specific taxa (those found at the third level of
taxonomy) are almost always binomial “secondary” lexemes. The suggestion is that
this “binomiality principle”’ (Berlin 1978:20) may be a human universal. Most of the
evidence published to date substantiates this hypothesis.
Data gathered by the present author and his wife in the 1970s, however, provide a
startling exception to the hypothesis. An analysis of an ethnobotanical taxonomy of the
ta Negritos found that of the sample of 143 specific taxa elicited from Agta infor-
mants, only five were binomials, and none of these were secondary lexemes. Further-
more, to the author’s knowledge, no secondary biological lexemes were found to occur
in the Agta language, except for the two varietal taxa mentioned in Note 3.
After an introductory description of the Agta sociocultural system, including their
natural environment, economy, language, and their relationship with the flora and vege-
tation, a brief description is presented of their folk plant taxonomy. A comparison will
be made between that Agta taxonomy and the Berlin model. Emphasis will be placed on
the one area where the Agta data deviate from the model. Four hypotheses will be pro-
Posed herein as possible explanations for this Agta anomaly.
THE AGTA CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
The culture. The Casiguran Agta, or Casiguran Dumagat, are one of approximately
25 different Negrito populations found in the Philippines today. The Casiguran cane
a hunter-gatherer society which numbered 621 in 1977. Most of these live in one o ;
band areas in or near the Casiguran Valley in Aurora Province, on the eastern coast ©
Luzon Island. The Agta are seminomadic. Their temporary settlements are typically
“omposed of from three to seven kinship-related nuclear households, located either along
Watersheds in the foothills of the heavily rain-forested Sierra Madre or along the beaches
of the seacoast,
The environment. The geographical boundaries of the Casiguran Agta circumscribe
an area of 700 km2, Elevation ranges from sea level to a maximum of 1100 m. easing!
annual rainfall is 378\cm. The temperature ranges from an annual normal maximum fe)
.C, to an annual normal minimum of 22 C. About half of the area is still covered by
Primary Dipterocarp rainforest, although most of this has been thinned of the Nai ri
by loggers during the past twenty years. The Agta are today greatly outnumbere mee:
Sowing population of Filipino immigrant farmers, who now number some 30,000.
110 HEADLAND Vol. 3, No. 2
Economic pursuits. Since at least the early Spanish era the economic activities of the
Agta have been, for the men, hunting and fishing and, for the women, shellfishing, gather-
ing wild yams (Dioscorea spp.), and extracting starch from a wild palm called agel (Cary-
ota cummingii). Throughout the same period, a major aspect of their economics has
involved the symbiotic relationship between the Agta and their lowland Filipino farming
neighbors. This is manifested in heavy trading between the two populations. For at
least the last hundred years, if not long before, the Agta have practiced very marginal
swidden cultivation. Only about 4% of their starch foods comes from their own gardens
(Rai 1982:171). Today, Agta women spend little time in the gathering of wild carbohy-
drate foods, since rice, secured from the non-Agta framers for which the Agta exchange
meat, forest plants, or labor, is now their main staple.
Linguistic note. The Casiguran Agta speak their own distinct language, which be-
longs to the Northern Cordilleran subfamily of Austronesian (Tharp 1974). This langu-
age, hereinafter called Casiguran Agta, or simply Agta, is closely related to four sister
languages spoken in northeastern Luzon: Palanan Agta, Agta of Southeastern Cagayan,
Paranan, and Kasiguranin (Headland and Healey 1974, Headland 1975a). Casiguran Agta
shares 46% of its basic vocabulary with Tagalog, and 43% with Ilokano (Headland 1975a).
These are the two main trade languages of the area, and of most of Luzon Island.
In this paper, Agta terms are written phonemically. Glottal stop, which is predic-
table before initial vowel and after final vowels of utterances, and between certain vowel
sequences, is not symbolized. The mid close central vowel (the so-called Austronesian
‘pepet’ vowel) is written as é, and the velar nasal is written as ng. (For a full description
of Agta phonology, see Headland and Headland 1974:xii-xxvii, Headland and Healey
1974: 4-19, and Headland and Wolfenden 1967.)
Agta culture in relation to the flora. The Agta, a forest-dwelling group of hunters
and gatherers, have an in-depth knowledge of the diverse flora in their environment.
Merrill (1967:61) recognizes 8120 species of Philippine plants in 1524 genera. Eighty-
six percent of the genera are indigenous (1308/1524), with 3% of these being endemic
(35/1308). Ninety-four percent of the species are indigenous (7620/8120), with 77%
of these identified as endemic (5832/7620). More recently, Zamora (1977:113) has
estimated that there are 12,000 plant species in the Philippines.
The Agta are heavily oriented to the tropical rain forest, with its thousands of plant
species. Agta adults can identify and name several hundred of these plants and, as Fox
(1953) has demonstrated for another Negrito group, at least a few hundred of these have
some cultural use. An Agta dictionary (Headland and Headland 1974) describes the
names and some uses of over 200 plants among the Casiguran Agta, with half of these
identified with their scientific equivalents,
The plant world is not, therefore
; ; » merely of peripheral interest to the Agta, but is
a central theme in their culture, comp
arable to the importance of the buffalo among the
Frake (1969:36) found 1400 plant ta
cribes 600 different plants named by the Negritos in Zambales and Tarlac provinces.
re Macaraya (1965) present a list of 700 Marahao plant names. Reid and
2 ck 2) list 385 Bontoc plant names. Vanoverbergh (1927) lists 750 plant names
no, and Pennoyer (1975) lists 915 for Taubuid. Conklin collected more than
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 111
1500 plants and plant terms among the Ifugao (1967:208), and more than 1800 plant
terms among the Hanunoo (1962: 129). Yen and Gutierrez, collected 210 botanical speci-
mens which are recognized by Tasaday informants, and they state that they “consider
that the main species of ethnobotanical value have been accounted for” with these 210
specimens (1967:135).
AN AGTA ETHNOBOTANICAL TAXONOMY
Employing a folk taxonomic model developed by Conklin (1954) and modified by
Berlin and his associates (Berlin 1976, 1977, 1978; Berlin et al. 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974:
25-45; Kay 1971), my wife and I elicited an Agta plant taxonomy, using seven Agta
informants. This was done during several periods of field work in the 1970s. While
Berlin’s model was generally confirmed, two important theoretical issues were encount-
assignment was found to be substantial among the Agta. (This issue is described in
Headland 1981b.) The second issue, described in the present paper, concerns the ap-
parent lack of secondary binomial lexemes in Agta plant taxa,
Initially, a limited sample of 108 plant taxa were taken from our Agta dictionary and
written onto separate three by five cards. Informants were then asked, in separate pri-
vate sessions, to sort the cards into piles they felt belonged together, for whatever reason.
After each informant had categorized the 108 cards into piles, he or she would, at our
Suggestion, continue to subdivide each pile into smaller piles until the finest subdivision
was reached. My wife and I took notes as informants explained to us their reasons for
the various categories,
The second elicitation method, described by Black (1969:174), was to ask the same
informants two basic questions: “What kinds of X are there?” and “Is Z one kind of SS at
With these two questions one may obtain a folk taxonomy, that is, “elicit sets of terms
ce determine inclusion and contrast relations among all terms elicited” (Black
1969: 188),
The initia] sample of 108 taxa was expanded to 203 when informants were ques-
tioned with Black’s method. The final sample of taxa used, then, was 203 (60 generic
taxa and 143 specific taxa). These 203 taxa are listed in Headland 1981b:77-85.
Clearly this small sample of plant taxa was not a random sample of the complete
Agta plant world, which would have been ideal had it been possible. Rather, the 108
taxa (later €xpanded to 203) were a biased sample, taken either from the Agta dictionary
(Headland and Headland 1974), or from plants with which we were familiar, as well =
additional Specific taxa added by informants when they were questioned with Black’s
method. Because the argument of this paper is derived from a sample, rather than the
Aire of Agta plant taxa, the conclusions, though persuasive, must be recognized as ten-
ative,
We worked in some detail with the three literate informants, at least four hours with
ech of these, and used both elicitation methods, Sessions with the four nonliterate
formants were each about two hours long. The nonliterate informants worked well
with Black’s method, but could only do the initial categorizing with the card ee
es In these cases we read the cards to the informants as they placed them into
Pules
The taxonomy, Our analysis revealed the emic Agta plant kingdom as composed of
three primary taxonomic levels, plus three intermediate taxonomic levels, plus sibs. ain
beginner level, whj cht we simply labeled ‘plant’ (since this level is not lexically realized
\ 3 Following the Berlin model, we named these seven levels as follows: Unique
beginner, life form, intermediate level A, intermediate level B, intermediate level C,
8neric, and specific,
=]
>
s
&
112 HEADLAND Vol. 3, No. 2
The term “unique beginner” refers to the most inclusive taxon of a taxonomy.
It is the label for the taxonomy, and is the only taxon at the highest level. It does not
occur in a contrast set, and it is usually not labeled linquistically (Kay 1971:87; Berlin
et al. 1973:215; Conklin 1962:128).
Life form taxa in Agta correspond to the definition proposed by Berlin (1976:384;
1978). Such taxa occur at the first level of the taxonomy, are few in number, are invari-
ably polytypic, are made up of primary lexemes, and are differentiated by stem habit.
ll Agta informants divided the plant world into three categories: herbs, vines, and
trees.
Intermediate level taxa refer to points in a taxonomy where nodes occur, but for
which there is no emic plant label (though there are usually generic descriptions, such as
‘herbs that bear fruit’, or ‘hollow trunk trees’). Such intermediate taxa are “covert cate-
gories which . . . represent groupings of generic names which are included in mid-level
taxa that have not been labeled by . . . plant lexemes” (Berlin et al. 1973:226).9 Our
Agta informants classified a number of plants into covert intermediate categories. Three
levels of such categories occured between the life form and generic taxa. (The details of
these are not pertinent to the argument of the present paper, and are thus not described
herein, Refer to Headland 1981b for a complete description of the Agta taxonomy.)
Generic taxa in Agta refer to plants which are readily perceived as different by any
lay person (which is not the case with specific taxa). Agta generic lexemes are all mono-
mials, and are included in one of the three life form taxa (with a few ambiguously affili-
ated exceptions). Agta generic taxa also correspond closely with the species in modern
biology. Psychologically, generic taxa are the most salient in the taxonomy; they were
the first terms our informants gave us in our early ethnobotanical inquiry, and they are
the first terms acquired by Agta children as they learn to name plants (Berlin 1978:17;
see also Stross 1974).
Specific taxa are those which are immediately included in generic taxa. Whereas
generic taxa represent perceptually distinct discontinuities in the biological world, speci
fic taxa are cognitively recognized primarily because of their cultural importance (Berlin
1978: 18). As Berlin states it, generic taxa are recognized “because they are there;”
specific taxa are recognized “because it is culturally important to do so” (1978:19).
Most specific taxa occur in sets of two or three members, although we have found Agta
specific sets of up to twenty and thirty members immediately included in some generics
of major importance (e.g., the generic Uway ‘rattan’ includes 22 specific types of rattan,
and the generic pahay ‘rice’ includes 31 specifics),
__ “fn most ethnobiological taxonomies, it has been found that most specific taxa are
binomial “secondary” lexemes, Conklin reported this to be the case for another Philip-
mials, Furthermore, there are no secondary lexemes in our data, except for the two var
a taxa im Note 3. Since this phenomenon is so contrary to expectations, we discuss #
in detail in the next section which is the heart of the issue and the thesis of this paper.
THE DEARTH OF BINOMIAL SPECIFICS IN AGTA
It is a basic hypothesis of Berlin that in any ethnobiological taxonomy the specific
taxa found at the specific level number three will be mostly binomial “secondary
— (Berlin et al..1973:218, 291, 299. 224, 240; 1974:27; Berlin 1976:390, 1977,
= papal Most of the published evidence to date seems to substantiate this i
128) 7 oe eee arr tie Philippines (Pennoyer 1975:209 and Conklin 1954:11/,
”
This appears not to be t
he case, however, i 5 generic taxa in ou!
sample of 60 generic plant n , in Agta. We found 25 g
ames that were polytypic. From these 25, we found a total
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 113
number of 143 specific plant taxa at level three.8 Of these 143 specific taxa, only five
are binomials. Furthermore, none of these are secondary lexemes, and there are no
secondary biological lexemes, to our knowledge, in the Agta language, except for the
two varietal taxa discussed in Note 3,
Of the 143 specific taxa, 65% are “simple primary lexemes,” 31% are “unproduc-
tive complex primary lexemes,” an © are “productive complex primary lexemes.”
(For definitions, see Note 1.) Only 4% of the Agta specific taxa in our sample are bino-
mials (5/143),
mials among the 143 Agta specific taxa in our sample, with four of these occuring with
the same attributive term, tunmay ‘genuine’. These are tunay a palago ‘genuine Dillenia’,
tunay a niyog ‘genuine coconut’, tunay a butag ‘genuine areca’, and tunay a maes ‘gen-
orn’,
To illustrate with just one example the difference between Tzeltal and Agta specific
lexemes, let us compare the form of the specific terms included in the generic taxon for
‘banana’ in both languages. In Tzeltal there are at least twelve specific classes of bananas,
all of which are binomial secondary lexemes (e.g., ‘white banana’, ‘genuine banana’, ‘wax
banana’, etc.) (Berlin 1977:84). Agta, on the other hand, has eighteen specific classes of
bananas, all of which are marked by primary monomial lexemes. Ten of these are simple
lexemes, and eight are unproductive lexemes.
FOUR HYPOTHESES FOR EXPLAINING THE ANOMALY
At this point the question is raised, why is the Agta case an anomaly in having so
few specific terms which are binomials?9 While more research is necessary before I will
be prepared to give a definitive answer to this question, four possible hypotheses may be
considered. These are presented here:
Hypothesis 1: Agta speakers tend not to use a lot of adjectives. Elsewhere (Head-
land 1981a) I have argued that although it is grammatically allowable, it is semantically
cumbersome in Agta to use more than one adjective or adverb in a phrase. Some langu-
“6°s actually favor the heavy use of noun modifiers as a rhetorical device for enhancing
“speech style. Koine Greek is a classic example of such a language. Banker (1980) also
reports that some of the Viet Nam languages string out their sentences with extra modi-
fying words to improve discourse style.
Agta, however, as well as several other Philippine languages, tends to be at the other
‘nd of the spectrum in its discourse style, Agta speakers are predisposed not to use a lot
of modifiers in their speech, It is rare, in Agta text materials, to find two adjectives in the
‘ame phrase. When too many adjectives are inserted into Agta speech, I have argued,
there is a resulting “information overload” (Headland 1981a) which causes communica-
4on blockage. This may be at least part of the reason for the dearth of binomial taxa in
Agta plant names. ;
Hypothesis 2: Agta specific taxa are monomials because the Agta are such skilled
*Pecialists on plants that they have long ago coined primary lexemes (rather than oat
sty lexemes) for even those plants at the specific level. This hypothesis concords wit
Zipf’s law (1949), which maintains that length of word varies inversely with its frequency
bid usage. That is, words that are used frequently will be shorter than words that are used
less freque tly.
€cil Brown (drawing from Berlin 1977:96), has developed a theoretical model to
€xplain the 8rowth (and decline) of certain types of biological terminologies in human
wcsties (Brown 1977:332, 1979:381, and Witkowski et al. 1981). Though ee
Not discuss any reasons as to why a language may have mostly binomial (or monomial) spec-
itics, his model does suggest why some languages may have many specific biological taxa,
114 HEADLAND Vol. 3, No. 2
while others have very few. To summarize this part of Brown’s model, more complex
societies tend to have more life form taxa, and fewer specific taxa, while simple societies
(like the Agta) would have the opposite tendencies (but cf. Waddy 1982:70).
The reason, then, that more complex societies (with more cultural-technological
development) have less specific taxa is they are not as intricately involved and dependent
upon the plant world. Berlin (1977:97), for example, points out that English speakers
reared in an urban environment have virtually no specific names for kinds of plants.
Brown’s model thus suggests that specific plant taxa are more highly salient in simple
forest societies.
Carrying Brown’s direction one step further, I would hypothesize that very simple
societies, such as the Agta, which consist of forest dwellers who are intimately involved
with and dependent upon their botanical environment, will not only have more specific
plant taxa in their vocabulary, but that a majority of those taxa will be primary mono-
mial lexemes. In the case of the Agta, therefore, I see them as skilled botanists, real folk
scientists in their own right. One manifestation of this is that they have monomial plant
exemes for most of the named plants in their environment. This includes their plant
taxa at the specific level.
It would be interesting to do a semantic study of automobile parts nomenclature as
it is used by professional mechanics in an auto repair shop, in contrast to how the same
parts might be used by the lay people in the same neighborhood. I would conjecture that
the lay people would use proportionately more secondary binomials for the same parts
for which the mechanics use primary monomials. James Spradley (1970) has shown the
complexity of terminology of certain restricted semantic domains in English, which are
known only by those who are specialists or practitioners of those customs to which the
domains pertain. Spradley does not discuss the ratio of monomials to binomials in his
examples, but his examples do illustrate the extreme argot which can be found in the
vocabulary of those who find the items referred to in that domain as important to them-
selves.
The Agta definitely find the items of the plant world as very important to their
lives—so important, I am suggesting, that they have simple monomial lexemes for even
many of their specific plant taxa. This fits with Berlin’s recent modification of his earlier
models that in some languages specific taxa of major cultural importance may be mono-
mial (Berlin 1976:392, 1978:20-21),
Hypothesis 3: Here the question is raised as to whether we are dealing here witha
phenomenon similar to what Hays asserts for the Ndumba: “Binomialization is culturally
the actual lexeme. Similarly, I do not believe that Agta plant lexemes correspond
what Pennoyer describes for another Philippine group: ‘In the Taubuid classificatory
system most plant names may be potentially modified by the addition of a second attr
butive word and then applied to a different (but somewhat similar) plant” (1975:209).
ht othesis 4: This hypothesis concords with a characteristic feature of the syntax
of Philippine languages in general. It is common in the syntax of Agta, as well as other
Philippine languages, to nominalize adjectives simply by using them in the nominal post
tion in a sentence. That is, adjectives may be used as nouns. For example, an Agta
speaker may refer to the smaller of two bolos being offered for sale ina market by sayin
to the vendor,
‘Alapen ko tu ketihek a sondang.’
take I the small bolo
‘T’ll take the small bolo.’
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 115
Although this sentence is perfectly grammatical, and would sound natural, the Agta
speaker would be more apt to omit the last word, ‘bolo’, and merely say, “Alapen ko tu
ketihek,” ‘I’ll take the small (one).’ This tendency in Philippine languages, for the
speaker to use an adjective as a noun, is especially common when the hearer knows from
the context what the speaker is referring to.
Thus, for example, the specific taxon binaybay ‘variety of rice’, may have originally
been called *binaybay a pahay (which means literally ‘sandy rice’). But later the generic
noun, pahay ‘rice’, was dropped, and the adjective binaybay became a nominalized plant
taxon for referring to this particular specific variety of rice.
There is one minor problem with this hypothesis. It implies that the Agta monomial
specific taxa are nominalized forms of known adjectives used elsewhere in the language.
But this is the case with only 24 of the 138 specific monomial taxa in our sample. Other
specific taxa may be recognized as having been borrowed from another language (usually
Tagalog, probably at the same time these cultigens were first introduced into Casiguran).
And some of those taxa have adjectival meanings in the languages from which they were
borrowed, but not in Agta (as e.g., the variety of cassava called merakel, which probably
comes from the English word ‘miracle’).. Other specific plant taxa have no meaning, to
our knowledge, in either Agta or any of the major Philippine languages in Luzon, other
than as present-day terms for Agta plant names. Hypothesis Four, then, suggests that
these latter terms were meaningful adjectives in Agta in the past, but those original mean-
ings are now extinct, and the forms remain today in the language only as terms for plant
taxa,
Admittedly, a strong case cannot be made for the apparent near-absence of binomial
specifics in Agta without first making collections of the total flora in the Casiguran area,
and then eliciting from informants all or most of their plant names, which could number
Over a thousand. The sample of plant taxa used in the present study is small, and tends
to include plants which are of cultural importance to the Agta. Berlin has more recently
hypothesized that taxa of “major cultural importance” may have monomial forms at the
Specific level (1976: 392, 1978:20-21). He has, however, also suggested to me (in per-
sonal correspondence in 1978) that if I were to elicit more taxa of plants of no cultural
utility, that I would find most of the specific level labels of these taxa to be a
While this may be possible, it must remain an open question for the present. ig
knowledge and experience regarding the Agta language lead me to believe that specific
binomials will be just as rare in a complete plant inventory as they are in the present
sample. It is rare for Agta speakers to modify nouns with more than one ee ina
Single phrase, Though grammatically allowable, it is semantically cumbersome to do so.
I would be even more surprised to find any Agta plant lexemes consisting of three, four
r five words, as Conklin found for the Hanunoo (1954: 128).
CONCLUSION
This paper has sketched how the Agta Negritos of the P hilippines break down their
ethnobotanical taxonomy into three main levels—life form, generic, and specific, as well
a8 several covert intermediate levels numbering up to three in some branches of the
taxonomy,
The theoretical issue of the paper is concerned with the observation that very few
of the plant taxa in the Agta data are composed of binomial lexemes. Agta plant regen
at the specific level (or at any level, for that matter) are mostly monomials. Only 4% 0
116 HEADLAND Vol. 3, No. 2
the specific taxa in the sample were binomials, and there were no secondary lexemes
found in the data. The issue concerns the conflict between the data and a basic hypo-
thesis of certain cognitive anthropologists that specific taxa in any folk taxonomy are
made up of mostly binomial secondary lexemes.
Four hypotheses were presented here as possible explanations as to why the Agta
case is an anomaly in having so few specific binomial terms. Hypothesis One suggested
that Agta has few plant binomials because the language as a whole tends to use adjec-
tives sparsely. Hypothesis Two suggested that the reason for the lack of binomials is
because the Agta are such skilled specialists on plants that they have primary monimial
lexemes for plants even at the specific level. Hypothesis Three suggested that the Agta
specific taxa are binomials, but that the second attributive words are only used uncom-
monly for emphasis. In other words, the binomials are there but the investigators failed
to notice them, This author rejects the possibility of Hypothesis Three being correct.
Hypothesis Four suggested that originally the monomial specific taxa in Agta were bino-
mials consisting of an adjective plus a noun. But because of the tendency in Agta for
adjectives to serve as nouns, the original generic nouns in the binomial taxa came to be
dropped, and the remaining adjectives became nominalized as the formal names for speci-
fic plant taxa.
There is a theoretical significance to the Agta data, as it has been described here.
This involves the discovery of a language group which does not appear to use binomial
lexemes for specific plant taxa. The major theoretician in the area of folk biological
taxonomies, Brent Berlin, has developed a widely accepted model which proposes that
the use of binomial specific taxa is a cultural universal. The present sample of Agta data,
however, contradicts that model. The point is, if the Agta lexicon fails to have binomial
lexemes for their specific taxa, it seems probable that other languages elsewhere do as
well. It would be interesting if future research shows that this phenomenon is limited to
languages spoken by so-called hunter-gatherer band-level societies, or is restricted to cer-
tain Philippine languages.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
e author conducted extensive field work among the Agta for most of the years from 1962 to
1979, under the auspices of the Summer Institute of Linguistics and the Philippine Ministry of east
tion and Culture. The data described in this paper were gathered in the field in November 1974,
— 1975, July 1977, and February 1978. I am indebted to the following Agta informants from
om we elicited the data: Didog Aduanan, Eleden Aduanan, Lito Aduanan, Alonso Kukuan, Pedong
iassaeses Erminya Pawisan, and Pompoék Sagunéd. The author is a fluent speaker of the Agta
, and all interviewing was done in that language.
LITERATURE CITED
BANKER, JOHN. 1980 How Can We Im- BERLIN, BRENT. 1976, The Concept of
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Livutest
nguistic Center, Dallas.) Amer. Ethnol, 3: 381-399.
December 1983
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 117
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8. General Pidcbiite of Classi-
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as -:1967, Ifugao Ethnobotany 1905-
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MACARAYA. 1965. | Maranao Plant
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STROSS, B. 1974. How Tzeltal ee
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THARP, JAMES A. "1974. The Northern
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WALLACE, BEN J. 1970. Hill and Valley
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cation from a Groote Eyelandt Aborigine’s
Point of View. J. Ethnobiol. 2:63-77
WALTON, CHARLES. 1979. A Philippine
guage Tree. Anthrop. Ling. 21(2):
70-98.
WERNER, OSWALD, and JOANN FENTON.
1981. Where Do Tree Terms
Come From? Man 16:1-14.
YEN, D.E., and HERMES G. ae
2. am
ZAMORA, PRESCILLANO M. 1977. RK
Primer on Philippine Plants. Filipino Heri-
tage 1:113-119
ZIPF, G.K. 1949. Human Behavior and the
Principle of Least Effort. Addison-Wesley,
Cambridge.
NOTES
ee Berlin defines two main types of lexemes, primary and secondary (1976: 397, 1978; Berlin
et al. 1973:217-219, 1974:28). Primary lexemes may be
of two types, simple primary, OF complex
primary. Complex primary lexemes may in turn be further subdivided as either cinprodictloe or pre"
eee pines a plant taxa consist of each of the three types of primary lexemes,
re, with examples from the Agta data, as well as from Eng li
“Simple primary as are unique, “single word’’ expre
egmentable).
”
able. monomorphemic (i.e., unse
Berlin’s defin-
sh.
ssions which are thin guistically unanaly2-
Conklin calls these “unitary simple ¢ lexemes”
=
(1962:122). pgeuiee of such ey in English folk biology are oak, pine, quail, we mid mgt
ples in Agta are biget ‘banana’, bulokto
with simple primary lexemes
nproductive complex
tically analyzable, bu
lexemes in our Agta sample. Most of
buhog ‘var. of rattan’, songsong-gabi ‘var
t ‘jade vine’, ogsa
sample of 203 bibs taxa, 97% of the generics (58/60) and 65% of the specifics (93/1
pri mary lexemes are polymorphemic (i.e., segmentable
: t no constituent of the term labels a taxon superordinate to t
tion. Conklin calls these “unitary complex lexemes.” Thus, poiso *
ples in English are jack-in-the-pulpit, Saito and cat-tail. There are 45 specific un
e, 32, are single words with frozen derivational affixes
tumadem ‘var. of rattan’, malagkit ‘var. agi rice’), Five more are reduplicated forms
(e.g., aso-aso ‘var. of rattan’ , ipit-ipit ‘var. of sonnel The eight forms are compound nouns (ip?
aro’). Thirty-one percent of the Agta
eer’, and nabneh ‘var. of © oid
pe are ee
) and are linguis-
he class in ae
specifics in our
n
sample are unproductive lexemes (45/ 143). seme is one generic which may be classed as an
ductive lexeme: makahiy
a ‘Mimosa pudica’, a term borrowed from Tagalog.
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 119
NOTES (continued)
Productive complex primary lexemes are also polymorphic and linguistically analyzable; however,
in contrast to the unproductive lexemes, one of the constituents always labels a superordinate taxon,
as tree in tulip tree. However, such nie. contrast directly with other taxa in the set which are
simple primary lexemes or complex primary lexemes (which may be productive or unproductive).
Examples in English are crabgrass, ata and pipevine. There are only five examples of produc-
tive lexemes in our sample, all of which are binomial specifics; and all of the binomial specifics in our
sample of Agta are productive lexemes. (These five samples are listed in Headland 1981b:9
Secondary lexemes are also polymorphemic and linguistically analyzable. They are, like produc-
tive primary forms, identifiable in that one of the constituents of such expressions is the same as the
category superordinate to the form in question. In this case, however, in contrast to productive
lexemes, secondary lexemes occur in contrast sets all of whose members are labeled by other secon-
dary lexemes which share the same superordinate constituent. An example of such a contrast set in
English is the set filled by the terms jack oak, post oak, scrub oak, blue oak, etc.
o our knowledge there are no pereny ae lexemes in Agta botanical taxa, except for the two
varietal taxa in Note 3. This phenomenon does not fit the Berlin model, which states that “specific
and varietal classes are labeled, with edict exceptions, by binomial secondary lexemes” (Berlin
1976: wt
It should be noted that Conklin does not Pughekeh ae between productive complex primary
lexemes and secondary lexemes in his model, b both types as “composite lexemes”’ (1962:
22).
es e traumatic culture change of the Agta since WWII has been described elsewhere (Head-
land and act 1974:xlviii; Headland 1975b; 1981b:2-13).
Berlin et al. describe a fourth level universal ethnobiological taxonomic category, called
vatietel, which is a further division 4 specific taxa. They state that this level is “rare in most folk
biological taxonomies” (1973:215, 16). We discovered yo one set of taxa at this varietal level,
two subvarieties of the species of taro called sampernando, Pie are ae a sampernando ‘white
sampernando taro’, and mengitet a sampernando, ‘dark sampernando ta
4, We hypothesize here that this three-part division of plants is universal for all Philippine
groups. It has been documented for the following Philippine groups: Subanun, Hanunoo, Taubuid,
and Gaddang (Conklin 1957:44; Frake 1969:36-37; Wallace 1970:10; Pennoyer 1975:210), and
several colleagues of the Summer Institute ks Linguistics have verified to us that this same ‘herb-
vine-tree’ trichotomy exists in other groups in the Philippines. This contrasts with a two-part divi-
sion at the life form level for the Aborigines on Groote Eylandt, Australia (Waddy 1982:70), a four-
Part division for the Tzeltal and the Aguaruna (Berlin et al. 1973:219; Berlin 1976:385), and a five-
Part division for the Papago (Mathiot 1964:156, 158) and the Ndumba of New Guinea (Hays 1976:
506, n.4), For a possible exception to this hypothesized universal, see Reid and Madulid (1972:2),
and Headland (1981b:96, n.17)
5. t every researcher handles the covert nodes in folk taxonomical studies. Conklin, for
ap eae found intermediate levels ina Hanunoo plant taxonomy, but did not include them as levels
in the taxonomy, because these eg Aer of plants were not Aa ‘according to a structured
Sle logetuneccinani. system” (1954:97). Berlin et al., however, argue that these unlabeled
covert categories are of crucial taxonomic significance, and that fe a area al re)
domain is actually obscured if one focuses solely on lexically labeled units’’ (1968: 29 0).
to the name j nN question, and the other i which is an attributive. This is synonymous with what
Conklin calls “composite lexemes ... or more aepaent of which... aoheeesinaaes categories super-
Ordinate to those designated ‘eg a ila in question” (1962: 122). In Berlin’s model, all pmnenerdd
lexemes and productive primary lexemes are binomials. There were only five binomials discovered in
Agta.
For the Hanunoo, Conklin states, “Of the total inventory of 1625 Hanunoo ae type
names, 1054, or sb twoithinds: consist of an initial basic name followed by one or more attributive
120 HEADLAND Vol. 3, No. 2
NOTES (continued)
units (961 types have only one such attribute, 87 have two, eight have three, and only two have four)”
(1954: 128), For the Taubuid, Pennoyer states, “Most plant names may be potentially modified by the
addition of a second attributive word and then applied to a different (but somewhat similar) plant”
(1975: 209
8. There are, of course, more than 143 specific plant taxa in Agta. These 143 extend only
from our original sample of 108 plant lexemes. (This sample was later expanded to 203 pepe
informants, being questioned with Black’s elicitation method, added lexemes to the original samp
9. The Zambales Negritos of western Luzon also appear to have very few binomial plant taxa.
Peter Brosius elicited approximately 300 plant terms in 1980, during his study of the responses of this
population to deforestation (Brosius 1981). His sample includes specific terms for 34 varieties of
banana, 16 of sweet potato, 16 of rattan, 15 of rice, 9 of taro, 8 of yam, 8 of sik and 4 of wild
banana. Of these 110 specific terms, only 5 are binomials (Brosius, personal communic on).
is Negrito group lives to the immediate southwest of the population studied a ‘os (1953).
It hou be noted that the Zambales Negritos are geographically isolated from the Casiguran Agta.
They have no social interaction, and their languages, though both Austronesian, are not closely re-
lated. The mind d vocabulary between Casiguran Agta and Botolan Sambal, which is spoken both by
the lowland Filipinos and the Negritos in the municipality of Botolan, is 46% (Walton 1979).
10. A final answer to this question may be soon forthcoming. Melinda S. Allen, an ethno-
botanist from the University of Hawaii, conducted a seven month field study of Agta ethnobotany in
Cagayan Province in 1981. Allen is a co-investigator of an NSF project titled “Women Hunters ina
Tropical Foraging Society,” Grant No. BNS-8014308. The investigators studied an Agta group 200
se a. of Casiguran, who speak a language which is 70% cognate with Casiguran Agta (Headland
a:50).
Allen’s work was aimed at a botanical collection of all plants in fruit or flower, with an emphasis
on those of economic importance. Regarding the frequency of binomials in this area, she wrote me
on June 29, 1981 saying, “To date 293 folknames have been elicited for an unspecified number of
Latin equivalents. Of these, 11 are compound nouns, and only five are true binomials.”
J. Ethnobiol. 3(2):121-137 December 1983
EVALUATING THE STABILITY
OF SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES
BY USE OF PALEOETHNOBOTANICAL DATA
DEBORAH M. PEARSALL
American Archaeology Division, University of Missouri
Columbia, Missouri 65211
ABSTRACT.—Two analyses of archaeological plant remains are presented to illustrate how
ethnobotanical data can be applied to the problem of determining stability of subsistence
strategies through time. An analysis of charred wood from the Real Alto and Rio Perdido
sites in coastal Ecuador revels changes in firewood collection strategies which correlate to
changes in settlement patterns and land use in the area. An analysis of seed and wood
remains from the Pachamachay site, Peru, explores the utility of four quantitative ap-
proaches. Patterns of change in occurence of plant taxa are pinpointed within the overall
pattern of stability of plant utilization strategies in the puna zone.
INTRODUCTION
Over the past few years, paleoethnobotanists have made an increasing effort to apply
their data to questions of cultural process: the evolution of early nutritional systems,
cultivation strategies, long term stability of subsistence strategies, and the process of
agricultural intensification, among other current research problems in archaeology.
Richard Ford (1979), in a recent review of paeloethnobotany in North America, details
the evolution of this trend, and the emergence of anthropological ethnobotany. This
paper demonstrates the application of ethnobotanical data to the problem of determining
the stability of subsistence strategies through time. Two cases will be presented: analyses
of charred wood from the Real Alto site, coastal Ecuador (Pearsall 1979), and of charred
seeds from the Pachamachay site, Department of Junin, Peru (Pearsall 1980). In each case,
ethnobotanical data are available from a series of carbon 14 dated phases, distinguished
by ceramic or lithic style. Data independent of the botanical remains exist on subsistence
and overall adaptation allowing comparisons between conclusions reached from each set
of data, Using several quantitative approaches, it will be demonstrated that even ina case
of poor preservation of plant remains valuable insight can be gained by a diachronic
€xamination of paleoethnobotanical data. Pie
Several recent papers (Asch and Asch 1975; Asch, et al. 1979; Dennell 1976; Minnis
1981) have emphasized caution in the interpretation of archaeological seed assemblages.
The lack of direct correlation between raw seed counts or percentages and dietary ~~
tance of the plant is well understood by most ethnobotanists, who routinely include in
their analyses cautions about the bias produced by differential preservation of botanical
materials archaeologically. A variety of quantitative means have been applied to ethno-
botanical data in an attempt to circumvent this problem. No overall review of these
Measures has been made. No such assessment is attempted herein, rather it is hoped that
comment can be generated on this topic by the presentation of the Real Alto and Pacha-
machay data in several different quantitative formats.
REAL ALTO CHARRED WOOD ANALYSIS
The Real Alto site, excavated under the direction of Donald W. Lathrap, is a 300 -
400 m oval village located on the Rio Verde in southwestern Ecuador. It was occupied
by Peoples of the Valdivia and Machalilla ceramic traditions. The Valdivia tradition
belongs to the early Formative phase of coastal Ecuador (Meggers 1966:34-42). Earliest
122 PEARSALL Vol. 3, No. 2
Valdivia ceramics, Valdivia I, appear at Real Alto at 3545 B.C. (Damp 1979). The entire
sequence, Valdivia I-VIII, is present at the site, but for purposes of this analysis, phases
VII and VIII were combined as late Valdivia, terminating at about 1500 B.C. The Macha-
lilla phase, the middle Formative of coastal Ecuador, dates approximately 1500-1000
B.C. The Machalilla samples used in this analysis come from a second site, Rio Perdido
(OGCh-20), a multiple component site located near Real Alto and excvated by Ronald
D. Lippi. Lippi (1980) proposes a hiatus of several hundred years between the abandon-
ment of Real Alto and the beginning of the Machalilla occupation at Rio Perdido.
The research problem investigated in the full ethnobotanical analysis of plant remains
from Real Alto and Rio Perdido was the nature of the subsistence strategy of the Valdivia
and Machalilla peoples living in the study area from 3500-1000 B.C., including an investi-
gation of the role of agriculture, the presence of specific crops, such as maize and root
crops, and the pattern of firewood and other wild plant utilization (Pearsall 1979).
Evidence of maize agriculture, beginning in the earliest Valdivia period, was obtained
through phytolith analysis (Pearsall 1978; 1979). Cultivation of a member of the Can-
naceae, probably achira (Canna edulis), is also suggested by the phytolith data. Charred
fragments of Canavalia beans, identified by Lawrence Kaplan (Damp et al. 1980) as
probably domesticated C. plagiosperma, also date from earliest Valdivia times onward.
A model of Valdivia and Machalilla subsistence developed from the Real Alto study
includes not only agriculture, but wild plant gathering, terrestrial hunting, fishing, and
collecting of molluscs from mangrove swamps (Pearsall 1979: 186-189).
Charred wood fragments were the only well preserved macroremains recovered in
any quantity from the sites. Samples of 20-30 pieces greater than 2.0 mm could be
identified from many flotation samples by comparison to modern wood from the region.
Because there was no evidence for structural fire in the areas excavated at Real Alto
and Rio Perdido (e.g., no charred posts, no evidence of roofing or wall collapse due to
fire), all charred wood could be assumed to be the result of deliberate burning. Small
pieces of charred wood were found in concentrations, suggesting cooking areas, and
spread in household debris. Stone-constructed hearths were not found at the sites.
This situation implies that all charred wood can be considered functionally comparable
(also see Miller, 1980). Further, it can be argued that wood charred by deliberate burning
is the one type of ethnobotanical remain where the archaeological patterning directly
translates to a pattern of human behavior (Fig. 1). The charring of wood reflects its
unction: as a fuel to be burned. By contrast, the charring of most other botanical
remains is not the result of its function, but is accidental, Of course, before percentage
WOOD deliberate WASTE PRODUCT
COLLECTION ——— burning ——» ash, charred —> DEPOSITION
(Function: Fuel)
woo
MODEL OF FUEL Percentage RECOVERY:
COLLECTION ~““—————— distribution of <— Flotation
wood taxa
WILD PLANT WASTE PRODUCT chance DEPOSITION
COLLECTION —}» leaves,stems, ——— burning ————» OF CHARRED
(Function: Food) peels, seeds SEEDS
L PERCENTAGE RECOVERY:
POTENTIALLY ~————_—_._ pyst RIBUTION ~————__ Flotation
USEFUL PLANTS OF SEED TAXA
FIG. 1.—Contrast between the results of deliberate burning of wood and accidental burning of seeds in
the interpretation of archaeological plant assemblages.
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 123
distributions of wood species can be translated into firewood preferences, different
fracturing properties, hardness, and ashing properties of the woods, to correct for over-
tive. This reconstruction
(3500-1000 B.C.)
controlled by the
critical evaluation of climatic
reconstruction curves proposed by Hough (1953), Fairbridge (1961, 1962), McDougle
revealed neither convincing evidence for climatic
od nor evidence that conditions were different
- The description of the floristic communities is based
on observations in the area made August 1974 through August 1975, interviews with
long-time residents concerning rece
of Acosta-Solis (
bance (Pearsall 1979),
Both the xerophytic forest and the deciduous forest formations
have been modified in
composition in modern times because of intensive exploitation,
sethatssa re
- *
exe °.
ee
4 i 4 ASA
eon * -%)
cee
2
r 25
PACIFIC
OCEAN
ae ye oe Aon peer. b =e
aoees cei BER ELAR
SES NC Cor
r
ah
b>] XEROPHYTIC FOREST
DECIDUOUS FOREST
MANGROVE Swamp GUAYAQUIL
0 10 20 KM
a aan er
5 10 MI
FIG, 2.—Vegetation zones of southwestern Ecuador, ca. 3000 B.C. from Pearsall (1979).
124 PEARSALL Vol. 3, No. 2
particularly cutting of trees and shrubs, and pulling of dead stumps of previously cut
trees, for making carbén (locally produced charcoal). The Real Alto and Rio Perdido
sites are located near the boundary of the two forest zones.
Seventeen archaeological wood types were defined in this analysis (Table 3 Five
of these could be identified securely to species. The other 12 types were either less
securely identified, not present in the comparative collection of 75 species, or were
similar to more than one species. Types A, C, F, G, I, and J were not similar to any taxon
in the collection, and so could not be assigned to habitat. Type H is assigned to the
xerophytic forest because it is probably Maytenus octogona (L Her.) D.C. Because the
archaeological specimens are so few, and minute, this identification is tentative. Type B
resembles two taxa: Triplaris guayaquilensis H.B.K. and Tecoma gandichandi D.C., both
native to the deciduous forest. Type D resembles four genera occurring in either deci-
duous or evergreen forest formations: Ocotea sp., Guazuma ulmifolia Lamark, Vitex
gigantea H.B.K., and Bombax ruizii Schum. Type E is similar to Muntingia calabura L.
and two unidentified taxa, all collected in the deciduous forest. Type K is similar to
Dodonaea sp., a woody vine collected in the deciduous forest of Chongon. This identi-
fication is tentative, however, because of the small sizes of the pieces. Because the final
unidentified wood type (the soft, grainy type) resembles numerous taxa in the compara-
tive collection, notably many of the large deciduous and evergreen forest trees, it was
assigned to the deciduous forest for purposes of this analysis.
TABLE 1.—Archaeological wood taxa identified at Real Alto and Rio Perdido and their
assigned habitats.
Xerophytic Forest Deciduous Forest Unknown Habitat
Prosopis juliflora (S.W.) D.C. Stercula corrugata Little Type A
Acacia macracantha H. & B. Tabebuia chrysantha Type C
(Jacq.) Nicholson
Pithecellobium dulce (Roscb.) Type F
Benth.
Type B Type G
Type H Type D Type I
Type E Type J
Type K
ae es Rate, grainy Type ee
Chi-square analysis of the charcoal data was performed to determine if the 17 wood
taxa were randomly distributed among the eight time periods (Valdivia I-VI, late Valdivia,
and Machalilla). For this analysis, all taxa and time periods were used, and the woo
types having totals less than 10 observations (types G, H, I, J, and K) were combined into
the “Other” category. The categories and analysis matrix appears in Table 2. A Chi-
square value of 1,416.4 (d.f. = 84) indicates a highly significant difference (p <<0.01);
therefore, the taxa did not appear to be randomly distributed among time periods.
Chi-square analysis was also performed to determine if non-random distributions
existed within wood type categories or within time periods. This showed that the Macha-
lilla period accounted for most of the lack of randomness between periods, and the tax@
Med juliflora, Acacia macracantha, Stercula corrugata, and Types B and E between
TABLE 2.
Val I Ob.
Ex
Val II Ob.
Ex
Val III = Ob.
Ex
Val IV Ob.
Ex
Val V Ob.
Ex
Val VI Ob.
Ex
Late Val Ob.
Ex
Mach Ob.
Ex
Col. Tot.
Column Chi
Sign. Lev.
Overall Chi
e.J
131
95.55
152
106, 35
455
413.76
25
21.60
171.16
948
164.19
0.001
A.m
62
56.44
111
57.18
101.10
560
141.21
0.001
—Chi square test of wood tax
rugata (S.c), Tabebuia chrysantha
Sic
749.56
0.001
Tee
31.72
0.001
P.d
12.37
0.10
177
0.10
160.16
0.001
a and time periods. Taxa abbre
(T.c), and Pithecellobium dulce (P.d)
6.27
0.70
23.99
0.01
E
24.19
134
20.44
0.01
9.03
50
43.21
0.001
Square= 1416.45, with 84 degrees of freedom, significant at the less than 0.0001 level
Other
viations: Prosopis juliflora (P.j), Acacia macracan tha
Row T.
230
256
2282
(A.m), Stercula cor-
Row Chi Sign. Lev.
55.54
109,57
116.00
21.26
32.85
102.56
64.65
914.02
1416.45
1416.45
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.05
0.01
0.001
0.001
0.001
ASOTOIGONHLY 10 TVNUNOL €86I taquis.aq
SéI
126 PEARSALL Vol. 3, No. 2
This conclusion was drawn by comparing the observed (Ob.) and expected (Ex.)
values for the matrix points in the row or column where high Chi square values occurred.
For example, much of the deviation from chance giving the high Chi square value for the
Machalilla row (914.02), occurs in the P.j, A.m, and S.c points (compare observed and
expected values for these taxa).
Fig. 3, showing the percentage distribution of these tax, allows the direction and
magnitude of the changes to be seen more easily. Two trends in these data are note-
worthy: the replacement of the leguminous tree taxa (Prosopis and Acacia summed) by
taxa of the moister deciduous forest formation (Stercula and Type B summed); and the
replacement within the leguminous taxa of Prosopis by Acacia.
roughout the Valdivia period, wood utilization centered around the leguminous
trees * the xerophytic forest. This formation lay to the seaward side of the Real Alto
site, providing a close source of firewood. Prosopis, the mesquite of the American South-
west, is a highly resinous, hot burning fuel, with a heating value/unit of wood volume
1.4 times that of other woods (Wiley and Manviller 1976:48-51). Acacia produces a light
brown gum and is very dense. The dead wood from these common, low growing trees is
easily collected, a task of children today. The larger deciduous forest trees are very scan-
tily represented in the Valivia samples. The percentages of leguminous taxa may be
inflated because of their dense, durable nature. On the other hand, these woods also burn
very hot and completely, which might tend in turn to reduce their preservation.
From Valdivia I to VI, a gradual replacement of Prosopis by Acacia occurs at Real
Alto. The late Valdivia samples show a reversal of this tendency, but this may be the
+ SUM of PROSOPIS and ACACIA
ee PROSOFIS
women ACACIA MACRACANTHA
YPE B
100
cmmewwme §=6SUM of STERCULA and TYPE B
°eeee STERCULA CORRUGATA
i ss Se ae es)
PERCENT AGE
PHASES
FIGURE 3.—Percen ta
ge distributi : nd Rio
Perdido sites. ton of wood taxa, by phase, at the Real Alto a
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 127
be interpreted as the decreasing availability of the preferred fuel being made up by a less
preferred, but similar taxon. Collection pressure would have decreased the availability of
example of the maintenance of a traditional fuel system based on collection in the
xerophytic forest in the face of declining availability of the best fuel.
a spreading of population from a centralized site to small sites along the river course
(Zeidler 1977). Localized collecting in the gallery deciduous forest, replacing wide
ranging collection in the xerophytic forest, may be the explanation for the shift in the
recovered wood remains.
© summarize, this analysis of charred wood from the Real Alto and Rio Perdido
sites brings up several points of general interest:
l. A site with poor preservation, i.e., nothing but charred wood, can still yield inter-
esting data on human interaction with the environment.
2. Because patterns in archaeological charcoal closely correspond, though not in exact
numbers, to the pattern of use of the resources, the relationship of one taxon to another
represents cultural selection.
3. Interpretation of charred wood data, analyzed first to demonstrate areas of statistical
differences and then to show the direction and pattern of these changes, can generate
hypotheses to be tested against other archeological data and further excavation. In this
case it was hypothesized that during the Valdivia period a conservative strategy of col-
lection of hot burning leguminous tree wood from the open xerophytic forest was main-
tained by substitution of taxa in the face of declining availability of the main taxon.
At the end of this period, a change in basic collection strategy occurred, with collection
in the deciduous forest replacing the earlier pattern. There is no evidence to support the
idea that the deciduous forest expanded in extent during Machalilla times and was there-
fore more frequently used for firewood collection. Evidence from deep sea cores (Hough
1953; Pearsall 1979; 51-64) suggests that, if anything, the climate during the Machalilla
Period was slightly cooler and drier than during the Valdivia sequence. Even if it were
wetter, there is scarcely time to hypothesize a major vegetation shift. What did shift dur-
ing the transition from Late Valdivia to Machalilla was the settlement pattern. The
eeater occurrence of wood from the deciduous forest may represent the burning of scrap
Wood collected during clearing of the gallery forest for agricultural purposes. ese “ep
Ing out of the population along the Rio Verde may have necessitated more use of lan —
the high alluvium area. This need, combined with a decline in the availability of the »
urning leguminous wood through millenia of exploitation, caused the shift in firewoo
selection, :
Finally, it is important to keep in mind, in any ethnobotanical analysis, the sources
of error which may affect conclusions drawn from the data. In this study, it was a
Possible to obtain equally large counts of charred wood for each of the ore perio "
is shown in Table 2, the Valdivia IV, V, and Late Valdivia periods ha vi nee
“ounts, This may have affected the pattern of distribution of charcoal observe cP .
analy sis, Another potential source of error, discussed above, is differential preservatio
of Wood taxa based on their relative hardness.
ANALYSIS OF SEED DATA FROM PACHAMACHAY
The Pachamachay site, excavated by John W. Rick, is a small rock sf aeraame at
Mst above 4,000 m in the Junin puna of Peru. The Junin puna is an open, rolling grass-
128 PEARSALL Vol. 3, No. 2
land with a variety of native plant and animal resources capable of supporting long-term
human occupation (Rick 1980:11-28; Pearsall 1980). Occupation at the Pachamachay
site is dated by radiocarbon determination from 10,000 B.C. until about A.D. 200
(Rick 1980:64-69). Rick (1980:316-326) defined five preceramic phases (Phases 1-5),
with three ceramic phases (Phases 6, 7, and Late), occuring after the preceramic oc-
cupation. A model of sedentary, year-round hunter-gatherer occupation of the Junin
puna, based on exploitation of camellids, especially vicuna (Vicugna vicugna ), and of
plant and other animal resources, is proposed for the preceramic (Rick 1980:25-28).
Water flotation was used to recover botanical remains from all strata at the site. Only
charred remains were preserved. The sheltered location of the site favored charred seed
preservation, giving seed counts almost equal to wood counts. Twenty-one taxa of seeds
were identified (Table 3), shown here grouped by the zone in which they occur in highest
concentration. In general, the dry puna grassland, dominated by bunch grasses (e.g.,
Festuca dolichophylla, Calamagrostis recta) and scattered rosette plants, is the most
extensive zone. Where ground moisture levels are higher (lake shores, edges of small
streams, depressions) polster-forming taxa (e.g., Plantago rigida; Distichia muscoides)
and distinct moist area herbaceous taxa occur. Rock outcrops, scattered over the puna,
provide a favorable environment for rosettes, tuber-producing species, and small, hardy
shrubs (e.g., Ephedra americana, Margyricarpus strictus). A number of weedy species
occur in disturbed habitats in the zone.
TABLE 3.—Archaeological seed taxa identified at Pachamachay.
=e
HABITAT TYPE ee
Dry Puna Moist
Grassland Disturbed (Lakeside) Rocky
Calamagrostis Amaranthus Luzula Compositae
Festuca Chenopodium Polygonum Euphorbia
Stipa Lepidium-type Brassicaceae Ranunculus Leguminosae (other)
Gramineae (other) Scirpus Lupinus
Sisyrinchium Malvastrum
Umbelliferae Opuntia floccosa
Salm.-Dyck.
Oxalis
Plantago
Previous presentation of the ethnobotanical data (Pearsall 1980) relied solely on sub-
jective interpretation to conclude that the constancy of occurrence of taxa through time
indicated a stable, puna based collecting strategy virtually unchanged for 10 millenia.
These data will be re-examined here, applying several quantitative measures, to better test
these conclusions. As discussed above, raw counts or percentages of different seed taxa
Coen Eans during a phase or within an individual sample give no direct indication of the
relative importance of each taxon. As Asch and Asch (1975) have discussed, however, if
context of preservation can be assumed as constant, comparing the variation in occur
rence of different plants between assemblages can spitlcate change in their utilization rela-
tive to one another. Can context of preservation be assumed as constant for the eight
phases of occupation at Pachamachay? Several factors enter into this evaluation. First,
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 129
because cave deposits were periodically wet throughout their depth, preservation of dried
botanical materials did not occur. Only seeds charred by chance and wood charred as
some degree over the period of use of the site. Rick proposes light, sporadic occupation
of Pachamachay during Phase 1. Relatively continuous occupation of the shelter began
in Phase 2. After an interval of sporadic but intensive use (late Phase 2—early Phase 3),
the cave was used as a sedentary base camp until late Phase 5, During Phase 6 and 7 use
of Pachamachay as a hunting camp of herders occupying open air lakeshore settlements
is suggested, while in the early part of the late ceramic period the cave was used as a
ceramic workshop, as indicated by the presence of characteristic clay mixing pits. Taking
all these factors into consideration, context of preservation of botanical remains was
probably most constant during Phases 1-5, before the cave began to be utilized for acti-
vities not involving the whole social unit. Although Phase 1 was a period of less intensive
use of the cave, recovery of remains was equal to, or better than, some later phases.
Following the discussion of the quantitative analyses applied to the Pachamachay ethno-
botanical data, the impact on the results of possible changes in preservation factors in
the later phases will be discussed.
The data will be discussed using the following measures: 1) intensity of occupation,
measured by the total count of wood in each phase; 2) the percentage distribution of
selected seed taxa through time, with intensity held constant by dividing seed count by
wood count, 3) species richness or diversity, as measured by the Shannon-Weaver formula
and 4) calculation of standard scores, or the number of standard deviation units each
taxon varies away from the mean.’ After first presenting a series of charts showing the
results of each approach, these will be compared and conflicts and correlations resulting
from their use discussed.
Intensity of Occupation. It has been proposed by several researchers (Asch and Asch
75; Johannessen 1981a, b), that the total amount of charcoal resulting from delib-
erate burning can serve as a measure of the intensity of use of an occupation area. An
ccupation containing a much higher amount of charcoal under conditions of similar
Preservation and sampling is interpreted as having more intensive cooking or other hearth
activity, Fig, 4 shows the charred wood counts through time at Pachamachay. These
data were obtained by counting all charred wood fragments greater than 2.0 mm from
four flotation samples of equal volume from each phase. It should be noted that a.
of each phase did not correlate with the amount of charred wood recovered per sample.
There are several points of interest in this figure. First, there is a high constancy in the
intensity measure for the first four phases of the preceramic, a period of almost 8,000
years, Second, the late preceramic (Phase 5) and the earliest ceramic period (Phase 6)
show an increase in occurrence of charred wood relative to the earlier phases, and are
similar to each other. Third, Phase 7, the middle ceramic period, shows a marked devia-
ton from the early pattern, with a much higher occurrence of charred wood, In the
late ceramic phase, the intensity measure declines, but remains high relative to the earliest
six phases
Percentage Distribution of Selected Seed Taxa. Several authors (Asch and Asch 1975;
rating 19812, b) measure the percentage occurrence of taxa within an assemblage
Telative to wood otal seed count. This serves to j
°ccupation jack cient ee dione of the seed taxa can be compared between
“semblages, Fig. 5 shows seed/wood ratios for eight seed taxa considered food resources,
and the Gramineae, considered here to represent thatch or fuel resources. With intensity
of ©ccupation held constant, several interesting patterns emerge. First, Opuntia declines
M overall] abundance through time. Decline occurs between Phases 1-3 and between
.
130 PEARSALL Vol. 3, No. 2
°
1 et
WOOD COUNT
|
400 F—
300 -—
2007
100 F—
9 T T T T T ! by eas eee.
O24 Rowe is 4.5 6 7 Late
PHASES
FIG, 4,—Intensity of occupation, by phase, at Pachamachay
sidered food resources decline in Phase 7. By contrast, the grasses (black), ea
from Phases 1-4, increase through Phase 7, reaching their highest peak there. ee y
parameters are difficult to depict graphically because of the wide range of varia
present,
Species Richness or Diversity. Species diversity is a measure that takes into walpaties a
the total number of species or taxa present in a population, and the abundance of ig
species (Pielou 1969:221-235). High diversity results when a large number of s pi:
evenly distributed, i.e., when it would be difficult to predict what a randomly sele
item would be. Low diversit
tered in an abandoned campsit
to an individual species,
non-
dance of that species (Yellen 1977:101-108). It is important to note that the Shan
agetenp ; : + Phase 4
constancy of diversity. The index rises somewhat in
o . . . . = : ceramic
The highest diversity is achieved in Phase 5, the late preceramic. The earliest
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 131
.40
a,
ee
AY
35 F- y
30 \ \
; = \ \
: - / -°— °— GRAMINEAE
: : j — —— OPUNTIA
\ se. ‘++ CHENOPODIUM
4c <4 —— LUZULA
: 7 +++ 9 AMARANTHUS
\ +++ SISYRINCHIUM
——— LEGUMINOSAE
\ {>. eeeee LUPINUS
aaa \ Pee ie SCIRPUS
SEED/WOOD RATIO
PHASES
F ig :
° 5.—Percentage distribution of seed taxa, by phase, at Pachamachay with intensity
©ccupation held constant.
sale hase 6, has a diversity index similar to Phase 5. There is a dramatic drop in
hea, if in Phase 7, Inspection of the Phase 7 data reveal that very high counts of grass
period a lack of evenness in the data, account for the low diversity index for this
Stan ani lversity goes back up to earlier levels in the late ceramic phase.
“pap Scores. Another attempt to convert raw seed counts to a more useable form
Shits & ried converting the data to standard scores, or the number of standard deviation
count . taxon varied away from the mean. This procedure involved finding the mean
and a €ach species through time, calculating the standard deviation of each species,
1 calculating for each occurrence of each species the number of standard deviation
132 PEARSALL Vol. 3, No. 2
SPECIES DIVERSITY, H
Se es es a se
| Z 2 4 5 6 ; Late
PHASES
FIG, 6.—Species richness or diversity, by phase, for Pachamachay seed taxa.
units, or Z, of each count away from the mean (Blalock 1972:80-101). These standard
scores can then be examined as data points instead of the raw counts. This reduces the
impact of absolute quantities, and evens out insignificant differences. Similarities in the
direction of changes obscured by different absolute counts can be more easily seen.
phases,
To summarize, these four quantitative approaches to the Pachamachay seed data
suggest the following:
i, There was agreement in all measures employed for a high degree of constancy oe
mg Preceramic Phases 1, 2, 3, and 4, or from 10,000-2200 B.C. It is hypothesized ve
a longterm, stable strategy of utilization of local puna resources existed. The relat
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 133
3.0 2°29 '©*© OPUNTIA
+++ LUPINUS
2.5 ++++ LUZULA ;
——— AMARANTHUS
Y 20, °—-—e sisyrINcHiuM
a —— SCIRPUS
> “™-=— LEGUMINOSAE
s Lot ———_ CHENOPODIUM
<_ Hs She
Oo 1.0 .
oe eo ‘
< Rs .
=. o on
Q roe -
RICHARDS, P.W. 1972. The tropical rain
RICK, JOHN W. 1980. Prehistoric hunters
of the High Andes. Academic Press, New
York,
SARMA, A.V.N. 1974. Holocene paleo-
ecology of south coastal Ecuador. Proc.
The mathematical theory oe oe
tion. pa Illinois Press, Urba
The SB | of
tion to the Galapagos Islands. Amer. J-
Bot. 33:394-498.
oie Y, A.T. and F.G. MANWILLER. 1976.
arket potential of mesquite as fucl. For.
Prod. J. 26 (9):48-51.
YELLEN, JOHN E. 1977. Archscolog
approaches to the present: models eek
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 137
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
constructing the past. Academic Press, New southwest Ecuador. Paper presented at the
York. 42nd Annual Meeting of the Society for
ZEIDLER, JAMES A. 1977. Early Forma- American Archaeology, New Orleans. -
tive settlement in the Chanduy Valley, publ. Ms. deposited with the author.
NOTES
1 Charred wood was identified from both flotation samples and carbon samples (samples collected
during excavation). In samples where charred wood was abundant, a minimum of 20 pieces were
selected at random for identification. For samples with little wood present, all pieces roughly 2 mm
or larger were identified. Number of samples examined per phase: I 10; II 10: III 28; IV 9; V 2;
VI 9; Late 5; Mach. 4. Total wood count: 2282 pieces.
P eour general level flotation samples per phase were used for this analysis. Counts of identified
seeds and all charred wood fragments were as follows:
Seeds Wood Seeds Wood
Phase 1 196 199 Phase 5 433 302
Phase 2 211 253 Phase 6 434 332
Phase 3 112 196 Phase 7 2046 =: 1227
Phase 4 117 182 Late 719 711
Total seeds: 4268; total wood: 3402
Measures employed in this analysis were calculated as follows: Intensity of Occupation: Total
count of charred wood, summed by phase. Percentage Distribution of Seed Taxa, Intensity of Occu-
pation held Constant: Seed count of each taxon, summed by phase, divided by total wood count,
summed by phase
Species Richness or Diversity: The Shannon-Weaver Information Index for finite populations (H) was
calculated for each phase.
H= —-2 /N: N,
J J
es lao =
N N
Ny
N: total number of seeds in the phase In: natural log
Ne total number of seeds of taxon. in the phase
Taking the Phase 1 calculation as an example: N = 196 seeds, 12 taxa. The esi “) te
was calculated for each seed taxon. N. N,
Forexample, Opuntia: 64 In 64 =-0.16
196 196
H equals the negative sum of the 12 products, or 0.69.
Standard Deviation Units, Z (Standard Scores)
Z=x-X
s
X; occurrence of a seed taxon in a phase
*: Mean occurrence of a taxon in all phases
8: standard deviation of a taxon from the mean
The standard score, Z, was calculated for each taxon in each phase, and used as a datum point on the
graphs,
J. Ethnobiol. 3(2):139-147 December 1983
RICHARD SPRUCE: AN EARLY ETHNOBOTANIST
AND EXPLORER OF THE
NORTHWEST AMAZON AND NORTHERN ANDES
RICHARD EVANS SCHULTES
Jeffrey Professor of Biology and Director, Botanical Museum of Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
ABSTRACT.—Although Richard Spruce, a pioneer botanical explorer of the northwest
Amazon and the northern Andes in the middle of the last century, made numerous impor-
tant ethnobotanical discoveries, he missed the opportunity of delving deeply into the ethno-
pharmacological lore of the area. Part of this deficiency was due not certainly to his scien-
tific curiosity but to his inability to associate closely with unacculturated natives, the
incredible intensity of his floristic and taxonomic studies, and possibly to his illness. Yet his
research set the stage for recent ethnobotanical investigations of this very species-rich
egion,
INTRODUCTION
The Indians of the northwest Amazon, especially those of the Brazilian and Colom-
bian region of the Rfo Vaupés, have a rich ethnopharmacological lore. This wealth of
knowledge of the presumed medicinal properties of plants, however, is just coming to the
fore—and most certainly not too soon with its disappearance in the face of advancing
acculturation and the inroads of civilization. . ;
Richard Spruce (Fig. 1), the British plant-explorer who opened up this region to
science between 1851 and 1854, must be counted amongst the greatest naturalists ever
to have engaged in collecting and studies anywhere in virgin tropical American territories.
As a result of his meticulous observation and insatiable curiosity, a basis for our under-
standing of great areas of the Amazon Valley and of the northern Andes was early and
most firmly laid. Not only did Spruce advance taxonomy and floristics, but he also
made many important observations in ethnology, linguistics and geology. Some of the
most significant discoveries in connection with the hallucinogens derived from Banister-
iopsis Capi (Fig. 2) and Anadenanthera (Piptadenia) peregrina (Fig. 3-5) are due to his
first-hand field observations. And he was particularly interested in ethnobotanical lore
concerning the palms.
ETHNOBOTANICAL OBSERVATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
BY RICHARD SPRUCE
Although he was definitely interested in and had personal contact with — mee
cinogenic plants, he failed to learn that the Indians employed the red bark- pee :
Virola in elaborating a snuff used by medicine men and, in some tribes, by the whole
male population. aga a
_ Another curious aspect of Spruce’s ethnobotanical mararan was his failure
discover “simples” that were employed medicinally by Indians of the northwest Amazon.
“The Indians,” he says, “have a few household remedies, but by far the greater portion
of these have come into use since the advent of the white man from Europe and the negro
140 SCHULTES Vol. 3, No. 2
Uj,
Z
f jum,
FIG. 1,—Richard Spruce. Drawn by Elmer W. Smith from a photograph in the Gray Herbari
Harvard University, taken before Spruce left for South America.
pias . : his
from Africa. Von Martius remarks nearly the same thing in the introduction to
Systema Materiae Medicae Vegetabilis Brasiliensis (1843, p. xvii)
. . . Of external applications, I have seen only the following. For a wound or bruise or ee
the milky juice of some tree is spread thick on the skin, where it hardens into a sort of Pp em
and is allowed to remain on until it falls of itself. Almost any milky tree may serve, if me ‘4 .
be not acrid; but the Heveas (India-rubbers), Sapotads, and some Clusias are preferred. Su
plaster has sometimes an excellent effect in protecting the injured part from the external air.
This experience of Spruce’s is difficult to reconcile with my own obscrvanens “—
the past 40 or more years amongst the many tribes along the Colombian Rios yee
Apaporis and Caquet4 and their tributaries—a region with a flora estimated at 8 , iss
species—where I collected large numbers of plants reputedly valuable alone or 1m P
scriptions for treating a variety of common diseases. hose
It is true that, in this whole region, the “medicines” par excellence—and t llu-
which are administered not to the patient but usually to the medicine-man—are the ha ‘
cinogens. The “medicine” with psychic properties that enables the medicine-man yore
through hallucinations to see or converse with malevolent spirits from whom pene
illness and death are usually far more important in native cultures than those medic
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 141
identified by Richard Spruce as the
of the Amazon Valley in
PGS a : ; Ae 2
- 2.—Cultivated vine of the caapi plant, Banisteriopsts Caapt,
“i ee of an hallucinogenic drink prepared throughout the western part
azil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Photograph: R. E. Schultes.
with purely physical properties. It is, however, most certainly untrue that the Indians of
me northwest Amazon denegrate or do not possess those medicinal’ plants which have
hehe physically to reduce pain or suffering, lessen un fortable symptoms of
r even apparently cure pathological conditions. They have many such medicinal
plants and are willing to share their knowledge with the serious, enquiring visitor. It is
hot only I who has found these people to possess a deep knowledge of medicinal plants;
other botanists and several anthropologists have likewise been impressed with the wealth
of native medical folk lore in the region.
seis sseapaing statements concerning
long P alate the northwest Amazon may be explained by
8 periods of time with aboriginal peoples. We must always remember that Spruce was
at wo .
rk well over a century ago. He wrote:
the lack of knowledge and use of medi-
his difficulty in spending
I have never been so fortunate as to see a genuine payé (medicine-man) at work, Among the
civilized Indians, the Christian padre has supplanted the pagan paye ... With the native and still
unchristianized tribes, I have for the most part held only passing intercourse during some of my
142 SCHULTES Vol. 3, No. 2
FIG, 3.—Tree of Anadenanthera peregrina, Photograph: R. E. Schultes.
voyages, Once I lived for seven months at a time among them, on the river Uaupés, but even Bh!
I failed to catch a payé. When I was exploring the Jauarité cataracts on that river, and — the
guest of Uiaca, the venerable chief of the Tucano nation, news came... that a famous paye - a
would arrive that night and remain until next day, and I congratulated myself on so fine a chance
of getting to know some of the secrets of his ‘medicine’ .. . When he learnt that there was 4 white
payé (meaning myself) in the village, he and his attendants immediately threw back into ee
canoe his goods, which they had begun to disembark, and resumed their dangerous voyage down
the river in the night-time. I was told he had with him several palm-leaf boxes, containing his
apparatus . . . I could only regret that his dread of a supposed rival had prevented the ine
which to me would have been full of interest; the more so as I was prepared to barter ages
for the whole of his materia medica, if my stock-in-trade would have sufficed.
of other ethno-
It is amply clear from this statement, from Spruce’s reports (Fig. 6) Ane
botanical observations and from the rich collections of artifacts which he collecte
sent to the Economic Botany Museum of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (Fig. 7) pe
he was not—as have been so many modern botanists working in South America’s eee
regions—prejudiced against aboriginal uses of and beliefs about plants. He was certain’y
far from being a prejudiced man. An explanation of his failure to note the rich ethno-
pharmacological lore of this region may have several facets. Spruce may truly have ee
too busy and, much of the time, too ill to delve into this specialized field so tangent
to floristic and taxonomic studies and collections.
SO Ln LL Hitt INEM LL INH HHL)
ia in ne
FIG. 5.—Pods and beans of Anadenanthera peregrina collected on the Orinoco River in 1854 by Richard Spruce. Courtesy of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
mal
SALTAHOS
Z ‘ON ‘§ “104
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
FIG. 4.—Fruiting branch of Anadenanthera peregrina. Photograph: R. E. Schultes.
F : oe ; ntu
Even today, with modern transportation and other amenities not available a century
: ; Sone - : e time
ago, botanists engaged in floristic or taxonomic studies usually do not have th
available for ethnobotanical research. The great
Ducke, whose lifetime of collecting made him
flora of this region, especially of the genus Heve
14, 1956, the indigenous use of Hev
Amazon specialist, the late Dr. Adolpho
undoubtedly the modern master of the
a, wrote to me ina letter dated February
ea seeds as food:
I received your letter of Jan. 12 and the manuscript of your article on Hevea and args” ee
the article which is certainly interesting, but unfortunately I am incompetent in matters of P the
tive Indians with whom I have never been in contact. All my collecting work was done 1n
civilized parts of the region. : tions
And the late Dr, B.A. Krukoff, who carried out so many successful botanical expediti .
to the Brazilian Amazon, once informed me personally that “an Indian is of no interest
me; I consider him an impediment to my work,” a ee
Spruce may, furthermore, perhaps have erred in assuming that all “medicinal kn "
ledge resided with the payé or medicine-man. | have consistently found that the pay®>
. : ; ; ‘1 general, and
insofar as plants are concerned, often knows relatively little about plants in general,
usually manipulates “sacred” plants, usually the hallucinogens or other py ie
species, such as coca and tobacco, and employes them “medicinally” in magical —
Most tribes have what we might term “regular doctors”, chiefs or “curacas”, who do ie
normally use magic and who are well provided with a general knowledge of the cura
143
- Z oy TIE. Peau a ft Jana The ofa Fi
Prucejite } ye Phe Cuy ae S ’ ite anf re eH
D AY for “then As “2d sean ae Cfrateuty file a Ze en oa
seat Me £ 7 Ms 55 fy Pi se Flirts COLO ¢ c Athen az a hagstad cad A. fia)
Syn tera Lhe de . Oe peng oe A tA emgtnyer : Wher Ch Catan a as & sed forte,
ties OF an cea, aa ~~ tC Of thei Ad Aden ate ake = 3 2y mets pss
Pe hn & king he Kae G- Shas Aume aber
: on te ces :
firey fF Mae Lae Carnshke Cres bog ee Fesea Cee pee fe Cryer, on
oe 4. peer, ges ng tho. Fai Ae od oee/, Pee, Sr Ce py wv nto th
wee ‘ I, 3 :
GL OES A POS bly om fe tat fps Michi ti ee fgets
1) May > it patina a) teh ema Panay bo 5 in f Oo. ae
prow, ESN FR whet oer J Arracle tene/ fre Sh prs oe bre ~ Btu: ,
Jo wedbe lve tint Che Gee ‘a perlecpat bat treks si
toffee S shaw bleeding as we stants Lenin Conte,
FIG. 6.—Spruce’s field notes on the ethnobotany of yopo (Anadenanthera beregrina). Courtesy of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
€861 tequiasaq
ADOTOISONHLA JO TVNunor
StI
146 SCHULTES Vol. 3, No. 2
FIG. 7,—Snuffing tubes of bird bones and mortar and pestle for grinding — ee ae
thera peregrina and for mixing lime to prepare yopo snuff. Guayabero Indians, Rio Ori :
zuela, Courtesy of the Botanical Museum of Harvard University.
. » active
or presumed therapeutic value of plants—that is those plants with actual Sar ee
constituents able to relieve or cure ills of the body. They could justly be bee one
“botanists” of the societies. They work cooperatively with the payes bes MRE a
very frequently referring difficult or recalcitrant cases to these apecaage peg
generally considered to be practitioners of a higher rank. It is, naturally mage
“regular doctors” and their knowledge that the ethnopharmacologist or et
must primarily be involved. peer nee
A aon not in Spruce’s time—a century and a quarter ago—such gente e
did not exist we cannot now state with certainty. It is, however, most ipsteahes Age!
did exist and did practice their skill, although perhaps not with so much free dies prec
control of the payés as today. Spruce’s surmise that the few household reme onal
ticed amongst these peoples may have come in with Europeans or eae a oe
serious doubt, if only from the fact that the plants and uses characteristic 0 e mie
hold medicine of the northwest Amazon are so utterly different from ther atlas
and Africa. Anda century ago there was very little European and no African 1
in the northwest Amazon. ‘facts which he
In June 1855, Spruce wrote the following list of ethnobotanical artifacts
sent to Kew: : atar-
177. Apparatus for making and taking Niopo snuff, procured from Guahibo indians at si he
acts of Maypures. The Niopo of Venezuela is the same as the Paricé of Brazil and i 2 repared
Upper Orinoco, Guaviare, Vichada, Meta, Sipapo, etc. There is no doubt of its oe My
from Acacia Niopo Humb., which is perhaps not different from Piptadenia peregrina
specimens of the Paric4 tree from the
did not see the tree from which the G
: ean hich they t
uahibos obtained their Niopo and which
planted in their conucos (
AT
> Parica
; ; but the Pa
garden plots) near the head waters of the river Juparo;
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 147
have seen on the Amazon and all the way up the Rio Negro, planted near the villages, belongs to
but one species which, on passing the Venezuelan frontier, takes the name of N iopo,
One startling fact stands out stridently from Spruce’s notes (Fig. 7) made 130 years
ago: that this tree is “planted by the Indians near their houses throughout the SolimBes,
Madeira Puris, Japura, Rio N egro, Uaupés, Casiquiare and perhaps upper Orinoco,”
Today, the plant is rare indeed in most of these localities. I have never seen it on the
olimSes, nor on the Colombian sector of the Japur4 (Caquet4 in Colombia), nor on the
Rio Negro nor Uaupés. Its extensive cultivation has apparently died out in most of these
€ are, consequently, left with the belief that—as with other cultivated plants, like
guarana (Paullinia Cupana HBK.)—the Rio Negro especially is far poorer in cultigens
than it was more than a century ago,
Editor’s note.—Assuming that others are as interested as I am in learning more about
Richard Spruce, the Pioneering ethnobotanist and explorer of northwest Amazonia, I
suggest these selected references for further reading,
ANGEL, R. 1978. Richard Spruce, botanist original collection of Banisteriopsis Caapi.
and traveller, 1817-1898, Hortulus Ali- Bot. Mus. Leafl., Harvard Univ. 22:121-132.
quando 3:49-53. ——. 1970. Notes of a botanist on the
SCHULTES, RICHARD E, 1951. Plantae Amazon and Andes. Pp. v-x in Forward to
Austro-Americanae VII. De festo seculari reprinted edition of Spruce, R. (A.R. Wal-
Ricardi Sprucei America Australi adventu lace, ed.), Johnson Reprint Corp., New
commemoratio atque de princepaliter vallis York.
amazonicis diversae observationes — ———. 1976. Richard Spruce and the
Mus. Leafl., Harvard Univ. 15: 29-78, ethnobotany of the northwest Amazon.
———- _ 1951. Richard Spruce still lives. Rhodora 78:65-72.
Northern Gardener 7:2-27, 55-61, 87-93, ——_——_. _ 1978. Richard Spruce and the
121-125, Also, pp. 18-49 in Hortulus Ali- potential for European settlement of the
quando 3, 1978. Amazon—an unpublished letter. Bot. J.
——— 1968. Some aspects of Spruce’s Linn, Soc, 77:131-139,
€xplorations on modern phytochemical ————. 1978. An unpublished letter by
research. Rhodora 70:313-339. Richard Spruce on the theory of evolution.
Biol, J. Linn. Soc. 10:159-161.
and A. HOFMANN. 1980. Pp. 167-
168; Fig. 70 in The botany and chemistry of
hallucinogens, Ed. Charles C. Thomas
Publ., Springfield, Illinois.
VON HAGEN, V. W. 1945. Richard Spruce,
Yorkshireman. Pp. 230-270 in South
America called them, Pt. IV, Chpt. XXIV.
Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
‘ The impact of Spruce’s
Amazon explorations on modern phyto-
ans research, Ciencia e Cultura 20:37-
“———— B. HOLMSTEDT and J.-E. LIND-
GREN. 1969, De plantis toxicariis e
Mundo Novo tropicale commentationes III.
Phytochemical €xamination of Spruce’s
er, oF pela
5: EST cig wa y3 ;
a
be
Bh ih toes
She 24 Piet alae its aos eae) Pane ete
f ; ai i ti ‘ee:
a : a i Weer, = ae Sainte ‘ a Se ERAN Simi. ok - -
x a AL os: a vs 3 y - “
x he cs ipo hh de ty
‘ q : :
si - ae “
m Sai ris y a
J. Ethnobiol. 3(2):149-156 December 1983
LOVE POTIONS OF ANDROS ISLAND, BAHAMAS
SUSAN A. McCLURE
The Garden Center of Greater Cleveland
Cleveland, OH 44106
W. HARDY ESHBAUGH
Department of Botany, Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056
ABSTRACT.—The use of herbal love potions on Andros Island, Bahamas, is examined
including the various species, plant parts used, methods of preparation and social and
medicinal functions of the love potions. Twelve species are referred to including Bourreria
ovata, Bursera simaruba, Cassytha filiformis, Cordia bahamensis, Diospyros crassinervis,
Erythroxylon rotundifolia, Eugenia axillaris, Phoradendron sp., Pinus caribaea, Swietenia
Mahagoni, Tabebuia bahamensis and Thouinia discolor, Information is based upon inter-
views with seven bush medicinal practitioners, each of whom employ a slight variation on
the same basic recipe. In rural and urban sites, the use of bush medicine differs in that
isolated rural areas must rely to a greater extent upon native cures while only remnant
medicinal practices in the form of love potions remain in urban sites.
Although greatly disturbed, Andros Island still contains the elements of an essentially
natural ecosystem. For several centuries the naturalized Africans in the West Indies have
been sampling their environment and have compiled a substantial knowledge of those
plants which are beneficial and harmful to man. The Caribbean island society has relied
upon medicinal practitioners, in the past referred to as ‘“‘grannies,” who utilize the know-
ledge compiled by their ancestors to care for the daily medical needs of the community.
Today Andros Island is influenced to an increasing extent by the central Bahamian
§overnment as well as by contacts with travelers from other countries. Various develop-
mental changes have brought about a gradual alteration of the traditional community
life. One change accompanying development in the black communities (e.g. Great Abaco
Island) is sexual infidelity, (Rodgers and Gardner 1969). Ultimately, this may explain the
contradiction of the continued use of herbal love potions in urban areas while at the same
time, medicinal herbal teas are being forgotten.
METHODS
Previous investigations of plants of economic importance in the Bahamas have been
broad surveys resulting in lists of plants used by the native population, e.g. Anonymous
(1971), Ayensu (1981), Eldridge (1975), Halberstein and Saunders (1978), Morton
(1981), In this study the plants considered were only those commonly used in native
love potions. Interviews were conducted with prominent medicinal practitioners on
North Andros Island. The interview procedure followed that outlined by Wood (1975).
All interviews, unless declined, were taped using a portable Superscope C-104 rape
"ecorder and Scotch AVC 60 tape. The recorded tapes are deposited in the collections
of the Willard Sherman Turrell Herbarium MU).
€ informants (native consultants) in this study included Mr. Doc Curry, Mr.
Charlie Gilcot, Mrs, Amelia Marshall, Mr. James Thompson, Ms. Rosie Tusco, Mrs. Lona
Williams and Mrs. Ena Woodside. Every effort was made to obtain complete information
Tom the informants, When possible, in discussions with informants, plants were identi-
fied by fresh or dried samples of the species referred to rather than relying upon com-
mon names which were used inconsistently by several sources. ,
ulk samples of dried plant material were obtained from at least two sites for eac
macs including Bourreria ovata, Cordia bahamensis, Bursera simaruba, Diospyros
Crassinervis and Thouinia discolor, Two sites per species were required in order to collect
150 McCLURE & ESHBAUGH Vol. 3, No. 2
an adequate sample since the species density at any one site was relatively low. The
material was field dried for later analysis.
The various chemical analyses were carried out at the National Institute of Health,
Purdue University, and Miami University. The National Institute of Health, Division of
Cancer Treatment, National Cancer Institute, screened the material for antitumor poten-
tial. At Purdue University the material was screened for alkaloid content in the labora-
tory of Dr. Jerry McLaughlin by S. Pummingura. The studies at Miami University in-
cluded a screening for tannins.
Two anticancer screens used by the National Cancer Institute are the 9-KB and the
P-338 tests. The 9-KB assay is an invitro test on a culture of human nasopharynx cancer
cells. The plant extract or purified compound is applied to the culture and the amount of
growth inhibition measured as a function of protein concentration. If the pure com-
pound inhibits tumor growth at less than 4 mg/ml it is considered active. If the extract
inhibits growth at less than 20 mg/ml it is active. The P-338 assay is an in vivo test in
mice. A 20 gram mouse is administered leukemic white blood cells. Control mice die
within 10 days from administration. Plant extracts are injected daily for 9 days and any
life extension in the mice measured. If the T/C (treated/control) life span value is greater
than 130% the extract is considered active.
Alkaloid screening at Purdue University follows a standardized procedure. Dried,
powdered plant material is extracted in CHC1 .-MeOH-NH,OH (2:1:1) and with CHCl,.
The CHC13 filtrate condensed on a rotary evaporator with an aspirator vacuum. The
resulting thick syrup is extracted with 3-5, 20 ml portions of IN HCl. The acidic
aqueous solution is extracted with 2, 100 ml portions of CHC1, and Eto0. At this point
the acidic aqueous extract is set aside momentarily. The combined CHC], and Ety0 frac-
tion is dried over anhydrous Na,SO, and condensed in the rotary vacuum until it reaches
a syrupy stage. The residue is saved as fraction B.
The previously saved acidic aqueous solution is adjusted to pH 9.5 with 7.5 N NaOH
and extracted with 2, 100 ml portions of CHC1, and Et,0. The basic NaOH extract is
saved. The CHC1 -Et,0 fraction is dried over anhydrous Na SO4 and condensed under
rotary vacuum to syrupy residue A, which should contain any alkaloids present.
The basic aqueous NaOH solution set aside in the last step is condensed on the
rotary vacuum until all organic solvents are evaporated. The residue is freeze-dried and
extracted with 3, 10 ml aliquots of 10% EtOH in CHC1 g3- The insoluable salt is discarded
and the organic solution condensed to syrupy residue C.
Residues A, B, and C are dissolved in small amounts of EtOH and separated by -
layer chromatography. Several solvent systems may be used on silica gel G, H, or PF 954
plate. The solvent selected depends upon the compound present.
Identification of the alkaloid is made by comparison of the unknown with a standard
sample, the use of spray reagents, and other analytical techniques. Spray reagents used
include UV indicators, fluram, dansyl chloride, tetrazotized benzidine reagent, OF Ip
vapor. Instrumentation such as GC, LC, IR, UV-Visible Spectrophotometers, NMR, Ms;
and X-ray crystallography are available at the Purdue University Pharmacology Depart
ment for identification and structural determination of unknown compounds.
The analysis for tannins uses one gram of dried leaves which are pulverized and €x-
tracted in boiling water. The lipophilic compounds are separated out into chloroform.
An aliquot of the aqueous extract and a 5% tannic acid standard is tested with a ferric
os soe de test. This same aqueous extract is also tested for precipitation of a 50% igi
ution. A second more sensitive method is used in which the pH is adjusted to 1”
-05 g NaCl is added.
DISCUSSION
é Information from different sources varies because of the background of the abe
se the location of settlements, the differing extent of reliance upon the plants
mecicines and the availability of each species in the bush.
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 151
to escape persecution. Amelia Marshall is the great granddaughter of Sipian Bowleg, a
Seminole medicine man from Low Sound, Bahamas. As a child she attended a few years
FIG, 1.—Mrs, Amelia Marshall, a prominent “granny” or “bush medicine” woman from Red Bays on
North Andros Island. Bahames (photo C, Rowand).
152 McCLURE & ESHBAUGH Vol. 3, No. 2
of school before becoming an apprentice to the village’s practicing granny. Since then,
she has ventured into the bush to taste different plants to evaluate their medicinal qual-
ities. Her axiom is, “If it doesn’t kill me, it won’t kill you.” She is training a male ap-
prentice, Junior, who will take her place when she is too old to carry on. Mrs. Marshall
has a very extensive knowledge of the local flora which she employs daily to treat the
common ailments in the village. In the village of Standard Creek, Mrs. Ena Woodside is
the matriarchal leader of a village of her descendants. Ella Woodside, Ena’s daughter and
apprentice for years, now has taken over part of the responsibility of brewing medicinal
teas. Lona Williams, from Blanket Sound, and one of the authors (SAM) chanced to meet
in the middle of a tidal flat where she was hunting crabs. When she saw that one of the
authors was collecting plants of love potions (Fig. 2), she offered to divulge her recipe.
In contrast, the more urban settlements of Fresh Creek and Stafford Creek primarily
have male practitioners. Mr. James Thompson, Mr. Charlie Gilcot, and Ms. Rosie Tusco
in Fresh Creek and Mr. Doc Curry in Stafford Creek were interviewed. James Thompson
is a grandson of an Andros Island medicine man. He remarked that, ‘During my Grand-
father’s lifetime, that’s (drinking medicinal teas) why they lived so long. My Grandfather
lived to be 84 years old.” Although his experience was mainly limited to the love potions,
he spoke of the Obeah superstitions on Andros and explained how certain plants are used
in ceremonial rituals to curse an enemy. Most other sources refused to comment on this
subject. Unlike James, Charlie Gilcot had an extensive medicinal background, However,
since the establishment of the Andros Island Medical Clinic he seldom made any teas
except for love potions. Originally born on Andros, Charlie moved to Mexico in 1936
where he worked ona ranch. Since there were no doctors, Charlie learned bush medicine
from the Indians. After nine years, he returned to Andros. Like others in rural areas,
Charlie was training an apprentice, Rosie Tusco. Rosie’s interest began with her training
in Haiti where she lived until 1973. She brews love potions regularly to facilitate her
profession, prostitution. Doc Curry of Standard Creek claims his old age (75) and good
health are the result of the teas he brews and drinks. At one time he had a regular clien-
tele who purchased his remedies. Now his sales are limited to occasional strength or love
potion sales,
Preparation.—All Bahamians interviewed use a combination of several herbs to brew a tea
for energy which is necessary for maintaining sexual stamina, a highly desirable trait in
this island society which is very concerned with procreation. Other terms used to des-
cribe the desirable action of these teas are: “to build you up,” “‘to raise the blood,” “to
strengthen the back” and “for strength,”
The recipe for the love potions varies according to the source, but the same basic
plants are used (Table 1). Some additional plants were also mentioned, but since no
rum also. Unlike the others, Doc Curry brews the roots. “Your strength lay in your leg,
i
that he“... had to
this problem
American clie
: e , the potion is drunk before bed. As Doc Curry says, “++i
your staff is gone, you can drink anytime.” Lona Williams promised to show Susa”
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 158
. 7 v S g
FIG. 2.—Four of the main plants that serve as ingredients for love “aban A it sage as
Back); B, Tabebuia bahamensis (Five Finger); C, Cassytha filiformis (Love Vine); and D, Diospyro:
Crassineryts (Stiff Cock) (photos W.H, Eshbaugh).
154
McCLURE & ESHBAUGH
Vol. 3, No. 2
TABLE 1.—Some ingredients of Andros Island, Bahamas, love potions,
SCIENTIFIC NAME INFORMANT NOTES
¢
Names are arranged by family 3 = 5 nee Chemical components/
a9 i ies = Bee a :
and follow the treatment of Plant part $ 3 2 a & z other areas used in
Correll and Correll (1982). used > SFE ORG love potions
Bignoniaceae
Tabebuia bahamensis
(Northrop) Britt. Leafy twig X X X X X X X_Lapachol in genus/
Trinidad & Jamaica
Boraginaceae
Bourreria ovata Miers Leafy twig X be ee es ep
Cordia bahamensis Urb. Leafy twig X
urseraceae
Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg. Leafy twig : > > ae 4 Ethereal oils, tannins,
sterols/ Bahamas
Ebenaceae
Diospyros crassinervis Leafy twig X X X X X X X_ Long & Exuma Islands,
(Krug. & Urb.) Standl.
Bahamas
Erythroxylaceae
Erythroxylon rotundifolia
Lunan Leafy twig X Se ee Bae. &
Lauraceae
Cassy tha filiformis L.
Vine xX X X X Alkaloids / Long &
h
Loree Exuma Islands, Bahamas
Phoradendron sp. Leafy twig X
Meliaceae
Swietenia mahagoni
(L.) Jacq. Leafy twig x x x
Myrtaceae
Eugenia axillaris
(Sw.) Willd. Leafy twig es ee ae Ethereal oils / Bahamas
aceae
Pinus caribaea Morelet Inner Bark X X Resin
Sapindaceae
Thouinia discolor Griseb, Leafy twig zx xX X
farses Pent cceen ens eA
McClure her recipe for the love potion under the condition she would not drink the
tea until she rejoined her husband. The potion is also drunk as a general tonic when
feeling poorly and“. . . to keep the body in really super shape...” (Tusco).
har simaruba and other species are boiled with a piece of iron. On Long and Exumas
stands, Bahamas, the leaves ae bahamensis, B. ovata, D. crassinervis, B. simaruba and
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 155
others are boiled with iron to enrich the blood and restore strength and energy (Eldridge
1975). Higgs (1969) notes Eugenia axillaris is used in the Bahamas as an aphrodisiac.
Men in the Caicos Islands boil the roots of E. axillaris with several other species including
Tabebuia heterophylla (Morton lumps T. heterophylla and T. bahamensis into a single
species complex) to make an aphrodisiac tea (Morton 1981). In the Bahamas, shavings of
Swietenia mahagoni bark are steeped in warm water and rum for 3 or 4 days and the
infusion is taken as an aphrodisiac (Ayensu 1981). On Long and Exumas Islands, Baha-
mas, a leaf decoction is drunk to overcome weakness (probably sexual in nature) (Eld-
ridge 1975),
Chemical and Pharmacological Aspects.—Tabebuia bahamensis (five finger) is used by all
the practitioners interviewed in making love potions. Lapachol, isolated from the wood
of some Tabebuia species, has been tested by the Natural Products Section, National
Cancer Institute. Test results indicated inhibition of human nasopharynx carcinosarcoma
(9KB) and mouse leukemia (P-338) (Lewis and Elvin-Lewis 1977). Gram positive acid
fast bacteria and fungi are also inhibited by lapachol applications.
Bourreria ovata, known as strong back on Andros, tested negative in alkaloid screen-
ing at Purdue. Morton (1980) has speculated that the use of this plant for the blood may
exemplify merely a symbolic cure since the decoction is blood red.
Only Mrs. Marshall used Cordia bahamensis, commonly called granny bush on
Andros, in love potions. This reflects her former role as an unlicensed midwife. Granny
bush is used primarily in teas or baths during and after birth. This practice has almost
disappeared since the Progressive Liberal Party began to enforce a 1957 law requiring
only registered midwives to attend births.
Bursera simaruba, known as gum elemi on Andros, is not only used frequently in
love potions, but throughout the Caribbean and the Meso-American areas it is used medi-
cinally for fever and colds, rheumatism and back pain, purgative and diarrhoea, derma-
titis and tumors. Results of alkaloid screening were negative but tannins are present in
aqueous solutions of leaf and twig. The National Institute of Health screened B. simaruba
for anticancer activity. Of 27 extracts screened, nine were active (Suffness, personal
comm.).
In irs simaruba several other biological actions have been recorded. The alcohol
€xtract causes cytostatic activity in a microbiological system (Abraham et al. 1979).
Fent and others (1962) screened a number of plants on specific isolated organ systems.
Both the aqueous and the alcoholic extracts were tested. The aqueous fraction caused
the death of two mice at a 0.5 ml dose. It was considered acutely toxic. An isolated
rabbit heart was inhibited by 1 ml of aqueous solution. The alcoholic extract was not
acutely toxic, but it increased the vascular flow of a rat hind limb and stimulated a
tabbit duodenum. Both fractions inhibited contractions of a guinea pig ileum. These
actions required relatively high doses of extract, thus the effect may be oer = ;
Diospyros crassinervis is commonly known as stiff cock on Andros whic reflects
the stiff, coriaceous nature of the leaves and its use in love potions as a male aphrodisiac.
Alkaloid Screening resulted in a negative reaction and little tannin activity was noted, yet
the plant is commonly used by all practitioners. oe
Little pliasnaonoaca if Boa has been focused m7 Erythroxylon rotundifolia,
called boho on Andros, but the alkaloid screening was nega ive. fc
Busing filiformis, known as love vine on Andros, is an orange og’ a soe
ngs to many different shrubs. The common name, love mney may Feet te cI :
Parasitic habit of the vine. Cassytha filiformis contains four tetrahydroisoquino 2
alkaloids, laurotetainin, cassyfiline, cassythidine, and cassythicine (McLaughlin, persona
comm.),
Little is known of the chemical properties of the native Phoradendron sp. and they
are used only by Rosie Tusco in her love potions.
156 McCLURE & ESHBAUGH Vol. 3, No. 2
Swietenia mahagoni (mahagony) is used in love potions on Andros only in the settle-
ment of Fresh Creek. The bark is rich in tannin and juglone (Morton 1981).
Eugenia axillaris, called iron wood on Andros, is one of the more infrequently used
plants. No chemical or pharmacological research has been done on this species but frag-
rant ethereal oils are evident when fresh twigs are broken.
Thouinia discolor, known as hard bark on Andros, is also used alone for pain in the
back, strength and fever. Thouinia discolor also gave a negative reaction to alkaloid
screening.
Much more chemical testing must be done before any physiological basis for the
use of love potions can be established. The information reported here serves only to
document plant use in the Bahamas and suggest plants that might prove interesting if
investigated further.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A portion of the research reported here was financially supported by grants from Sigma Xi, the
Explorers Club and the Willard Sherman Turrell Herbarium Fund (No. 27). We would like to thank
the staff and management of the Forfar Field Station, Andros Island, Bahamas, and especially Rose
Blanchard and Dr. Thomas K. Wilson for all their assistance. Communications with Dr. Matthew
Suffness, Head, Plant and Animal Products Section, National Cancer Institute, are acknowledged.
Much credit must be given to Dr. Jerry McLaughlin and Suni Pummingura for the chemical analysis
and instruction. §. A. McClure especially thanks her husband, Ted, for his support and understanding
during the field work phase of the investigation.
LITERATURE CITED
ABRAHAM, A.M., N.R. HERNANDEZ, and
C.A. MISAS,. 1979. Extractos de plantas con
propiedades citostaticas que crecen en Cuba,
part 2. Rev. Cub. Med. Trop. 31:105-111.
ANONYMOUS. 1971. Bush medicine on San
Salvador. Unpubl. San Salvador Pilot Pro-
gram, College Center of the Finger Lakes,
New York,
AYENSU, E.S. 1981. Medicinal Plants of
the West Indies. Reference Publications, Inc.,
Algonac, Michigan.
CORRELL, D.S. and H.B. CORRELL. 1982.
Flora of the Bahama Archipelago. J. Cramer,
Vad
uz.
ELDRIDGE, J. 1975. Bush medicine in the
Exumas and Long Island, Bahamas; a field
study. Econ. Botany 29: 307-332.
FENG, P.C., LJ. HAYNES, D.E. MAGN NUS,
J-R. PLIMMER, and H.S. SHERRATT. 1962,
Pharmacological screening of some West
Indian medicinal plants. J. Pharm. Pharma-
col. 14:556-561,
HALBERSTEIN, R.A. and A.B. SAUNDERS.
1978. apres medical pero and med-
ical plant usa an island. Cul-
ture, Medicine, em inlay "21177 203.
Bush medicine in the Baha-
LEWIS, W.H. and M.P. ‘ ELVIN-LEWIS. 1977.
Medical Botany-Plants Affecting Man ’s Health.
J. Wiley and Sons, New Yor
MORTON, J. 1980. Caribbean and Latin
American folk medicine and its influence in
the United States. Q.F. Crude Drug Res. 18:
7-7
1981. Atlas of Medicinal Plants of
Middle aaaaen Charles C. Thomas, Spring-
field, Illinois
RODGERS, W.B. and R.E. GARDNER. 1969.
Linked changes in values and behavior in the
Out Island Bahamas. Am. Anthropol. 71:21-
35,
WOOD, P. 1975. You and Aunt Arie. ee
tutional Development and Economic Affair
Service, Inc., Washington, D.C.
J. Ethnobiol. 3(2):157-174 December 1983
PATTERNS OF VARIATION IN EXOTIC RACES
OF MAIZE (ZEA MAYS, GRAMINEAE) IN A NEW GEOGRAPHIC AREA
RITA A. SHUSTER
Former Garden Manager, Dolores Archaeological Program,
Dolores, CO 81323
and Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology,
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
ROBERT A. BYE, JR.
Former Co-principal Investigator for Environmental Studies,
Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, CO 81323
and Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology,
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
ABSTRACT.—Over the past 3000 years exotic races of maize (Zea mays L.) were intro-
duced, evaluated, sometimes discarded but often modified, and incorporated into North
American agriculture. Present-day northern Mexico has served as a source area for many
races. Whether maize was able to produce (i.e., yield acceptable products and viable propa-
gules) in the new area or not after the first growing season was critical. A key factor in the
success may have been the method of dispersal, for example gradual diffusion or long-dis-
tance jump-dispersal. This study examined the biological patterns of variability for the long
distance jump-dispersal by using five contemporary Tarahumara races of maize from nor-
thern Mexico and a Papago race from southern Arizona as exotics and one contemporary
Puebloan race, Hopi Blue maize, from southwestern United States as a native standard.
Comparisons among morphological characters, developmental patterns, and productivity
were made to develop the baseline for evaluating the biological and ecological factors for
successful introduction and change of a component in the subsistence agricultural system.
€ maize was grown under a uniform environment in the experimental gardens of the
Dolores Archaeological Program in southwestern Colorado.
INTRODUCTION
The movement of cultivated plants is as important as the origin of agriculture and the
spread of agricultural techniques. The dispersal of cultivated plants provides information
on the history of the plants as well as evidence of human contacts and trade (Carter 1945,
1979; Heiser 1965; Pickersgill 1972; Sauer 1969). Usually the evidence for dispersal of culti-
vated plants is derived from both modern and archaeological specimens which represent
could represent recent introductions. Plants may have been introduced in the past and
their occurrence at different time periods would be recorded archaeologically (Ford 1979;
Harlan and de Wet 1973). These patterns as well as variations in them tell us of the pro-
ducts of introduction of new plants but they reveal limited information about the process
of introduction or exotics.
Recent reevaluation of archaeological plant remains in North America suggests that
complexes of various crops moved along certain pathways at various time periods from
Present-day Mexico into present-day United States (Ford 1980). The developing pase
Suggests the movement of different plants at different times. One possible interpretation
of this pattern is that only some plants were successful at any particular place at a given
ee period while other plants were not successful. What happened in the process of
troduction? We only have the remnants of the final products left today.
Maize (Zea mays L.) has received considerable attention in the last forty years with
“espect to its origin and diffusion. Maize agriculture appears to have been introduced into
158 SHUSTER & BYE Vol. 3, No. 2
the American Southwest by about 2000-1000 BC and slowly spread northward into
Colorado and Utah by about 200 BC (Ford 1980; Woodbury and Zubrow 1979). The
routes of the Upper and Lower Sonoran Complexes for the introduction of maize, beans
and cucurbits followed the Mexican Sierra Madre Occidental and its western coastal
plain (Ford 1980; Kelley 1966; Spence 1978). Subsequent introductions of maize suc-
ceeded and appeared to have had an impact upon the cultures in the area. Between AD
900-1100 in present-day northwestern Mexico, a rapid evolutionary spurt in maize
occurred which transformed the maize being grown. This rapid change has been attri-
buted to genetic recombination, heterosis and mutagenic effects of teosinte introgression
(Mangelsdorf 1974) which suggests the introduction, acceptance, incorporation and
selection of exotic races and their products. Similar patterns occurred in the present-day
southwestern United States during the Pueblo II period (AD 900-1100). This introduc-
tion and modification of maize is thought to have been more productive and to have led
to the expansion of agriculture in the arid Southwest. In fact, it is this increased biologi-
cal diversity and subsequent productivity of the maize rather than a favorable climate
which may have led to the expansion of agriculture and human populations in the region
(Galinat and Gunnerson 1963; Mangelsdorf 1974), The establishment of exotic races as
well as their hybridization with native races would provide the genetic basis for increased
diversity which would amplify the patterns of variations of plant responses to the en-
vironment. These variations would be evaluated and selected upon by humans for desir-
able products and the favored races would be continued. The rise of the Fremont maize
races in the American Southwest as well as the Cristilino de Chihuahua in northwestern
Mexico and its counterparts in the Puebloan races suggests the importance of the dispersal
of exotics into the Southwest and their effects on the local cultures. The specific evi-
dence and patterns of movement and incorporation of exotic races into the Four Corners
area based upon archaeological materials will not be presented in this paper because there
is no uniform analysis of the maize materials at this time. However, establishing a frame-
work for identifying the biological parameters of such movement and incorporation could
contribute to a more meaningful interpretation of available archaeological specimens.
It is difficult to understand the process of dispersal~ when we are presented with
only static fragments of the past. In order to go beyond the descriptive phase and enter
the explanatory phase of plant-human interactions, we must look at the patterns of
responses of the plants in order to explain the results we observe. In examining the
process we must look at the patterns of variation in the plants as responses to various
environmental factors. Then this information can be combined with perceptions and
values of the cultivated plants by certain cultures and with the characters which are
influenced by human selection (for examples of maize, see Benz and Bye, in prep»
Clawson and Joy 1979; Johannessen 1982; Winkelmann 1976).
Maize may have been introduced as a package of various races associated with other
cultivated plants and weeds. This complex may have moved slowly with a series of short
met eaten ora sd would have involved cultivation and subsequent le
home area fay dese be cae 2 eat ante mcnsig ere - - :
ak ee accomplished in a short period of time (i.e., jump-dispersal).
consequently influence ip * ce eae ee e a
Sebitere aft Wide a € expression of genetically fixed plant responses. me ee
which affect plant a. considered the dominant abiotic environmental 08 ag
important as the ie f 2a rir dea eaitiorpe “and Moorby dite a for
eaten put energy which is fixed by the plant as well as the yi pei
tha peas ta ii ig patterns. Temperature affects rate of growth, length " fee
loss through evap fain ee site Uptake of moisture from the soil and mane
port. These factors 0 ete hed aa habeange ane de a mae”
and the length of the n work together. The photoperiod (ratio of light to dar :
ae gtoOwing season influence the initiation of flowering and subseque?
fruiting. Temperat i .
perature, in terms of absolute extremes as well as cumulative degree-day®
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 159
affects the rates of growth and maturation. Moisture uptake and evapotranspiration rate
strongly influence the growth and reproductive patterns of different races.
e responses of the plants of different races to the different environmental factors
can be compared with one another. Those plants with desirable characteristics can be
maintained by obtaining reproductive seeds for subsequent planting. Also hybridization
of open pollinated plants, such as maize, can increase the genetic diversity within popula-
tions; the selection of progeny over generations could produce distinct local varieties.
Plants with less desirable characteristics would not be as highly valued and consequently
may not be continued. . The differential reproductive potential, which is limited by bio-
logical and cultural factors, determines the success and duration of the maize races over
time and the products that could be observed in the archaeological, historical and con-
temporary records. The critical points include: 1) increase of intraspecific genetic diver-
sity and phenotypic variation, 2) preferential selection and subsequent planting of seeds
from plant populations, and 3) comparison of several forms or races so as to select cer-
tain ones and discard others based upon the divergence of the characters in response to
the new ambient environment.
THE SETTING
For the purpose of this study, the new home area was located in southwestern
Colorado, ca. 10 km northwest of Dolores, Montezuma County. The source areas for
the exotic maize package were the Sierra Madre Occidental of southwestern Chihuahua
and the Basin and Range Physiographic Province of southern Arizona. A brief descrip-
tion of the environment at the Coloradoan home area and the Chihuahuan source area is
presented below so as to compare the similarities and differences of the two extreme
environments.
e new home area is located in the ecotone between the Ponderosa Pine Forest
(with oak) and the Pinon-Juniper Woodland (with oak) at an elevation of ca. 2200 msm.
The general area is situated at about latitude 37° 21’N where there are ca. 14% hours
of light on the longest day during the growing season (Fig. 1). pe ae
The relationship between temperature and precipitation is critical
expressed graphically in an ecological climate diagram (Walter 1979) using the vague
ship that 10° C equals 20 mm of precipitation based upon monthly means. This rela-
tionship between the temperature line and the precipitation line represents the inten-
sity of moisture stress in the environment. Where the precipitation line is below the
temperature line, aridity is assumed; the height of the difference represents the intensity
of the drought and the width is related to the duration. Where the precipitation line is
above the temperature line, humidity is assumed. This relationship when based upon
several years of data should reflect the overall macroclimatic patterns although variation
from year to year as well as over long periods of time is expected. .
In the Dolores home area, the data for the general ecological climate diagram (Fig.
2a) is derived from the Cortez weather station. It is located ca. 23 km south of the study
area is situated at ca. 1900 msm. It is the closest long-term weather record
Even though the specific data may be different from the Dolores home area, the general
pattern should be similar. It should be noted, however, that the 1979 and 1980 a
patterns of the Cortez station were different from the normal pattern and that the ans
data from the upper and lower garden sites of the Dolores home area were different rom
the Cortez records (Fig. 3a and b). The aridity usually occurs during the growing season
which is calculated as the time between the dates of the 50% probability of the last spring
freeze (0°C) and the first fall freeze. Soil moisture is regenerated by the winter precipita-
tion. The normal growing season is about 131 days. During the 1979 season in pipet
the aridity was more pronounced during the longer than normal growing season © :
days but the precipitation during the non-growing season was greater (Fig. 3a). In t e
Dolores home area there was even less precipitation and an unusually short growing
160 SHUSTER & BYE Vol. 3, No. 2
27°3 37°30
DAYLIGHT HOURS
ON
pee peda do Any Sapa Oy
: é °N in Chihuahua,
FIG. 1—Comparison of day length (as measured by daylight hours) for 27° 30’N in eres nee
Mexico, and for 37° 30°N in southwestern Colorado, United States, for April through Octo
upon data extrapolated from Smithsonian Institution 1963).
ews e pro-
season (87 days). During the 1980 season in Cortez, the aridity was even more P
ecipi-
nounced than normal and worse than 1979 season (Fig. 3b). Even though the pr P
tation peaked during the winter months, th
than
e overall precipitation for 1980 was less
normal,
In addition drought was extreme at the beginning of the growing on
growing season at Cortez was a little longer than normal (137 days). In otek: more
area, the precipitation was a little greater than at Cortez but the overall aridity hee
pronounced than normal. The growing season was much shorter in both the eee
garden (67 days) and the upper garden (98 days). In summary, the general sf nd
season in the new
; . ing season 4
home area can be characterized by a short arid growing
by a non-growing se
ason precipitation pattern. ; onderosa
The exotic package source area is located in the Pine-Oak Forest (with p
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 161
mm
USA: CO: Cortez (1883 m) 9.4 °C 319.9 mm
mm
MEX: CHIH: Creel (2338 m) 10.6 °C 709.0 mmf—— 200
100
a
°¢
30 — 60
20 as” 40
10 — 20
0
0
107
FIG, 2—Ecological Climate Diagrams (following procedures outlines by Walter 1979). 2a: Nips
Montezuma County, Colorado, (based on weather data from 1951-1973) and 2b: Creel, Municipio de
Bocoyna, Chihuahua, (based on weather data from 1953-1970).
Pine) at an elevation of ca. 2200 msm. The general area is situated about latitude aa
45'N where there are ca. 13% hours of light on the longest day during the growing season
(Fig. 1). The relationship between temperature and precipitation 1s based upon the on
term recording station located in Creel, municipio de Bocoyna (Fig. 2b). A short oie
of aridity occurs prior to the growing season in April and May. The heaviest precipitation
falls during the growing season. The growing season is about 107 days. spe
The Coloradoan home area and the Chihuahuan home area are situated at simi
altitudes and have comparable vegetation. Aridity is part of the climatic pattern ag
areas but is more intense and of longer duration in Colorado. Also, the aridity perio “i
owing season while in Chihuahua it comes prior to the
Owing season. Chihuahua is wetter (709 mm per year) than in Colorado (320 mm per
162 SHUSTER & BYE Vol. 3, No. 2
USA: CO: Cortez (1883 m) 1979 7.7 °C 349.5 mm
ee UG = Upper Garden Dolores Arch. Prog. 80
(2200 m) - 1979
- -—LG = Lower Garden Dolores Arch. Prog.
(2060 m) - 1979
°C USA: CO: Cortez (1883 m) 1980 9.2-%C 316.2 mT
¢°¢UG = Upper Garden Dolores Arch. Prog. 80
(2200 m) - 198
-- LG = Lower Garden Dolores Arch. Prog.
(2060 m) - 1980
0 0
Cortez
LG RLLLELELEEE
‘ VULELELELAS
UG NULL ELELEELLeLuedes
FIG. 3—Ecological Climate Diagrams for Cortez and for upper and lower gardens of Dolores Archae-
ological Program based on weather data from 1979 (3a) and 1980 (3b).
year) and the ‘majority of the precipitation occurs as rain during the growing season
Chihuahua while the majority of the precipitation falls as snow during the winter or NOP
new home area are similar (10.6°C and 9.4° C, respectively) but the growing season 16
longer in the general Coloradoan new home area (131 days) than in the general Cie:
huan source area (107 days). However, the growing season of the specific new home 4
in Dolores is shorter than the growing season of the general home area in Corte? and
appears to be more similar to the Chihuahuan source area.
Overall the vegetation, elevation, and mean annual temperature are similar but the
daylength, aridity, mean annual precipitation, and seasonal fluctuation of monthly mean
temperatures are different, The length of average growing season seems to be different 0”
a general scale but may be similar on the specific site. Although not discussed here,
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 163
soils are different in that the Coloradoan home area is dominated by Aridisols and Enti-
sols derived from sedimentary bed rock while the Chihuahuan source area is dominated
by Mollisols derived from volcanic bed rock.
Mexican grown in the Four Corners region. These plants were grown in the new home
area of southwestern Colorado as a consequence jump-dispersal. As discussed above, the
Sierra Madre Occidental has served as a migration route, if not a source area, for the intro-
duction of such cultivated plants as maize into the American Southwest. Although it is
impossible to recreate the actual events of movement of maize from the Sierra Madre into
the Four Corners area, it is possible to investigate some parts of the process associated
with dispersal and to produce results which may be compared with archaeological and
contemporary materials. The comparison of divergent responses of members from an
exotic package (i.e., various races of maize representing intraspecific crop variation) with
a native standard from the Colorado-New Mexican home area will allow some insights
into the process of dispersal of maize into the Southwest from northwestern Mexico.
Also, these insights will provide an analog and allow for a better understanding of the
products which are left in the archaeological record.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The races used in this study are those maize for which we could readily obtain
kernels for planting. Each collection? represents (with one possible exception) one
landrace* for each taxonomic race. For simplicity, we will refer to each collection asa
distinct race, Hopi Blue flour maize, a variety of the Puebloan race (Brown et al. 1952;
Carter and Anderson 1945), came from the 1979 crop grown in the Dolores garden. The
Original seed source from northern New Mexico was provided by Bob Gallegos. Because
this race was adapted to the Four Corners region and had performed successfully in our
first season, it was used as the native standard with which other races could be compared.
Papago white flour maize, a variety of the Pima-Papago race (Carter and Anderson 1945),
was obtained from Gary Nabhan in Tucson, Arizona. This race is considered similar to
Prehistoric Basketmaker maize (Anderson and Cutler 1942) and is noted for st
maturation and drought hardiness (Castetter and Bell 1942). Ears of Apachito , Azul”,
Cristalino de Chihuahua’, Blando de Sonora®, and Blanco)’ races (Hernandez and
Alanis 1970; Wellhausen et al. 1952) were collected from the Tarahumara Indians in the
Vicinity of Creel, Chihuahua. This group of one flour variety, Blando, and four flint
Varieties was considered in exotic package. From our discussions with Tarahumara
farmers in October 1979, and October 1980, and our observations of maize plants in the
fields at harvest time, these races appeared to be a unified package because of their simi-
larities in growth responses, rate of maturation, morphology, and yield potential.
To compare the performance of the five Tarahumara varieties and the Papago og
with the standard Hopi Blue, kernels of all races were planted and raised under uniform
Conditions in the gardens of the Dolores Archaeological Program near Dolores, Colorado,
Wenty hills of each race were planted on June 8, 1980. Hills were spaced at 1 m by 1 z
with an additional 1 m boundary surrounding each plot. Three or four plants ‘nate ip
M each hill, and overall crop density averaged 1.75 plants per m*. Seeds were pe
before Planting and 5 liters of water were applied to each hill at the time of planting an
once again after seedlings had emerged. No further irrigation was supplied. Total rainfall
tween planting and harvest was 6.1 cm. Records were kept during the Ahlan metas
on rate of growth and maturation of plants from each race. At maturity of the plants :
mid-September, a series of morphological variables was measured on 20 plants from =
“ace. Ears were harvested September 28-30, 1980, approximately 112 days after plant-
ing,
164 SHUSTER & BYE Vol. 3, No. 2
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Crop productivity of different races was determined by growth and development
patterns, morphological characters of mature plants, and yield of ears. Patterns of
divergence or similarity between the exotic races and the native standard indicate factors
that affect the ability of introduced races to mature in a new geographic region, demon-
strate ecological and morphological differences between plants of different races, provide
comparison of yield potential between introduced and native races, and show divergence
among races within the exotic package when it is introduced into a new region. The data
are derived from the populations in the upper garden rather than the lower garden which
experienced a short growing season,
Growth rates and development.—Differences in the growth rates and development as
measured at time of maturation of the maize races grown at Dolores appear to be res-
ponses to temperature and photoperiodic sensitivity. For all races, increase in plant
height and number of leaves prior to tasselling was directly related to accumulated heat
units. The duration of vegetative growth between planting and flowering is dependent on
temperature, and one effect of cool nights is to prolong this period of growth (Brouwer
et al. 1973; Shaw 1976). Mean daily temperatures of 15-18° C, as recorded in Dolores
from June to September (Fig. 4), can retard maize maturation (Jenkins 1941). This
should not have affected the Tara humara races since the temperatures during the growing
season in Chihuahua are similar to those recorded for Dolores. However, the effect was
strongly pronounced in the Papago maize. This type of maize is reported to produce ears
in 60-65 days near Tucson (Gary Nabhan in Meals for Millions 1981), but required 100
days in Dolores. Monthly mean temperatures for a similar period in Tucson range from
26-30° C. Because maize growth is so temperature dependent, the number of days
between planting and maturation varies greatly with site location and climate and is not 4
constant for any race (Wallace and Bressman 1949).
Photoperiod also affects the time of flowering in sensitive races of maize (Francis
1973; Mangelsdorf 1974), Plants of maize often grow taller and have more leaves when
grown at higher latitudes because of delayed floral initiation; vegetative growth goes on
longer through the growing season before the tassel and silks develop. Mature plants of
the four Tarahumara flint races (Apachito, Azul, Blanco, and Cristalino) had from 14 to
18 leaves per stalk at maturity and ranged from 130 to 225 cm tall in the Dolores garden.
In the Tarahumara region, plants matured on approximately the same schedule as those
in Dolores, and also had 14 to 18 leaves at maturity and ranged from 125 to 250 ml tall.
In this case, the differences in vegetative growth and rate of maturation due to a latitudi-
nal shift of 10° did not exceed the range of phenotypic variation shown by plants in both
settings. Plants of the flour race, Blando, however, did show a response to a latitudinal
shift. In Chihuahua, Blando plants were similar in height and rate of maturation to those
of the other four races, but in Dolores the Blando plants were taller than those of the
other four races and ears had only developed to the milk stage by early October.
__ Hernandez and Alanis (1970) report that Azul maize flowers in 65 days after plant
ing and Apachito maize flowers in 55 days; both tasselled at 60 days in Dolores and pro-
duced silks in 72 days. The delay between tasselling and silking in Dolores was 4 symp"
tom of drought stress on the plants (Aldrich and Leng 1965). This delayed ae : re
ei 1
severely at midday, and least noticeable in the Papago flour maize, which kept aie
leaf color and positi
in either race,
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 165
si -
35
‘ie
Weekly Highs
1 a
Average Highs
a
15 - Weekly Means
Soil at 30 cm
10:
5 5
Average Lows
Weekly Lows
L
V
June July August September
FIG. 4—Air (solid lines) and soil (dashed line) temperatures recorded at the upper garden of the
Dolorres Archaeological Program and reported as weekly means, weekly extreme means (average highs
and lows), and absolute extremes (weekly highs and lows) for the 1980 season.
drought. Because the average summer rainfall in Chihuahua is so much greater than that
in Dolores (Fig. 2), it was expected that all plants of Tarahumara maize would be affected
y drought stress more than plants of either Hopi Blue or Papago maize. This hypothesis
Was supported by observations of leaf response on hot afternoons in late July and August.
However, the Tarahumara plants produced normal mature ears and showed neither poor
kernel set nor incomplete filling at the tips of the ears, characteristic manifestations of
drought Stress,
Morphological characters of mature maize plants.—Races of maize are traditionally
distinguished on the basis of ear and kernel characteristics (Anderson and Cutler 1942;
Town and Goodman 1977). Since vegetative characters are more plastic than reproduc-
tive characters, they are less useful in discriminating between races (Goodman and Pater-
166 SHUSTER & BYE Vol. 3, No. 2
niani 1969). However, as races evolve in restricted geographic areas, they are selected for
adaptation to local climatic conditions (Bird 1970) in addition to biotic and cultural
factors. This process has resulted in a divergence of developmental and vegetative char-
acters as well as ear and kernel characters. When introduced into a new area, differences
in these characters will influence the potential productivity and successful reproduction
of the exotic race.
One aspect of the architecture of mature maize plants is the location of the main
ear on the stalk. Ears were borne as low as the ninth and tenth nodes in Hopi Blue and
Papago maize, as high as the fourteenth in Blando, and in between at the eleventh and
twelfth nodes in the four Tarahumara flint races. In addition to this variation in ear
location relative to the nodes, the average ear height ranged from only 50 cm in Hopi
Blue to 102 cm in Blando. Ear placement may be related to yield potential. Mangels-
dorf (1965) reports that leaves above the ears supply photosynthates to the developing
kernels, and that leaves below the ear supply the root systems. He predicted that if
plants from races which bear ears low on the stalk have more leaves above the ear, they
should show increased yield but decreased root system development compared with
plants from other races with higher ears. These predictions were not substantiated by
the plants at Dolores. Hopi Blue and Papago maize plants had both the lowest ears and
the most leaves above the ear but did not have identical increased yields. Both showed
good drought resistence compared to the Tarahumara races.
Morphological characters, which were measured on a sample of 20 plants from each
race, were chosen to represent the dimensions, proportions, vegetative vigor, and poten-
tial yield of ears. Some characters were based on previous studies of maize (Goodman
and Paterniani 1969; Wellhausen et al. 1952), and others were added for this study (Table
1), Although one-way analysis of variance showed that significant differences among the
seven races from each other. Some characters showed much more variation than others.
For example, plant height to the tassel base ranged from 134 + 4 cm in Papago to 19444
cm in Blando, but both had tassels 38-40 cm tall.
TABLE 1.—Morphological measurements of maize plants, based on previous studies of characters
important in racial determination (Goodman and Paterniani 1969; Welhausen et al. 1952) with some
characters added or modified for the purposes of this study.
(Lats Sl go a
pod
. Height of plants to tops of leaves.
be)
2. Height of plants to node of the base of the tassel.
3. Length of tassel along primary axis from base to top.
4. Height of stalk from ground to node at which top ear develops.
5
. Number of leaves, including the first four which develop from the embryonic
plumule.
6. Number of leaves above the top ear and below the tassel.
7. Length along the midrib of the leaf subtending the top ear.
8. Width of that leaf, measured midway down its length.
9. Number of tillers produced by the main stalk.
10. Number of primary branches on the tassel.
11. Number of mature ears per plant.
n stalk
- Number of secondary ears per plant that arise on the tillers or on the ma ree
e
i the primary ear, and do not develop to maturity but can be consum
green”’ corn.
—_
Oo
- Number of axillary ears arising between the husks of the primary ear on 4 stalk
These are tiny but can be consumed entire. eee
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 167
To test the strength of the relationship between different characters and test hypo-
thesis of correlation, the Pearson’s r coefficient was determined for several pairwise com-
binations of variables. The results support the hypotheses that (1) height to leaftops,
height to tassel base, and height to top ear are strongly related, (2) total number of
leaves, number of leaves above the top ear, and measures of height are strongly related,
(3) leaf length and leaf width are strongly related, and (4) number of tillers is indepen-
dent of the other variables.
A multivariate approach was needed to utilize the information on morphological
characters while recognizing the correlation between them. e purpose of the analysis
was to emphasize the significance of the morphological differences between races, which
imply differences in potential productivity and successful introduction of races. Discrim-
inant function analysis was performed on the data set to create linear combination of
variables which maximize the differences between the races. Using the functions created
in this analysis, 120 of 143 cases (84%) could be properly assigned to one of the seven
races. Thus, this analysis confirms that racial differences can be distinguished on the basis
of vegetative plant morphology as well as ear and kernel morphology. A plot (Fig. 5) of
the results from this analysis clearly separates the Tarahumara races from the South-
western races, and further separates the races within the two main groups, so that Hopi
Blue and Papago are distinct and the Tarahumara races also spaced out slightly. Because
of the great morphological plasticity of maize plants, the functions used in this classifica-
tion would not necessarily apply to plants grown in other gardens. Approaches to racial
classification based on more conservative characters are more universally applicable.
However, for the purpose of indicating differences among plants of various races that
could affect the successful growth, maturation, reproduction, and acceptance of exotic
maize in a new region, this type of analysis in helpful.
4
®
2 Hopi Blue Blando-y
&
Blanco
CANONICAL DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION 2
0 Cristalino if
¥ _ apachi to
Papago 2
~2 Azul
=f
~6 oa -2 0 e :
CANONICAL DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION 1
FIG. 5—Plot of group centroids based upon vegetative morphology of maize grown in — iat
oe. Group centroids for each of the seven races of maize are presented for the first two discriminan
functions,
168 SHUSTER & BYE Vol. 3, No. 2
Yield of ears in different races of maize.—Ears of Papago maize and the four Tarahumara
flint races reached the milk stage by September 12-15, one week in advance of Hopi Blue
and 2-3 weeks in advance of Blando. Maize ears may be harvested and consumed at this
stage, but usually kernels are not fully mature until 3-4 weeks later and ears increase
greatly in weight and carbohydrate content during this period. Differences in degree of
maturity of the ears at the time of harvest at the end of the growing season have impor-
tant consequences. The fate of races introduced into the Southwest from regions further
to the south depends on the ability of the plants to produce seeds in the new setting.
After harvest in late September and subsequent drying, ears were sorted into categories
of immature and nature for measuring the weighing. Immature ears were those that had
been picked with kernels in the milk stage. Their kernels shrank during drying and were
small, wrinkled, and light colored. Fully mature ears had large, well-filled, bright-colored
kernels. Intermediate ears were common. Since later germination tests showed that the
seeds from intermediate ears were viable even though they were not fully filled kernels,
these intermediate ears had reached reproductive maturity and were grouped with the
fully mature ears. Fully mature ears are culturally important as a major food staple, but
reproductively mature ears are also important as a possible means of renewing the plant
population and establishing a race in a new region.
e four Tarahumara flint races (Apachito, Azul, Blanco, and Cristalino) produced
mature ears that were very similar in length and weight (Table 2). Average ear weight in
Blando was much less because these ears were not fully mature but only reproductively
mature. Ears of Papago flour were slightly shorter and lighter than in the four Tara-
humara flint races. Ears of Hopi Blue were significantly longer and heavier at maturity
than ears of the other races.
In Blanco, Cristalino, Hopi Blue, and Papago maize the immature ears were those
produced at lower nodes of the main stalk or on the tillers. They were shorter than the
top ears and of course weighed much less. This trend was even more pronounced in
Apachito and Azul which produced very short immature ears. In Blando, however, many
of the top ears on the stalks were immature. These were as long as OF longer than the
mature ears produced on other stalks of that race.
Immature ears can be consumed fresh but are less desirable as a food source after
drying. The pericarp and glumes are more fully developed than the endosperm in these
immature ears and constitute a larger proportion of the dried kernels. In mature ears,
75% of the weight is in the kernels and most of this is in the endosperm.
Total yield of immature and mature ears from twenty hills of each race is presented
in Table 3. Again it appears that the four Tarahumara flint races (Apachito, Azul, Blanco
and Cristalino) produce similar numbers and weights of both immature and mature ¢ars-
Blando produced as many total ears, but fewer reached maturity so the total weight pro-
duced was very low. Hopi Blue produced numbers and weights of mature and immature
ears intermediate between the four flint races and Blando. Papago flour maize produced
the most mature ears and the greatest weight of both mature and total ears. This varia-
tion among races is summarized in Figure 6, which shows number and dry weight of
mature ears produced per plot of each race.
Among subsistence agriculturalists, maize ears are carefully selected at harvest time as
seed sources for the coming year (Beaglehole 1937; Whiting 1939). Some traditional
farmers me YOY conservative about maintaining their own seed stock. Others take
interest in unusual or exotic races and grow trial plots to compare with their traditional
forms (Johnson 1972). The introduction of maize from Mexico into the Sout ve
depended on many factors including the importation of seeds, the growth and maturation
of the plants, and the cultural acceptance of the new crop. As Sauer (1967:139) sum-
marized:
ie Ste Ohya soa vee undoubtedly required a long time. The older forms of
Sowciophiatey daa re gti a long, warm, moist season, more rapidly a : te seo
n on the successive boreal fringes of its cultivation and in p
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 169
on the drier margins. Slow ecologic selection was demanded of all crops that diffused through a
wide latitudinal and altitudinal range, the diffusive energy of such a crop being probably a com-
plex expression of its desirability and of inherent ecologic plasticity,
TABLE 2.—Length and weight of mature and immature ears of seven races of maize, n= 140,
Race — Mature Ears —
No. of ears Length (cm) Weight (gm)
Apachito 26 17.1 40.68 58.34 5.06
Azul 23 16.2 £0.55 58.54 4.40
Blanco 21 17.9 + 0.52 55.84 5.01
Cristalino 28 17.4 40.93 63.0+ 5.97
Blando 4 18.4 + 2.14 28.0+ 2.09
Papago Flour 27 17.4 +0.39 52.0+ 2.42
Hopi Blue 8 19.6 + 1.22 71.7 + 11.50
— Immature Ears —
No. of ears Length (cm) Weight (gm)
Apachito 10 10.3 + 0.77 8.3 + 2.00
Azul 15 8.4 + 0.57 6.9 0.78
Blanco 14 11.9 + 0.88 14.0 + 2.86
Cristalino 18 11.8 + 0.86 13.8 + 2.73
Blando 27 21.5 42.12 14.7 + 2.83
Papago Flour 11 13.4 + 1.05 17.3 + 3.40
Hopi Blue 42 13.4 + 0.64 20.7 + 3.19
170
TABLE 3.—To
September 26,
SHUSTER & BYE Vol. 3, No. 2
tal yield of mature and immature ears of seven races of maize. Ears were harvested
1980 from twenty hills of each race, grown at 1m x 1m spacing in 3m x 4m plots in
Dolores, Colorado.
RACE —Mature Ears — — Immature Ears — —Total Ears —
Total No. Wt. (gm) TotalNo. Wt.(gm) Total No. Wt. (gm)
Apachito 67 3630 47 540 114 4170
Azul 60 3240 60 640 120 3880
Blanco 62 3400 48 670 110 4070
Cristalino 53 3250 35 550 88 3800
Blando 14 600 95 1400 109 2000
Papago Flour 89 4550 44 740 183 5290
Hopi Blue 40 1700 67 1400 107 3100
100
_ ©
80
= 2
es 60 4 Ga
= —
S 40 4 ©)
ud
20 +
+ 2
0
ers Been. T T T T T }
: 3000 4000 5000
000 2000
DRY WEIGHT OF EARS (gm) PER PLOT
* © “HOPI BLUE" MAIZE (immature and mature, respectively)
a 4 races of MAIZE: "APACHITO", "AZUL", BLANCO, and
O CRISTALINO de CHIHUAHUA" (immature and mature, respectively)
A A BLANDO MAIZE (immature and mature, respectively)
¢ @) PAPAGO MAIZE (immature and mature, respectively)
FIG. 6—Immature and mature ear yields per plot (area = 25 m2; density = 1.75 plants per m?) -
upper garden of Dolores Archaeological Program during 1980 season. Note: the square approximates
the yield of one
of four Tarahumara flint races; these four races had similar yields.
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 171
SUMMARY
1, Maize can be introduced into a new region by means of jump-dispersal where the
kernels from a source area are carried a great distance in a short time and established in a
new region. In this study, five Tarahumara races of maize from southwestern Chihuahua,
Mexico, and one Pima-Papago race from southern Arizona were grown in gardens in
southwestern Colorado and compared with a native standard Hopi Blue of the Puebloan
race. This jump represents a shift of ca. 10° latitude or ca. 1260 km for the Tarahumara
races and a shift of ca. 5° latitude or ca. 630 km for the Papago race. The source areas
and new home area differ in photoperiod, temperature and precipitation patterns. Plants
of all races produced mature ears in the first
2. Blando was the only Tarahumara race of maize that showed prolonged delay in floral
initiation in the new home area. This can be attributed to photoperiodic effect. Papago
maize required 50% more days to mature in southwestern Colorado than in southern
Arizona possibly because of retarded growth at lower temperatures. Extreme aridity
during the growing season produced symptoms of drought stress of the foliage in the
Tarahumara races, but ear production and quality did not seem to be strongly affected.
The Papago and Hopi maize plants did not show drought stress symptoms. In all races,
ears reached at least the state of reproductive maturity
3. Although the five Chihuahuan races were considered similar in terms of growth
responses, rate of maturation, morphology, and yield potential in their native setting,
a divergence was observed among these races when they were grown in southwestern
Colorado. The four flint races, Apachito, Azul, Blanco, and Cristilino de Chihuahua,
matured earlier and produced more mature ears than the native standard, Hopi Blue
flour variet ty. The flour race, Blando de Sonora, did not reach full maturity but yielded
some ears which were reproductively mature. Plants of these five exotic races also
showed divergence in vegetative morphology. Papago flour maize matured earlier and
produced more mature ears than any other race in the Dolores garden, including the
native standard, Hopi Blue flour maize.
LITERATURE CITED
in Plant Responses wt boone Factors
ALDRICH, S.R., and E.R. LENG. 1965.
(R.O. Slatyer, ed.), UNE
Modern Corn Production. The Farm Quar-
terly, Cincinnati, Ohio.
ANDERSON, E., and H. CUTLER. 1942.
Races of maize: I. Their recognition and
classification. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard.
9:69-89,
BAKER, a 1971. Commentary: Section
Il. 428-444 in Man Across the Sea.
aii of Pre-Columbian Contacts (GL.
Riley, J.C. Kelley, C.W. Pennington, and
R.L. Rands, eda), Univ. Manis Press,
Austin,
BEAGLEHOLE, E. 1937. Notes on Hopi
€conomic life. Yale Univ. Publ. 15:33-48.
prep. Racial clas-
sification in maize (hee mays L.): an exam-
ple using Tarahumara maize.
1970. Maize and its cultural
Un . Ph.D. Dissert. (Bio-
logy). Baty, Califor sae
BROUWER, R,, A. KLEINENDORST, and J.
TH. LOCHER, ip rate responses of
Maize plants to temperature. Pp. 169-174
BROWN, W.L., E.G. spe rhe a R.
Observations
on three varieities of Hopi maize. Amer.
J. Botany 39:597-609.
BROWN, W.L., and M.M. GOODMAN. 1977.
Races of maize. Pp. 49-88 in Corn and
Corn Improvement (G.F. Sprague, ed.).
American Society of Agronomy, Madison,
Viking Fund Publ. Anthr. No, 5. The Vik-
ing Fund, Inc., New York
1974. Diswbietieates as _arti-
aaretial and Spatial Images of Man.
CARTER, G.F., gee E. ANDERSON. 1945.
A preliminary survey of maize in the South-
western United States. Ann. Missouri Bot.
CASTETTER, E.F., and W.H. BELL. 1942.
172 SHUSTER & BYE
Vol. 3; Nor2
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
Pima and Papago Indian Agriculture. Univ.
New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
CLAWSON, D.L., and D.R. HOY. 1979.
ealtic can, Mexico: A peasant community
ba rejected the ‘Green Revolution’.
mek t of Econ, and Soc. 38(4)371-387.
eco J.D., F.A. HASKINS, C.Y. SULLI-
VAN, and C.H.M. VAN BAVEL (eds.).
1969. Physiological Aspects of Crop Yield.
American Society of Agronomy, Madison,
Wisconsin.
FORD, Ril. 1979. So . in Amer-
ican archaeolog Advances in Archaeo-
logical Method a Theory 2:285-336.
FORD, R.I. 1980. ‘Artifacts’ that grew their
roots in Mexico. Early Man 2(3):19-23.
FRANCIS, C.A. 1973. The effects of photo-
period on growth and morphogenesis in
maize . Zea mays L.): field trails in Colum-
bia. 57-60 in Plant Responses in Cli-
matic pit (R.O. Slatyer, ed.). UNESCO,
Paris.
GALINAT, W.C., and J.H. GUNNERSON,
1963. Spread of eight-row maize from the
prehistoric Southwest. Bot. Mus. Leafl.
ATERNIANI.
1969. The races of maize: III. Choices of
appropriate characters for racial classifica-
5-273.
anging physical
environment of the Hopi Indians of Ari-
on Papers of . Peabody Museum of
No.
HARLAN, J.R. 1975. a and Man. Amer-
ican Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wis-
consin
HARLAN, J.R., and J.M.J. DE WET. 1973.
On the quality of evidence of origin and dis-
persal of cultivated plants. Curr. Anthrop.
14(1-2):51-62.
HEISER, C.B., Jr. 1965. Cultivated plants and
cultural diffusion in nuclear America. Amer.
Anthrop. 67:930-949,
HERNANDEZ X. » E.andG. ALANIS FLORES.
1970. Estudio morfologico de cinco nuevas
razas de maiz de la Sierra Madre Occidental
de México: implicaciones aieeae y
fitogeograficas. Agrociencia 5(1):3-3
JEN , M.T. - Influence of io
d Man, 1941 Yearbook of Agriculture,
Government Printing Office, Washington
DC.
arrester. C.L. 1982. Domestication
ocess of maize ce in Guatemala.
eK Botany 36(1):84-
JOHNSON, A.W. 1972. Individuality and
experimentation in traditional agriculture.
Human Ecol. 1:149-159
KELLEY, J.C. 1966. Mesoamerica and the
sauhaeacees United States. Pp. 95-110 in
Handbook of iddle American Indians,
Univ. Texas Press, Austin, Vol. 4
MANGELSDORF, P.C. 1965. The evolu-
tion of maize. Pp. 23-49 in Essays of Crop
Plant Evolution (J.R. Hutchinson, ed.).
Cambridge Univ. Press, London.
MANGELSDORF, P.C. 1974. Corn. Its
rigin, Evolution, and Nia Har-
d Univ. Press, Cambri
Meals for Million a a from Hunger
Foundation. 1981. Southwest Traditional
Crop Conservancy Garden and Seed Bank.
Tucson, Arizona.
MILTHORPE, F.L., and J. MOORBY. 1974.
roduction to Crop Physiology,
ndon.
Cultivated plants
s evidence for cultural contacts. Amer
Antiq. 37(1):97-104
PIE LOU, BC. 19729, Bioneers John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., New
SAUER; G0. 1967. oe ae agricultural
origins: a consideration of nature and
culture. Pp. 121-144 in Land and Life,
(J. Leighly, ed.). Univ. California Press,
i)
4
Animals
Institute of Technology Press, Camb
RH. 1976. Climatic requirement.
Pp. 591-623 Corn and Corn Improvement,
(G.F, alg iki ee Society 0
a Smith-
SMITHSONIAN ae aoe 1963.
an Meteorological Tables. United States
Government Printing Office, Washington,
pet M.W. 1978. A cultural sequence
go, Mexico, caves by H.
189 in Across the Chichimec Sea (C.L. sili
and B.C. Hedrick, eds.). Papers in _
J. Charles Kelley, Southern Illinois Univ.
Press, Carbondale.
1979, Vegetation of the Earth
e Geo-bio-
Corn and Corn es
Sons, Inc., New Yor
E.
WELLHAUSEN, E,., ar ROBERTS,
December 1983 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 173
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
HERNANDEZ X., and P.C. MANGELS- Mexico. Centro Internacional de Merjora-
DORF. 1952. Races of Maize in Mexico. miento de Maiz y Trigo, Mexico, DF,
Bussey Institute of Harvard Univ., Cam- WOODBURY, R.B., and E.B.W. ZUBROW.
bridge. 1979. Agricultural Beginnings, 2000 B.C.-
WHITING, A.F. 1939, Ethnobotany of the A.D. 500. Pp. 43-60 in Handbook of North
Hopi. Museum of Northern Arizona, American Indians: Southwest, (Vol. 9).
Flagstaff. (A. Ortiz, ed.). Smithsonian Institution,
WINKELMANN, D. 1976. The Adoption of Washington, DC,
New Maize Technology in Plan Puebla,
NOTES
a
*
Dispersal is a general term which is broadly applied to the concept movement of organisms from
one area to another. It has been used in many ways and is the source of some confusion. Also,
certain plants are considered to be adapted for short distance dispersal with gradual expansion of
their ranges, others for long range distance dispersal, and others for both strategies. A useful
framework for understanding dispersal is presented by Piclou (1979: 242-243). Three modes of
the spread of a species are: 1) jump-dispersal which describes the movement of individual organ-
isms across great distances in a short period of time with successful establishment of the popula-
tion and its descendants, 2) diffusion which is the gradual movement of populations across hos-
pitable environments over a longer period of time, and 3) secular migration where diffusion is
greatly reduced such that the species undergoes appreciable evolutionary change. Baker (1971)
has provided a series of criteria for testing the dispersal of a plant with or without human aid
with reference to gradual range expansion (diffusion) and long-distance dispersal (jump-disper-
sal). The biological as well as the cultural charac ristics of dispersal as a process are still in need
of critical investigation.
-seeded fruit which is technically known as cary-
In the case of maize, the seed or kernel is a one
opsis.
Anasazi Cultural Heritage Center.
»
Specimens of the maize have been made for deposition in the
Related collections are deposited in the Laboratory of Ethnobotany and Plant Systematics,
Department of EPO Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder.
=
Landrace can be defined as a subset of a race which is highly variable in appearance and genetic
diversity but which retains particular properties and characteristics (Harlan 1975).
. . Ca *
ara ranchito in Cusarare, ejido
Pe
These four races were obtained in October 1977 from a Tarahum
de Cusarare, municipio de Guachochic, at an elevation of ca. 2100 msm.
This race was obtained in October 1977 from a Tarahumara ranchito in the ejido de San Ignacio
2200 msm.
ae
Arareco, municipio de Bocoyna, at an elevation of ca.
~~
.
This undescribed race is a white flint with morphological similarities to Apachito.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to acknowledge the many people who provided the material, financial and ‘gem sup-
Port and the encouragement for carrying out this project. The garden studies were part of the Envir-
al Studies Group (ESG) of the Dolores Archaeo-
nd Power Resource Services with
l and much needed encouragement
Food Products, El Encanto, Inc., Albuquerque,
u-
174 SHUSTER & BYE Vol.3; Nord
mara Indians of Chihuahua, Mexico, are acknowledged for sharing their seeds, knowledge and enthu-
siasm of food plants with us. Field trips to the Tarahumara region were conducted under the direction
of the second author (R. Bye) and were sponsored by the Department of Environmental, Population
and Organismic Biology, by the Graduate School, and by the Museum of the University of Colorado,
Boulder. We appreciate the critical and constructive comments on carter versions of this manuscript
by Vorsila Bohrer, Charles Miksicek, Gary Nabhan, and anonymous revi
POSTSCRIPT
— studies in the experimental garden as well as in the laboratory were planned to
ne more carefully the biological and ecological factors affecting maize along with other culti-
spr plants and associated weeds as well as to integrate those results with oe information and
casein materials from the Dolores area and other regional archaeological si
nfortunately, the objectives of the Dolores Archaeological Program ge ee resulting in the
elimination of support for the Environmental Studies Group. Consequently, our experimental, field,
laboratory, and literature studies were discontinued. None the less, two Master of Arts theses (R.
Shuster, 1981. Factors SIRETES smeancety in subsistence agriculture. Dept. of EPO Biology,
University of Colorado. and B. , 1981. Five modern races of maize from northwestern Mexico:
archaeological implications, Dept. oe Anthropology, University of Colorado.) and an introduction to
model integrating contemporary and ae eebi data (R. Bye and R. Shuster, in press. Develop-
ing an integrated model for contemporary and archaeological agricultural subsistence systems. 4n P.
and §S. Fish (eds.). Prehistoric oe Strategies in the Southwest. Arizona State University
Rigi ike Research Paper.) were completed. With the writing of these items and the resigna-
of R. the Environmental Studies Program came to an end before the relationship between
ee. general ste of this paper and the jah ay and ethnobotanical evidence could be properly
integrated.
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 175
NEWS AND COMMENTS
CALL FOR PAPERS: SEVENTH ANNUAL ETHNOBIOLOGY CONFERENCE
April 15-17, 1984, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
PAPERS ;
Papers will be limited to 20 minutes. To schedule a paper please submit an abstract of
150 words, a title, a list of author(s) with address(es), and the name of the person to
present the paper. Please indicate required audiovisual services. ABSTRACTS MUST
BE RECEIVED BY FEBRUARY IST. They should be sent to Dr. Eugene Hunn, Depart-
ment of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
SCHEDULE
Age £6. f evening 05 a Es TE eee Reception and registration
Rep 26 f maorning 65 Ge EI ee a eS Registration, presentation of papers
afternoon. 00). PR. AN ee ee ore are Presentation of papers
evening =. 2S. iE Sees 4 ee Banquet of Northwest Indian foods
Special presentation by Margaret Siwallace
Nuxalk Indian elder “On Making Ooligan Grease”’
Ape 17 fmorning 0264 Fs Wk Ee Pees Presentation of papers
al€rnoon vas be ce WS On ee ee eee Presentation of papers
NOTE: Symposia are being planned on Indigenous Foods and Chinese Herbal and
Nutritional Medicine. Abstracts of papers on indigenous foods, particularly their nutri-
tional values, should be forwarded by December Ist to Dr. Harriet Kuhnlein, Division of
Human Nutrition, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T
1W5. Abstracts of papers on Chinese herbal and nutritional medicine should be for-
warded by February lst to Dr. Eugene Anderson, Department of Anthropology, Univer-
sity of California, Riverside, CA 92521.
MELVILLE AND ELIZABETH JACOBS RESEARCH FUND
Whatcom Museum Foundation
The Melville and Elizabeth Jacobs Research Fund invites applications for small
individual grants to support research on Native American cultures primarily of north-
western North America. The Fund is designed to facilitate field research rather than
analysis of previously collected materials. Appropriate are field studies of any aspect
of culture and society, with emphasis on expressive, conceptual, and purely linguistic
systems. (Projects in archaeology, physical anthropology, urban anthropology, and
applied anthropology or applied linguistics will not be funded.) Awards range from $200
to approximately $800; salary cannot be supplied, and only minimum living expenses
can be considered.
For further information and application forms,
Jacobs Research Fund, Whatcom Museum of History &
ham, Washington 98225. Application deadline is February 15, 1984.
contact the Melville and Elizabeth
Art, 121 Prospect St., Belling-
ill hold its 25th Annual Meeting at Texas A&M
“Ethnobotany of the Greater Southwest”
between plants and man in the south-
m presentations and discussions
Mexico. Registration materials
Biology, Texas A&M University,
bute papers should contact Dr.
of Connecticut, Storrs, Con-
The Society of Economic Botany w
University, June 11-13, 1984. The symposium
will focus on past, present, and future interactions
Western United States and northern Mexico. Symposiu
will involve specialists from both the United States and
and information can be obtained from Hugh D. Wilson,
College Station, Texas 77843. Those wishing to contri
Gregory Anderson, Biological Sciences Group, University
necticut 06268,
176 NEWS AND COMMENTS December 1983
John Ciardi’s etymological essay aired on National Public Radio June 6th, 1983, in
Seattle took a turn our way. He noted the fact that a new productive English suffix has
evolved in recent years, “-athon,” as in “walkathon,” “‘talkathon,” “‘bikeathon,” even
“birdathon,” and, of course, the original ‘“‘marathon.” The suffix can be seen to mean
roughly “an exhaustive, prolonged contest.” He noted also that marathon, a foot race of
26 miles and some odd yards, took its name from the Plains of Marathon in Greece, scene
of the climactic battle between Athens and Persia, news of which was carried to the
victorius Athenians by an heroic runner who collapsed and died at his goal. Ironically,
the plains of that name are socalled after the wild fennel (presumably Foeniculum vulgare
Miller) which must have flourished beneath the warriors feet, then decorated their graves.
The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Arizona, 18 May 1983) under Ed Severson’s byline
reports a unique local educational event, the Flowing Wells High School ethnobiology
class final exam, a banquet prepared by students and faculty featuring traditional food-
stuffs of the Papago Indians and other Southwestern native peoples. Featured were
“cottontail tacos, agave hearts, boiled tumbleweed, venison seca, cactus ‘Jello-O’, rattle-
snake meat” and a variety of foods derived from beans of the mesquite tree, “the Papago
Indians’ tree of life.” It is encouraging to see ethnobiology—defined in this article as
“how the plants and animals of their [Southwest Indians] environment were used in their
culture—introduced to high school students. Soon it will be a household word. Thanks
to W. Van Asdall.
A visionary application of ethnobiology is being pioneered by the Institute of Eco-
technics, a U.S.-spawned, London-based (24 Old Gloucester St., London, W.C.1) organi-
zation devoted to establishing a new discipline, Ecotechnics, to deal ‘‘with the relations of
men with their biosphere.”” A major resource of the Institute is their 82-foot research
vessel R/V Heraclitus, a floating ethnobiological laboratory. The ship embarked this past
February upon a 2% year “Around the World Ethnobotanical Expedition,” sequel to
their 1979 “Flora Tropica Expedition” up the Amazon River. Ecotechnic literature
reflects a blend of hard-nosed science and global consciousness.
Ethnobotanical research is a priority of the Academia Sinica of the People’s Republic
of China through its support of the Yunnan Institute of Tropical Botany (P.O. Box ses
Xishuangbanna Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan). The institute—founded in 1959—boasts 4
research garden of 1000 hectares with 2500 species of tropical plants from China a
abroad. The garden is surrounded by a nature sanctuary in virgin tropical forest. we
search emphases include tropical plant taxonomy, tropical forest ecosystems, cultivation
of economic plants, and phytochemistry. The Institute has recently (1982) edited om
published a volume of Collected Research Papers on the Tropical Botany, in Chinese wh
some English abstracts. The volume is dedicated to the eminent Chinese botanist and late
Institute director, Tsai Hsi-tao (1910-1981). The collection includes reports of an cin
botanical survey of self-sufficient aboriginal ethnic groups of Xishuangbanna disttich, #
study of timber utilization by these indigenous minorities, an evaluation of the value of
introducing Cuban balsa trees for local cultivation, as well as various horticultural expe!
iments. Thanks to Peter Nute, Anthropology, University of Washington.
William Tucker’s Crosscurrents column in Science 83 (March, 1983:92-94) discussed
new evidence supporting J.V. Neel’s “thrifty genotype” theory of diabetes. Neel pro-
surmised that a diabetes gene may have provided its bearers with a survival advantage
under conditions of limited and irregular food supplies, since diabetes in effect rations
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 177
sugar metabolism. Under conditions of abundance this “rationing” overloads the blood
with sugar. The recent ‘“‘epidemic” of diabetes among many Native American populations
K. M. West, Diabetes 23:10, 1974) appears to support this hypothesis, Tucker sum-
marizes a study by D. L. Coleman (Nutrition Reviews, May 1978) of mice fed starvation
diets. Such mice with two diabetes genes lived eight times longer under nutritional
stress than mice with no such genes but “developed obesity and all clinical symptoms” of
diabetes when fed somewhat more generously (50% of the standard lab diet).
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 179
RECENT ANTHROPOLOGY DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS
OF INTEREST TO ETHNOBIOLOGISTS I.
TERENCE E, HAYS
Department of Anthropology and Geography
Rhode Island College
Providence, RI 02908
This is the first in a proposed continuing series of compilations of information
regarding recent doctoral dissertations of interest to ethnobiologists. The series is in-
tended only to bring such work to the attention of readers of this journal; no abstracts
or annotations will be provided. This list is limited to Ph.D. dissertations accepted in
departments of Anthropology, acknowledging that occasionally equally-relevant disser-
tations (as well as master’s theses) are written in a wide variety of other university depart-
ments. It is also limited to those of which abstracts are published in Dissertation Ab-
stracts International, and thus to those accepted at colleges and universities which are
cooperating institutions with University Microfilms International (300 N. Zeeb Road,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48 106), from whom in most instances copies may be ordered.
Judgments as to substantial relevance to ethnobiology were based on inspection of
the titles and abstracts published in Dissertation Abstracts International. In addition to
those dissertations whose titles indicate an ethnobiological focus, also included are those
whose abstracts suggest an emphasis on cultural ecology, subsistence, and related topics.
Some judgmental errors are probably inevitable and the compiler would be grateful for
corrections and additions.
For this first listing, the arbitrary starting point chosen was Vol. 41(A), 1981, and
the list ends with the entries in Vol. 43(A), June, 1983. Space considerations preclude
are published in DAJ; thus they are listed here.)
ANDERSON, PATRICIA MARIE. 1982. Reconstructing the Past: The Synthesis of
Archaeological and Palynological Data, Northern Alaska and Northwestern Canada.
578 pp. Brown Univ. DA8228227. 43:3638-A. Aes ;
BARKER, JAMES PATRICK. 1982. Incentives, Income, and Institutions: An Inquiry
into Fisheries Development in Western Samoa. 316 pp. Univ. of Calif.-Riverside.
DA8223365. 43:1599-A, itp $e
BAYHAM, FRANK E, 1982. A Diachronic Analysis of Prehistoric Animal Exploitation
at Ventana Cave. 425 pp. Arizona State Univ. DA8216424. 43:489-A.
BEAUDRY, MARY CAROLYN. 1980. Or What Else You Please to Call It: Folk
Semantic Domains in Early Virginia Probate Inventories. 206 pp. Brown Univ.
8111063. 41:5153-A. io
BERLIN, ELOIS ANN. 1981. Migrants to Amazonia: A Study of the Nutrition and
Health of Settlers on the Santiago River, Peru. 292 pp. Univ. Calif.-Berkeley and
Univ. Calif,-San Francisco. DA 8212167. 43:1212-A. meal
BOGAN, ARTHUR EUGENE. 1980. A Comparison of Late Prehistoric Dallas and
Overhill Cherokee Subsistence Strategies in the Little Tennessee River Valley. 221
Pp. Univ. Tennessee. 8108125. 41:4433-A.
BOSTER, JAMES SHILTS. 1981. How the Exceptions Prove the Rule: An Analysis of
Informant Disagreement in Aguaruna Manioc Identification. 270 pp. Univ. Calif.-
Berkeley, 8200031, 42:3212-3213-A.
180 DISSERTATIONS OF INTEREST December 1983
BROWN, MICHAEL FOBES. 1981. Magic and Meaning in the World of the Aguaruna
Jivaro of Peru. 268 pp. Univ. Michigan. 8116204. 42:760-761-A.
BRUDER, J. SIMON. 1982. Prehistoric Settlement and Subsistence Strategies in the
Carefree Area, South Central Arizona. 530 pp. Arizona State Univ. DA8304704.
43:3357-A.
CALVERT, SHEILA GAY. 1980. A Cultural Analysis of Faunal Remains from Three
Archaeological Sites in Hesquiat Harbour, British Columbia. Univ. of British Colum-
bia. 42:2738-2739-A.
CHANG, CLAUDIA. 1981. The Archaeology of Contemporary Herding Sites in Greece.
370 pp. SUNY-Binghamton. 8121174. 42:1697-1698-A.
CHRISTENSON, ANDREW LEWIS. 1981. The Evoluation of Subsistence in the Prehis-
toric Midwestern United States. 307 pp. Univ. Calif.-Los Angeles. 8201079. 42:
3646-A.
CLAASSEN, CHERYL PATRICIA. 1982. Shellfishing Patterns: An Analytical Study of
Prehistoric Shell from North Carolina Coastal Middens. 298 pp. Harvard Univ.
DA8 303423. 43:3043-A.
COLLINS, JANE LOU. 1981. Kinship and Seasonal Migration among the Aymara of
Southern Peru: Human Adaptation to Energy Scarcity. 359 pp. Univ. Florida.
DA8213653. 43:203-204-A.
CONDON, RICHARD GUY. 1981. Inuit Behavior and Seasonal Change: A Study of
Behavioral Ecology in the Central Canadian Arctic. 286 pp. Univ. Pittsburgh.
8202341. 42:3650-3651-A.
COUNIHAN, CAROLE MARIE. 1981. Food, Culture and Political Economy: An Inves-
tigation of Changing Lifestyles in the Sardinian Town of Bosa. 377 pp. Univ.
Massachusetts. 8201314. 42:3651-A.
CRABTREE, PAM JEAN. 1982. Patterns of Anglo-Saxon Animal Economy: An Anal
ysis of the Animal Bone Remains from the Early Saxon Site of West Stow, Suffolk.
394 pp. Univ. Pennsylvania. DA8217101. 43:851-A.
CRADER, DIANA CATHERINE. 1981. Hunters Alongside Farmers: Faunal Remains
from Chencherera II Rockshelter, Malawi. 443 pp. Univ. Calif.-Berkeley. 8200063.
42:3210-A.
DOELLE, WILLIAM HARPER. 1980. Past Adaptive Patterns in Western Papagueria: An
Archaeological Study of Nonriverine Resource Use. 382 pp. Univ. Arizona. 8108329.
41:4433-4434.A,
DOVE, MICHAEL ROGER. 1981. Subsistence Strategies in Rain Forest Swidden Agri
culture: The Kantu’ at Tikul Batu. 2 Vols., 1051 pp. Stanford Univ. 8201983.
42:3651-A.
DYE, DAVID HOWARD. 1980. Primary Forest Efficiency in the Western Middle Tem
nessee Valley. 281 pp. Washington Univ. 8103675. 41:3638-3639-A.
FLINT, PATRICIA ROBINS. 1982. The Northern Rocky Mountain Region: Environ
ment and Culture History. 305 pp. Univ. Oregon. DA8224838. 43:2014-A.
FORBES, HAMISH ALEXANDER. 1982. Strategies and Soils: Technology, Production
and Environment in the Peninsula of Methana, Greece. 514 pp. Univ. Pennsylvania.
DA8227269. 43:2388-A. j
FRANKE, CHRISTINA. 1982. The Kumasi Cattle Trade. 363 pp. New York Un¥:
DA8227183. 43:2388-A.
GAGE, TIMOTHY BLAIR. 1982. Ecological Theories of Diet and Food Production:
A Case Study of Samoan Subsistence Agriculture. 262 pp. Penn. State University:
DA8213303. 43:207-A,
GALM, JERRY R. 1981. Prehistoric Cultural Adaptations in the Wister Valley,
Central Oklahoma. 274 pp. Washington State Univ. 8129967. 42:3210-A.
GEDDES, DAVID SIMON. 1980. Patterns of Animal Exploitation in the Late Mes”
East-
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 181
lithic and Early Neolithic in the Aude Valley (Southern France). 358 pp. Univ.
Pennsylvania. 8107747. 41:4434-A.
GRANDIN, BARBARA ELLEN. 1981. Small Cows, Big Money: Wealth and Dwarf
Cattle Production in Southwestern Nigeria. 260 pp. Stanford Univ. 8108936.
41:4756-A,
GWYNNE, MARGARET ANDERSON. 1982. The Late Archaic Archaeology of Mount
Sinai Harbor, New York: Human Ecology, Economy and Resource Patterns on the
Southern New England Coast. 607 pp. SUNY-Stony Brook. DA8218079. 43:851-A.
HANSEN, JULIE MARIE. 1980. The Palaeoethnobotany of Franchthi Cave, Greece.
466 pp. Univ. Minnesota. 8102094. 41:3164-3165-A.
HARRILL, BRUCE GILBERT. 1982. Prehistoric Agricultural Adaptation and Settle-
ment in Long House Valley, Northeastern Arizona. 211 pp. Univ. Arizona. DA-
8217418. 43:852-A.
HECHT, ROBERT MICHAEL. 1982. Cocoa and the Dynamics of Socio-Economic
Change in Southern Ivory Coast. 360 pp. Univ. Cambridge. DA8309242. 43:
3959-A.
HIDE, ROBIN LAMOND. 1981. Aspects of Pig Production and Use in Colonial Sina-
sina, Papua New Guinea. 705 pp. Columbia Univ. 8125303. 42:2743-A.
HILDEBRANDT, WILLIAM REID. 1981. Native Hunting Adaptations on the Northern
Coast of California. 230 pp. Univ. Calif.-Davis. 8200518. 42:3647-A.
HORNE, STEPHEN PHILIP. 1981. The Inland Chumash: Ethnography, Ethnohistory,
and Archaeology. 376 pp. Univ. Calif.-Santa Barbara. DA8215856. 43:490-A.
HOUSHOWER, HANS. 1982. Fishing Tree Point: Gillnetting as Work and Self-Reflec-
tion. 361 pp. Univ. Washington. DA8226544. 43:2017-A.
IRIMOTO, TAKASHI. 1980. Ecological Anthropology of the Caribou-Eater Chipewyan
of the Wollaston Lake Region of Northern Saskatchewan. Simon Fraser Univ.
42:275-A,
IRIS, MADELYN ANNE. 1981. Navajo Children’s Lexical Development and the Acqui-
Sition of World View. 402 pp. Northwestern Univ. 8124911. 42:2196-A.
JOHNSON, JEFFREY CARL. 1981. Cultural Evoluation and the Organization of Work:
Scarcity and Resource Management in an Alaskan F ishery. 172 pp. Univ. Calif.-
Irvine. DA8202914, 42:4505-A. :
JUMAYEYI, YUSUF MCDADLLY. 1981. The Later Prehistory of Southern Malawi:
A Contribution to the Study of Technology and Economy during the Later Stone
Age and Iron Age Periods. 589 pp. Univ. Calif.-Berkeley. DA8211979. 42:5168-A.
KAHN, MIRIAM. 1980. Always in Hunger: Food as Metaphor for Social Identity in
Wamira, Papua New Guinea. 325 pp. Bryn Mawr Coll. 8125525. 42:2745-A.
KENT, JONATHAN DWIGHT. 1982. The Domestication and Exploitation of the South
American Camelids: Methods of Analysis and Their Application to Circum-Lacus-
trine Archaeological Sites in Bolivia and Peru. 645 pp. Washington University.
DA8228797, 43:1598-A. -
KLEIN, JOEL IRA. 1981. The Cypress Citadel and Its Role in the Subsistence-Settle-
ment System of the Late Woodland Lewis Culture of Extreme Southern Illinois.
390 pp. New York Univ. DA8210983. 42:5169-A.
KOERPER, HENRY CARL. 1981. Prehistoric Subsistence and Settlement in the hed
port Bay Area and Environs, Orange County, California. 687 pp. Univ. Calif.-River-
side, 8122913. 42:2190-A.
LAMBERT, BORALD ae. 1981. Diversified Farming and Ecological Change in
a Pahang Malay Neighborhood. 254 pp. Univ. Calif.-Berkeley. 8200175. 42:3214-A.
LEE, THOMAS REED. 1982. Cultural Ecology of the Middle Trinity River Basin,
1850-1970. 366 pp. Southern Methodist Univ. DA8309626. 43:3959-A.
LYMAN , RICHARD LEE. 1982. The Taphonomy of Vertebrate Archaeofaunas: Bone
182 DISSERTATIONS OF INTEREST December 1983
Density and Differential Survivorship of Fossil Classes. 318 pp. Univ. Washington.
DA8218245. 43:852-A.
McCREERY, DAVID WARREN. 1980. The Nature and Cultural Implications of Early
Bronze Age Agriculture in the Southern Ghor of Jordan: An Archaeological Recon-
struction. 409 pp. Univ. Pittsburgh. 8112620. 41:5153-5154-A.
McCUTCHEON, MARY SHAW. 1981. Resource Exploitation and the Tenure of Land
and Sea in Palau. 278 pp. Univ. Arizona. 8117744. 42:1230-A.
McGOVERN, THOMAS HOWATT. 1979. The Paleoeconomy of Norse Greenland:
Adaptation and Extinction in a Tightly Bounded Ecosystem. 413 pp. Columbia
Univ. DA8204512. 42:4057-A.
MAY, JACK ALAN. 1982. Midden Formation Modeling Using Ethnographic and
Archaeological Data: A Trend Surface Analysis of Midden Deposits at the Carlston
Annis Site (15 MtS), Kentucky. 304 pp. Univ. Missouri-Columbia. DA8 310413.
43:3955-A.
MILLER, NAOMI FRANCES. 1982. Economy and Environment of Malyan, a Third
Millennium B.C. Urban Center in Southern Iran. 2 Vols., 479 pp. Univ. Michigan.
DA8215051. 43:491-A.
MINNIS, PAUL EDWARD. 1981. Economic and Organizational Responses to Food
Stress by Non-Stratified Societies: An Example from Prehistoric New Mexico.
66 pp. Univ. Michigan. 8116300. 42:759-A.
MOBLEY, CHARLES MURRAY. 1981. Archaic Hunter-Gatherer Settlement in North-
eastern New Mexico. 241 pp. Southern Methodist Univ. 8120707. 42:1698-A.
MOORE, JAMES ANTHONY. 1981. Decision Making and Information among Hunter-
Gatherer Societies. 391 pp. Univ. Massachusetts. 8201366. 42:3648-A.
NELSON, MARGARET CECILE. 1981. Chipped Stone Analysis in the Reconstruction
of Prehistoric Subsistence Practices: An Example from Southwestern New Mexico.
426 pp. Univ. Calif.-Santa Barbara. DA8215867. 43:491-A.
NEUSIUS, SARAH WARD. 1982. Early-Middle Archaic Subsistence Strategies: Changes
in Faunal Exploitation at the Koster Site. 389 pp. Northwestern Univ. DA8 305504.
43:3358-A,
OLSEN, JOHN WILFRED. 1980. A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Vertebrate Faunal
Remains from the Grasshopper Pueblo, Arizona. 377 pp. Univ. Calif.-Berkeley-
8029534. 41:3166-A.
PAINTER, MICHAEL DAVID. 1981. The Political Economy of Food Production: An
Example from an Aymara-Speaking Region of Peru. 305 pp. Univ. Florida. DA-
8213687. 43:205-A,
PALACIO, JOSEPH ORLANDO. 1982. Food and Social Relations in a Garifuna Village.
215 pp. Univ. Calif.-Berkeley. DA8300616. 43:2719-A.
PICCHI, DEBRA SUE. 1982. Energetics Modeling in Development Evaluation: The Case
re ees Indians of Central Brazil. 451 pp. Univ. Florida. DA8 302286. 43:
3048-A.
PILGRAM, THOMAS KURT. 1982. Predicting Archaeological Sites from Environmental
Variables: A Mathematical Model for the Sierra Nevada Foothills. 120 pp. Unw,
Calif.-Berkeley. DA8300622. 43:2716-A.
POMEROY, JOHN ANTHONY. 1980. Bella Bella Settlement and Subsistence. Simo”
Fraser Univ. 42:4503-A.
PRATT, GARY MICHAEL. 1982. The Western Basin Tradition: Changing Settlemen”
Subsistence Adaptation in the Western Lake Erie Basin Region. 305 pP-
Western Reserve Univ. 8118803. 42:1225-A.
RAI, NAVIN KUMAR, 1982. From Forest to Field: A Study of Philippine Negt™®
ap oragers in Transition. 276 pp. Univ. Hawaii. DA8220043. 43:1215-A. :
= Pics JOHN HARVEY. 1982. Roots and Fruits: Social Class and Intercropp"8
in Jamaica. 587 pp. City Univ. of New York. DA 8302539. 43:3048-A.
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p. Univ. Hawaii.
ransition. 276 p
HN HARVEY.
1982. Roots and Fruits: Social Class and Intercroppin8
87 pp. City Univ. of New York. DA 8302539. 43:3048-A.
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 183
REDDING, RICHARD WILLIAM, JR. 1982. Decision Making in Subsistence Herding of
Sheep and Goats in the Middle East. 442 pp. Univ. Michigan. 8116322. 42:759-A.
RICHARDS, NANCY LOIS. 1980. Erythroxylon Cocoa in the Peruvian Highlands:
Practices and Beliefs. 281 pp. Univ. Calif.-Irvine. 8106789. 41:4438-A.
RINDOS, DAVIS JOHN. 1981. The Origins and Spread of Agricultural Systems: An
Evolutionary Perspective. 547 pp. Cornell Univ. 8129710. 42:3648-A.
SABO, GEORGE III. 1981. Thule Culture Adaptations on the Southern Coast of Baffin
Island, N.W.T. 2 Vols., 715 pp. Michigan State Univ. 8202506. 42:3648-3649-A.
SATTERTHWAIT, LEONN DALE. 1980. A Comparative Study of Australian Aborig-
inal Food-Procurement Technologies. 459 pp. Univ. Calif.-Los Angeles. 8102876.
41:3646-A.
SCHELBERG, JOHN DANIEL. 1982. Economic and Social Development as an Adapta-
tion to a Marginal Environment in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. 321 pp. North-
western Univ. DA8305519. 43:3359-A.
SCHULZ, PETER DOUGLAS. 1981. Osteoarchaeology and Subsistence Change in
Prehistoric Central California. 260 pp. Univ. Calif.-Davis. 8200542. 42:3649-A.
SHRESTHA, BISHNU BAHADUR. 1982. The Prehistoric Archaeology of Nepal with
Special Reference to the Beginning of Agriculture. 272 pp. Univ. Minnesota. DA-
8302013. 43:2716-2717-A.
SILLEN, ANDREW. 1981. Strontium and Diet at Hayonim Cave, Israel: An Eyaluation
of the Strontium/Calcium Technique for Investigating Prehistoric Diets. 201 pp.
Univ. Pennsylvania. 8117853. 42:1225-A.
SMITH, ERIC ALDEN. 1980. Evolutionary Ecology and the Analysis of Human For-
aging Behavior: An Inuit Example from the East Coast of Hudson Bay. 690 pp.
Cornell Univ. 8103010. 41:3647-A. ;
SOULE, EDWIN CHARLES. 1981. Agriculture, Aridity, and Salinity in the Prehistoric
Moapa Valley. 256 pp. Univ. Calif.-Riverside. 8119580. 42:1226-A.
SPIELMANN, KATHERINE ANN. 1982. Inter-Societal Food Acquisition among
Egalitarian Societies: An Ecological Study of Plains/Pueblo Interaction in the Ameri-
can Southwest. 2 Vols., 475 pp. Univ. Michigan. DA8 304601. 43:3359-A.
SPONSEL, LESLIE ELMER. 1981. The Hunter and the Hunted in the Amazon: An
Integrated Biological and Cultural Approach to the Behavioral Ecology of Human
Predation. 518 pp. Cornell Univ. 8129634. 42:3656-A. :
STAFFORD, CHARLES RUSSELL. 1981. Modeling Prehistoric Settlement-Subsistence
Systems in the Forestdale Region, East-Central Arizona. 337 pp. Arizona State
Univ. 8124497, 42:2191-A. ‘
STEWART, RICHARD MICHAEL. 1981. Prehistoric Settlement and Subsistence Pat-
terns and the Testing of Predictive Site Location Models in the Great Valley of
Maryland, 448 pp. Catholic Univ. 8107982. 41:4435-A.
STUCKY, RICHARD KEITH. 1982. Mammalian Fauna and Biostratigraphy of the
Upper Part of the Wind River Formation (Early to Middle Eocene), Natrona County,
Wyoming, and the Wasatchian-Bridgerian Boundary. 338 pp. Univ. Colorado-Boul-
der, DA8229868. 43: -A. .
SULLIVAN, SHAUN nous foe Prehistoric Patterns of Exploitation and Coloni-
zation in the Turks and Caicos Islands. 460 pp. Univ. Illinois-Urbana-Champaign.
DA8203607. 42:5169-A.
TANNENBAUM, BN os Sik 1982, Agricultural Decision Making among the Shan
of Maehongson Province, Northwestern Thailand. 399 pp. Univ. Iowa. DA8229980.
43:2720-A, : ;
TAYLOR, PAUL MICHAEL. 1980. Tobelorese Ethnobiology: The Folk Classification
of “Biotic Forms.” 480 pp. Yale Univ. 8109818. 41:4760-A. hae
THIEL, BARBARA JEAN. 1980. Subsistence Change and Continuity in Southeast
Asian Prehistory. 198 pp. Univ. Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. 8108685. 41:4754-A.
184 DISSERTATIONS OF INTEREST December 1983
TRAKAS, DEANNA JEANNE. 1981. Favism and G6PD Deficiency in Rhodes, Greece:
The Interaction of Environment, Inheritance and Culture. 382 pp. Michigan State
Univ. 8117272. 42:766-A
WASELKOV, GREGORY ALAN. 1982. Shellfish Gathering and Shell Midden Archae-
ology. 381 pp. Univ. North Carolina-Chapel Hill. DA8222909. 43: 1598-A.
WESSEN, GARY CHARLES. 1982. Shell Middens as Cultural Deposits: A Case Study
from Ozette. 292 pp. Washington State Univ. DA8301345. 43:3045-A.
WHITLAM, ROBERT GEORGE. 1981. Settlement-Subsistence System Type Occur-
rence and Change in Coastal Environments: A Global Archaeological Perspective.
235 pp. Univ. Washington, 8113481. 42:270-A.
WILK, RICHARD RALPH. 1981. Agriculture, Ecology and Domestic Organization
among the Kekchi Maya. 582 pp. Univ. Arizona. 8200327. 42:3218-A.
ZALUCHA, LEONARD ANTHONY. 1982. Methodology in Paleoethnobotany: A
Study in Vegetational Reconstruction Dealing With the Mill Creek Culture of North-
western Iowa. 384 pp. Univ. Wisconsin-Madison. DA8304976. 43:3640-A.
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 185
BOOK REVIEWS
In the realm of book reviews there seem to be two major approaches, the synopsis
and the critique. The book review editors of the Journal of Ethnobiology want to
encourage both formats. The review policy of the Journal is still evolving, and we will
try to make it as flexible as possible to meet new situations as they arise. Dr. Bahr’s
review of Once A River raised several provocative issues to which we asked Dr. Rea to
respond. We hope the result is a dialogue that will be of interest to our readers.
CHM & RSF
Once a River, Bird Life and Habitat Changes on the Middle Gila. Ama-
deo M. Rea, with sketches by Takashi Ijichi. Tucson: University of Arizona
Press, 1983. xiv +285 pp. $24.50.
The editors asked that this review concentrate on the linguistic and more broadly the
ethnographic aspects of Rea’s fine book. As will be seen, I think its strength lies not so
much in that aspect, but rather in its patient and scientific answer to the question, “What
was the effect on birds of the historic man-caused stopping of the Gila River?” An orni-
thologist, Rea inventoried the occurrence of Linnaean bird types (order, family, genus,
species, subspecies) on a particular tract of land (the Gila River Pima-Maricopa Indian Com-
munity) located in central Arizona. He related species of birds to particular habitats and
seasons on the Reservation. Most important, he demonstrated changes in those distribu-
tions over a 150 year period in which the Gila River was made to dwindle and die on the
Reservation.
Ethnography and linguistics entered the project through the use of old (not young)
Pima (not Maricopa) residents to provide native names for bird skins already identified
by Linnaean species, to comment on the habits and occurrence of the species (in other
words, to recall how they experienced the birds), and to comment on changes they had
observed through their lifetimes. The residents were from a part of dierescrvation where
aquatic habitats had persisted the longest and where Rea had made friends as a biology
teacher. The book is divided in two parts, one dealing with habitat and species changes
in general, the other, called “Species Accounts”, dealing with what was known histori-
71 of them are included under the class u’uhig, ‘bird’. Seventy-one bird taxa are many,
when compared with any previous list from the Pima-Papago (the two tribes are eee
tially of one culture and language), but it is not many when compared with as n; :
well studied tribal peoples (both from New Guinea) cited by Berlin, Breedlove, and Rave
(1973), According to them the Karam, studied by Ralph Bulmer, have 181 taxa under
the heading Yakt, ‘birds and bats’, and the Fore studied by J.M. Diamond have a taxa
under Kabara, ‘birds’. I suspect that a Pima study making use of Berlin et al.’s hypo ee
about taxonomic levels would probably find more levels than Rea did. When I say * e
strength of the book is not in its ethnography, I mean that there ate comparative studies
on folk taxonomies, exemplified by Berlin et al., and this book doesn’t crip agit ‘i
As stated, it appears that Rea’s method of securing native names en ne e ski sits
Natives and ask, “Do you have a name for this?” Of the 249 species t at he sia a
and had names for, they recognized and had names for 79, about a ee aes i :
didn’t work into the native taxonomy by persistently asking in Pima, ‘What are the kinds
186 BOOK REVIEWS December 1983
of X?’ One prior student, Madeleine Mathiot, made such a study and published a sug-
gestive analysis of the noun classes in which Papago bird taxa fall (1964). This research
was not followed up, and although such a study would be ethnographically relevant, it
was not needed in order to answer the ornithological or ecological question on the effect
on birds of the stopping of the river. Pima taxonomics have nothing to do with that
question,
I will contrast Rea’s study with one more model ethnographic work, namely Salinas’
and Bernard’s Rc Hnychnyu, The Otomi (1978). This book is called a “monolingual
ethnography” because every word in it was first written by Salinas in Otomi (a Mexican
Indian language), then translated as literally as possible by Bernard into English. It con-
tains a section on birds with 28 essays averaging about 400 words each, on 28 Otomi bird
species. Basically these are birds as seen by a young male, Mexican, Indian, peasant,
school teacher. Twenty-eight species names are fewer than Rea, Bulmer or Diamond ob-
tained from their intentionally exhaustive investigations into native cultures, and they
are probably far fewer than a Western ornithologist would identify among the Otomi.
Ah, but what accounts they are, and how much richer in discourse than anything from
a Pima in Once a River. For example:
336. The cenzontle (=mocking bird). This is a long, thin bird, grey on the back
with white on its wings. It has a long tail which it fans out beautifully when it
sings. Its song is pretty because it combines its song with that of other birds. In
other words, it mimics other birds. It imitates the sparrow, the Auitlacoche, the
calandria, the lark, the cardinal, and even people if it hears them whistle .. .
341. As I said before, it is much desired in the market for its song. People pay
20 pesos for one of these birds. The merchants shout in the market to attract
attention. Some people pay 15 pesos... I’ve heard that they are sold in big
cities for up to 40 or 50 pesos each. (p. 94).
It would be good to have such a book or books from Pimas telling what they really
think and know about birds: young Pimas, old Pimas, bird lovers and bird haters. Does
Joe Pima know more about birds than Joe White who lives in Phoenix?
Rea answers his ornithological questions as follows. He divided the present reserva
tion habitats into eleven types. Some are types with multiple places, e.g., “Mountains,”
“Floodplains’’, and “Mechanized Farms.” Some are unique places but have the potential
to be duplicated within or outside the reservation, e.g., “Chandler Boundary Cotton-
woods” and “Barehand Lane Marsh”. Each habitat was surveyed for the kinds of num-
bers of birds it had in various seasons and years. Each is discussed in regard to its en-
dangeredness, that is, whether peoples’ activities in the 1970’s and ’80’s were making
serious changes in the habitat and whether those changes affected bird life.
€ answer is complex. Rea points out that aquatic environments are now the most
dynamic (i.e., changing) on the reservation. There are only a few riparian habitats left
and those patches are not watered by the Gila River. One that he studied intensively is
a small marsh formed from the runoff of agribusiness fields—its water is pumped from the
ground. Another’s water comes from the Phoenix Sewer Plant. Both habitats suffered
various calamities over the nearly 20 years that Rea followed them, and both show an
amazing ability to come back, first with plants in a certain order, then with birds who use
those plants.
Taking all birds and habitats, Rea considers that 29 species no longer occur even as
dependable visitors to the reservation. Twenty-five of these required aquatic habitats.
Another 24 species are greatly reduced, again mostly lovers of water or of vegetation that
grows along water. Combined, these represent a fifth of the ornithologist’s original
240-odd species. (Other species are increasing or have arrived since the 1850 baseline:
cowbirds, house sparrows, pigeons, a kind of vulture, two kinds of hummingbird, an
more). Assuming that the Linnaean species for which Pimas had names are culturally
more important than those for which they didn’t have names, I checked the propor
tion of Pima-named against the whole 249. The proportions are about the same (9 of
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 187
against 71 of 249). This suggests a negative conclusion, but one very remote from the
heart of the matter if that heart is considered to be the human significance of the loss of
the birds. The negative conclusion is that the removal of the river did not remove a dis-
proportionate number of native named birds. The remoteness is that names, present or
absent, remembered or forgotten, are not articulated thoughts or feelings. Names (nouns)
are not sentences, tabulations of names are not essays.
This may be a difference between ethnography and ornithology, that the latter con-
cerns facts about the birds and the former, mistakenly or not, concerns their human
significance. In concluding there is less ethnography than ornithology in this book, I
on’t mean to slight the latter or to say that the former necessarily should have been
pressed farther. It is Rea’s book, it took a lot of real work, and I recommend it, espec-
ially the parts on the resurrection of the marshes,
I will close on a strictly linguistic matter. Practically the only linguistics in the book
are concerned with the hearing and spelling of Pima bird names. Rea heard and hence
spelled many names differently from the several linguists (including possibly myself) who
have studied primarily on the “Papago” side of the Pima-Papago language. He believes
Pima has some phonemes which no one else has yet recognized for Pima-Papago. This is
a technical matter which is not resolved with proper linguistic evidence in the book.
Personally I am skeptical of many of Rea’s hearings and spellings, including his extra
phonemes. To give a non-bird example from the book, because it involves a fairly com-
mon word, to spell ‘many saguaros’ as s’hawshunek instead of s-hasanig, whether in Pima
or Papago, strikes me as plain wrong not so much because of the diacriticals but because
of the vowels.
Donald M. Bahr
Department of Anthropology
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona
References Cited
anguage in Culture and Society. D.
Hymes, Ed. New York: Harper and Row.
near PEDRAZA, J., and H. BERNARD.
7 Rc Hnychnyu, The Otomi, Vol. 1:
sea and Fauna, Univ. New Mexico
Press, Albuquerque.
BERLIN, B., D. BREEDLOVE, and P, RAVEN.
9753. Geen Principles of ‘Classification
and Nomenclature in Folk Biology. Amer
Anthropol. 75:214-242,
MATHOIT, M. 1964. Noun Classes and Folk
Taxonomy in Papago. Pp. 154-163 in
Reply to Bahr
The book review editors have asked me to respond to Don Bahr’s review of my book,
re a River, Bird Life and Habitat Changes on the Middle Gila. Bos
author can only hope that a reviewer will evaluate a book on how successtully 1
fully its stated objectives rather than on the basis of some tangents that the reviewer
himself might have pursued had he been writing a somewhat similar book. My a
are almost skeletally explicit in the introduction: “This book examines the microcosm ©
the Gila River Indian Reservation and focuses on minute details of specific avian habitats
“In a minutely detailed manner this book
attempts to present what is known of the interactions on the middle Gila of sage SS
tures, water regimes, plant communities, and birds in the recent historic past, and espec
ially in the 1960s and 1970s.” The attempt is to understand the river as an ecosystem,
One that has been modified by three human cultures: Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo. Some
of the tools used in this historical reconstruction inc
ethnohistorical accounts. The limitations of the ethnographic data included are recog-
188 BOOK REVIEWS December 1983
nized: ‘There is a richness of symbolism only hinted at here. Explication of the deep
cultural significances of animals will require a separate work” (p. 117, introduction to
species accounts).
ahr is quite right that there are some aberrant spellings of Piman terms. When the
book was in page proof, the Press urged me to convert my orthography from the I.P.A.
system I had used for a decade to that of Alvarez and Hale, now almost universally used
by Papago. This compromise, coming in the midst of prescheduled filed work, left me
scarcely 48 hours to search for Piman terms, transforming various vowels such as e, i,
and u. Some were missed. I would certainly agree with Bahr’s spelling of ‘saguaro’ and
essentially his spelling can be found on pp. 34 and 285. I am more chagrined at akimel,
‘river’ (part of the self-designation of the River Pima), remaining as akimul on pp. 9 and
256. But I am nota linguist and am sure that there are other transcriptions due to faulty
hearing, particularly of e and u.
My several additional River Pima phonemes were not defended in traditional linguis-
tic manner (i.e., by contrasts in the same or similar sound environments). But I must
decline the honor of claiming that “no one else has ever recognized” these. All my
phonemes (and more) can be found on p. 16 and throu
ethnography of the Pima (1908, reissued 1975). Too, there are regional variations in
words even within Riverine Pima, as some careful consultants will point out. My point
is that just as careful attention to subspecific variation in birds is a major tool to studying
their migrations, so too regional variations within the widely dispersed Piman speaking
groups might be of some aid to tracing the protohistoric peregrinations of these interest-
ing people (see p. 256).
Numbers must be used cautiously. My book includes only 18 orders and 51 families
of birds, not 19 and 61, respectively. The suggestion that the loss of the river did not
remove a disproportionate number of named terminal taxa seems to me unlikely. Surely
such visually distinctive or vocally conspicuous breeding birds as the Green Heron,
ommon Yellowthroat, Long-billed Marsh Wren, Common Gallinule, Song Sparrow,
Black Phoebe, Least Bittern, and the several rails must have once been named in the Pima
lexicon. We began asking questions about a century too late to accurately evaluate the
full importance of riparian flora and fauna in the lives of these people.
o compare the Pima ethnoornithology numerically to that of the New Guinean
highlands is misleading for several reasons. As is well known, tropical ecosystems are
considerably more diverse than temperate ones (including deserts). The New Guinea
natives have virtually intact cultures and environments, while the Pima have suffered a
century of deculturation and major degradation of their biotic community. New Guin-
eans are dealing almost entirely with a resident avifauna. If one eliminates all transient,
rare, casual, accidental, erratic, and sibling species (those such as certain fly catchers re-
quiring careful in-hand comparison to distinguish), there remain about 102 species on
the Middle Gila that the Pima might have regularly encountered as either breeding birds
or winter residents before habitat deterioration. Of these, they distinguish at least 71
terminal folk taxa, about 70% of the biological species.
he correct identification of avian ethnotaxa is a complex matter involving criteria
such as behavior, vocalizations, nesting habitats, and habitat preferences as well as mor-
phology. Bahr’s surmise that I worked only or even primarily from skins (morphology)
in eliciting ethnotaxa is incorrect. (He happened along one of the few times I did, ove?
a decade ago.) Actually, hundreds of hours were spent in the field with older Pimans
who were mobile. This should be evident from the accounts of the Harris’ Hawk, Groun
Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Say’s Phoebe, Common Raven, and Curve-billed Thrasher,
to mention a few,
hinge A River does not deal with folk hierarchies, and need not, as Bahr notes. But !
wonder if such hierarchies may serve primarily to satisfy the needs of western anthropol-
ogists? How many of the so-called covert categories truthfully represent anything in the
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 189
natives’ conceptualization and how many are logical gymnastics on the part of the investi-
gator? Do Papago really have an unlabeled category whose referents are the porcupine
and tortoise (Pilcher 1967)? Recently, while trying to group terminal folk plant taxa for
a Pima ethnobotany, I tried out both Mathiot’s (1962) and Pilcher’s Papago higher cate-
gories with two Pima I’ve been working with for two decades. Most categories they
don’t.”” Others they said were sliding categories, with an individual plant being categor-
ized differently according to circumstances—as if someone plants it or it just came up asa
volunteer. Asked for a better arrangement, they grouped plants by how they were used,
putting even biological congenerics into different divisions. Elicitation is still in an early
stage, but it appears that utilitarian factors are quite important to how Pima organize
groups above the level of terminal taxa (see Hunn 1982 and Hayes 1982 for critical
discussions of this concept). The Pima taxonomic “tree” may be scarcely more than a
bush.
This brings me back to Pilcher’s (1967) Papago labeled higher category of ‘bird’
u'uhik (or u’uhig), which reportedly includes only flying critters and therefore excludes
chuchul, ‘chickens.’ Some days after our sessions on the proposed Papago categories,
Sylvester Matthias, a Pima, reminded me that when Phoenix ranchers in the 1890s and
1900s began raising ostriches, the Pima called the new stock ge:’ichu u’uhtk or ‘great
birds.’ Perhaps this higher category business has gotten us little further along the beach
than Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” which is intended to be merely
delightful.
Amadeo M. Rea
Natural History Museum
San Diego, California
REFERENCES CITED
HAYES, T.E. 1982. Utilitarian/adaptationist PILCHER, W. W. 1967. Some comments
explanations of folk biological classifica- on the folk taxonomy of the Papago
tion: some cautionary notes. J. Ethno- American Anthropologist 69:204-208.
biology 2:89-94. RUSSELL, F... . 1908. The Pima Indians.
HUNN, E. 1982. The utilitarian factors in Re-edition with introduction, citation
folk biological classification. American sources, and bibliography by B. L. Fon
Anthropologist 84: 830-847. tana. 75. University of Arizona Press,
MATHIOT, M. 1962. Noun classes and folk Tucson.
taxonomy in Papago. American Anthro-
pologist 64:340-350.
Le Cheval dans la view quotidienne; techniques et representations du cheval
de travail dans l’Europe industrielle. Bernadette Lizet. Berger-Levrault
(Espace des Hommes), Paris, 1982. 214 pp., ill., bibliogr.
The subtitle of this book, “Techniques et representations du cheval de travail dans
l'Europe industrielle”, indicates the chronological and geographical limits the author felt
obliged to impose on the wealth of materials she has collected on the horse and its place
in everyday life. Her careful analysis of numerous historical sources is completed by
ersonal experience with horses but also
190 BOOK REVIEWS December 1983
ed, shoed and harnessed, stabled and fed, bought and sold, and eventually slaughtered and
and even eaten. The wide range of professions associated with each phase of equine life
is also depicted. The author introduces us to farmers, miners, barge-men and omnibus-
drivers as well as to horse-dealers, farriers, saddlers and knackers; explaining their spec-
ialized lores, analyzing their economic, social and sentimental relationships with the
animals they used and served. We are also given a glimpse of the conflicts that arose when
certain administrators, veterinarians or agronomists, eager to maximize productivity,
sought to replace traditional knowledge and practices with genetic and technological
“improvements”. The text, enlivened by exerpts from 19th century treatises on horse
management and interviews with some of the surviving professionals of the period, is
abundantly illustrated. In addition to photographs from her personal collection, the
author presents us with a fascinating array of illustrations, including reproductions of
appropriate paintings, drawings and engravings as well as amusing pages from catalogs
and instruction manuals published near the turn of the century, all of which she selected
and organized herself.
The book begins with abrief look at the origins and evolution of the genus Equus and
at the behavior of animals living in the wild, before mentioning the controversy over
when, where and why the horse was first domesticated. The next section outlines man’s
relationship with this animal from Ancient Times up to the 19th century, explaining the
various ways it was used and cared for.
€ most important section of the book is devoted to “living and working with
horses”. The choice made by the author to organize her material according to the dif-
ferent phases in a horse’s life and to its physical and human environment, rather than
according to specific breeds or careers (e.g. farm animals, pit ponies, coach cobs), enables
her to focus on the equine condition in general, while facilitating comparisons among the
various kinds of work animals.
The first chapters discuss horse-fairs and horse-dealers, explaining the criteria used
for selecting an animal, the rituals of buying and selling as well as the “tricks of the
trade’. Once a horse has been acquired, it is often subjected to certain “operations”
designed to make it more suitable for its functions or simply conform to esthetic ideals
(e.g. docking, nicking, castrating, ear-trimming). Training is the next significant episode
in a horse’s life explored by Lizet. Commands and requirements vary from one task to
another but what is remarkable in almost all cases is the rapidity and willingness with
which the horse learns to obey its new master. Next we find out how shoes and har-
nesses must be adapted to both the individual and the type of work it is to accomplish.
Once the horse is fitted out, it is put to work, and the chapter entitled “Le Travail”
treats the wide range of ways horses have been employed, what has been expected of
them and how they have fared in their different tasks. It was not until the latter half
of the 19th century that public attention was drawn to the plight of omnibus-horses, pit
ponies and others, and that societies were formed and laws promulgated to combat the
misery and mistreatment of certain work-horses.
The following chapter, devoted to grooming, shows how practices are influenced not
only by the type of activities the animal performs but also by its socio-economic environ-
ment, current theories of hygiene and odd and sundry fads. The furnishings and imple-
ments of a well-run stable are described and pictured, and the responsibilities and quali-
ties of grooms and other stable help are mentioned. In the chapter on food, Lizet ¢*
plains how diets vary according to the region, the season and the type of effort required
as well as to traditional beliefs and scientific theories.
The myths, rituals and techniques associated with mating provide the material for
another brief but informative chapter. Next the author discusses what happens vi
horse falls ill, showing how the treatment it receives depends not only on the diseas¢ but
also on the beliefs and pharmacopoeia of the region, “La Mort” describes the fate of the
incurable, the injured and the aged and also that of their remains (e.g. horse-meat, raw
materials for agriculture and industry)
Vol. 3, No. 2 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 191
The industrial progress to which the horse had so extensively contributed during the
19th century was inevitably the source of its downfall. First, the Iron Horse threatened
the live animal’s supremacy, for with the development of railroads, horse-relays became
bsolete. Soon urban transportation companies adopted motorized vehicles, and the
last horse-drawn omnibus left the streets of Paris in 1913. Farm horses gave way to trac-
tors and the whole structure of agricultural production was profoundly altered. The
disappearance of the workhorse sounded the death knell for all the professions and crafts
that had flourished during its reign.
After this short section depicting the end of the “Horse Age”, Lizet presents a
realistic appraisal of the problem of the work-horse today: should it be considered as
“relic or revival’? Motivations for its comeback are not only economic (i.e. a growing
awareness of the energy crisis); its companionship is also an important factor in prefer-
ring an animal to a machine. A return to their generalized employment is obviously out
of the question, but eo still exist and can still be of use, as the photographs in
this section amply pro
mpressive 8- ae bibliography hints at the vast amount of literature the author
has ohare The thematic classification makes it somewhat difficult at times to locate
the complete reference of a title cited in the text, but for someone interested in a parti-
cular aspect (e.g. origins, behavior and domestication; shoeing and harnessing; folklore),
it furnishes a solid basis for further research. For the non-specialist, a glossary would
have proven helpful, regrouping various technical terms (most of which are defined at
some point in the text or in foot-notes), as would several simplified diagrams of a horse
and various kinds of harnesses, indicating the terms used for the different parts. Unfor-
tunately, as in all too many French publications, an index is lacking.
But these minor technical flaws in no way detract from the overall impact of this
work. Not only does it provide the reader with a wealth of beautifully illustrated his-
torical and ethnographical information, but by reflecting the author’s deep love and
understanding of horses, it also makes us more aware and appreciative of all the ways
this animal has contributed to our civilization. A most valuable book for ethnozoolo-
gists, horse-lovers and everyone interested in discovering a crucial period in European
history from an unfamiliar angle.
Ann Cooper
Laboratoire d’Ethnobotanique et d’Ethnozoologie
Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle
Paris, France
yes oa
meth Oey
NOTICE TO AUTHORS
The Journal of Ethnobiology accepts papers on original research in ethnotaxonomy
and folk classification, ethnobotany, ethnozoology, cultural ecology, plant domestication,
zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, palynology, dendrochronology and ethnomedicine.
Authors should follow the format for article organization and bibliographies from articles
in this issue. All papers should be typed doubled-spaced with pica or elite type on 8% x 11
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at the top left corner of each manuscript page; designate by handwritten notes in the left
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If native language terminology is used as data, a consistent phonemic orthography
should be employed, unless a practical alphabet or a more narrow phonetic transcription
is justified. A brief characterization of this orthography and of the phonemix inventory
of the language(s) described should be given in an initial note. To increase readability
native terms should be indicated as bold-face italics to contrast with the normal use of
italic type for foreign terms, such as latin binomials. If necessary, the distinction be-
tween lexical glosses, i.e., English language approximations of a term’s referential mean-
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Authors must submit two copies of their manuscript plus the original copy and
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author, Submit your manuscripts to:
DR. WILLARD VAN ASDALL, Editor
Journal of Ethnobiology
Department of General Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
NEWS AND COMMENTS :
Individuals with information for the “News and Comments” section of the Journal
should submit all appropriate material to Eugene Hunn, Department of Anthropology,
DH-05, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
BOOK REVIEWS :
With Volume 3, Number 1, the editors of the Journal of Ethnobiology added a book
review section. We welcome suggestions on books to review or actual reviews — a
readership of the Journal. Please send suggestions, comments, or reviews to Ley
Miksicek or Richard S. Felger, Office of Arid Lands Studies, University o izona,
Tucson, Arizona 85721.
SUBSCRIPTIO
se Soap to the Journal of Ethnobiology should be amerened to Steven D.
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18 received within one year of issue.
CONTENTS
SKETCHES IN THE SAND
Willard Van Asdall . 2... eee cee eee ae PN sr kes Cee ee ee
PREHISTORIC BIRD BONE FROM THE BIG DITCH SITE, ARIZONA
Alan Ferg and Amadeo M. Rea ... 2.1... e eee ce tee eee eter eee ees
AN ETHNOBOTANICAL ANOMALY: THE DEARTH OF BINOMIAL
SPECIFICS IN A FOLK TAXONOMY OF A NEGRITO
HUNTER-GATHERER SOCIETY IN THE PHILIPPINES
PE NN eg pv sv ne ee Cw es 0 oe 109-120
EVALUATING THE STABILITY OF SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES
BY USE OF PALEOETHNOBOTANICAL DATA
Penal PAs PEWS i ahs he es oe 6 cw ee beg o's oo de ew ee 121-137
RICHARD SPRUCE: AN EARLY ETHNOBOTANIST AND
EXPLORER OF THE NORTHWEST AMAZON AND
NORTHERN ANDES
Puts BNE NOE. ok ae a a Po ee See eee 139-147
LOVE POTIONS OF ANDROS ISLAND, BAHAMAS
susan A. McClure and Wo Maroy Eatitauen os ks es oe hac 149-156
PATTERNS OF VARIATION IN EXOTIC RACES OF MAIZE
(ZEA MAYS, GRAMINEAE) IN A NEW GEOGRAPHIC AREA
Rita A. Shuster ead Robert A: Bye. Feo oc hs ve we ee ee
PEW RAND COMMENT on pcs icc hoe Ss oN ONS hy cen eb ar eee 175-177
RECENT ANTHROPOLOGY DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS
OF INTEREST TO ETHNOBIOLOGISTS I
ene WR ge ae et
185-191
157-174
179-184:
Journal of
Ethnobiology
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1 MAY 1984
Journal Organization
EDITOR: Willard Van Asdall, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson,
Arizona 85721. ;
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Karen R. Adams, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary
Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
PRESIDENT: Steven A. Weber, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsyl-
vania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Steven D. Emslie, Department of Zoology, University of
Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611.
NEWS AND COMMENTS EDITOR: Eugene Hunn, Department of Anthropology,
DH-05, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
BOOK REVIEW EDITORS: Charles H. Miksicek, Office of Arid Land Studies, University
of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 and Richard S. Felger, Office of Arid Land
Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
EDITORIAL BOARD
BRENT BERLIN, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley,
California 94720; ethnotaxonomies, linguistics.
ROBERT A. BYE, JR., Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic
Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder; ethnobotany, ethnoecology.
RICHARD S. FELGER, Office of Arid Land Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson,
Arizona 85721; arid land ethnobotany, desert ecology.
RICHARD I. FORD, Director, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor; archeobotany, cultural ecology.
B. MILES GILBERT, Box 6030, Department of Geology, Northern Arizona University,
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 ;Z00archaeology.
TERENCE E. HAYS, Department of Anthropology and Geography, Rhode Island Col-
lege, Providence; ethnobotany, ethnotaxonomies
RICHARD H. HEVLY, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University,
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011; archaeobo tany, palynology.
EUGENE HUNN, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle;
ethnotaxonomies, zooarchaeology, cultural ecology.
HARRIET V. KUHNLEIN, Division of Human Nutrition, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver; ethnonutrition.
GARY P. NABHAN, Native Seed/SEARCH, 3950 W. New York Drive, Tucson, Arizona
85745; and Office of Arid Land Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
85721; cultural ecology, plant domestication.
DARRELL A. POSEY, Center of Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh:
ethnoentomology, tropical cultural ecology.
AMADEO M. REA, Curator of Birds and Mammals, San Diego Museum of Natural
History; ethnotaxonomies, z0oarchaeology, cultural ecology.
ape ac sss is published semi-annually. Manuscripts for publication and information for
mments” section should b ‘ ‘ ved on the insi
back cover of this issue. € sent to the appropriate editor as explained o
ch etnaensteeeeneeentnninitneepensiennnesesesn
© Society of Ethnobiology
ISSN 0278-0771
Journal of
Ethnobiology
MISSOUR! BOTANICAR
MAR 2 1987
GARDEN LIBRARY
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1 MAY 1984
The cover design represents a 5
trilobata) or willow (Salix) swit
American Southwest about 200
in the Grand Ca
California, and
5
plit-twig figurine, made perhaps of a squawbush ie pe:
ch. Split-twig figurines appeared as a cultural Ostia
0 B.C. among Archaic hunting and gathering ti as a
nyon area of Arizona. They have also been found in Utah, Nevada ise
are thought to have had some magical /religious significance ag. -
hunting practices. For more information see an American Antiquity article by Ala
Schroedl (1977, Vol. 42(2):254-265).
KRA
SKETCHES IN THE SAND
It is April, and spring is just now making its debut in two southeastern Arizona
riparian habitats at elevations of 5000-6000’. As I sit reviewing my notes for the day,
I sense the flow of cold air down canyon sides and into depressed basin areas. In reaching
for my sweater I partly understand the delayed emergence of leaves and flowers in
streamside and marsh, when compared to nearby warmer upland slopes. With the excep-
tion of willow (Salix) and cottonwood (Populus) catkins, some newly emerging tender
leaves, and the underground rootstocks of cattail (Typha), these wetlands offer few edible
plants for humans in the early months of the year.
For one used to picking tiny seeds out of samples of soil from archaeological sites, or
attempting to identify microscopic unknowns (such as termite fecal pellets!), studying an
entire habitat and its plants is a refreshing exercise that alleviates myopic vision. Examin-
ing a complete plant in context—where it grows, how it grows, its relationship to other
vegetation—provides insight helpful in interpreting the ancient plant record. One is better
able to relate to decisions humans had to make when seeking out useful plants.
For the past year I’ve been monitoring the phenology of over 100 riparian plant
species known from ethnological literature or suggested in archaeological reports as being
potentially important to humans. The general plant activity level at my two observation
sites has dictated the frequency of visits; in the fall it was necessary to return every week
to update my records, whereas from January to April general dormant conditions have
continued to prevail between visits spaced a month apart.
At each visit separate standardized notations on phenological events are routinely
made on leaf, stem, flower and fruit of all plants monitored. For example, in looking at
the fruit of a species, I note whether (a) fruit is immature, (b) fruit is mature, (c) prior
season’s fruit is still clinging or (d) fruit is absent. An ultimate goal of this research is to
develop a basic chart outlining the seasonality of plants in these two places, and thus
better understand when and how prehistoric humans might have found wetlands econom-
ically productive over the course of a year.
As data gathering continues, I am intrigued by some preliminary seasonality patterns
relating to reproduction, and especially to the persistence of edible parts. For example,
although the caryopses (grains) of bristle grass (Setaria geniculata) and sour fruit of
lemonade berry (Rhus trilobata) were only briefly available for harvest in the fall, the
Sweet berries of golden current (Ribes aureum) clung for up to three months after ripen-
ing. Different species of sedges (Cyperaceae) and rushes (Juncaceae) were represented in
sequential reproduction from early June till late October. Some members of the Compo-
Sitae (sunflower) family experienced a prolonged season of simultaneous flowering and
fruiting that covered 16 weeks. In prehistory, humans visiting riparian habitats would
undoubtedly have known upon which plants to concentrate their harvesting efforts;
Poor timing could have been costly in terms of lowered return for travel effort. i
uman use of riparian plants poses the possibility that pollen could be carried into
dwellings on harvested parts. Could the shriveled flowers still attached to the -
vary of currents (Ribes) provide a mechanism for pollen transport? A smooth aie
Coat should preclude carrying grape (Vitis) pollen on grapes brought to a meal. As ps oO
this research, these hypotheses will be tested by looking for pollen in water washed over
specific plant part harvests. : ;
Ultimately I hope to have sketched, though perhaps not in the sand, a bit a
natural history of Southwestern wetlands. Possibly a contribution in understan ing
pollen transport into human habitations will also emerge. Whatever happens, itisa type
of sketching that is its own reward, and will leave me renewed to again tackle the Lilli-
Putian world of seeds and plant parts from ancient dwellings. KRA
J. Ethnobiol. 4(1):1-13 May 1984
BETWEEN THE GORILLA AND THE CHIMPANZEE:
A HISTORY OF DEBATE CONCERNING THE EXISTENCE
OF THE KOOLOO-KAMBA OR GORILLA-LIKE CHIMPANZEE
BRIAN T. SHEA
Department of Anthropology and Cell Biology & Anatomy
Northwestern University
2006 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60201
BSTRACT.—The taxonomic scheme proposed in 1934 by Ernst Schwarz for the subspec-
ific classification of common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) has been accepted by the
majority of subsequent primatologists. A notable exception to this general trend is that the
late W. C. O. Hill continued and revived a long history of controversial debate over the
existence of a rare gorilla-like chimpanzee subspecies known as the ‘“kooloo-kamba.” The
history of the enigmatic kooloo-kamba is reviewed here, from its early discovery and des-
cription by DuChaillu, through the morphological investigations of Keith, Schwarz, Merfield,
and others, and finally to the more recent claims of Hill. Almost all claims supporting the
existence of the kooloo-kamba have invoked indigenous labels and folk taxonomies as
evidence. The prolonged debate provides insights into the relationships between folk
salient biologic fact—gorillas and chimpanzees are very closely related animals with patterns
of morphological development which coincide and overlap.
INTRODUCTION
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, a large number of chimpanzee and gorilla
species were described by various workers, often on the basis of a particular variation of
facial coloring, hair distribution, or cranial shape. In his classic 1913 monograph on the
primates, D. G. Elliot listed two genera, two species, and an uncertain number of sub-
species of gorillas; he tentatively divided the chimpanzees into eleven different a shat
and an unknown number of subspecies. Paul Matschie recognized eight species of gorillas,
and added nine chimpanzee species to Elliot’s list (Wendt 1959). Rothschild (1904,
1906), Matschie (1904, 1919), and others created or discussed scores of potential species
and varieties of chimpanzees and gorillas during this period. Stiles and Orleman (1927),
Allen (1925), and Allen (1939) provide useful summaries and synonyms for this taxon-
omic chaos, :
In their review of the great apes, Yerkes and Yerkes (1929) could add little to
Elliot’s (1913) summary. As Coolidge (1929) had done for the gorillas, however, aire
Schwarz (1934) tackled the classificatory confusion within the genus Pan, mitimatety
dividing the genus into one species and four geographical subspecies. Except that sane
now view the bonobo or pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) from south of the Zaire Riv S
as a distinct species, most subsequent authorities have accepted the Schwarz ae fe
A notable exception in this regard is that W. C. O. Hill (1967, 1969a) followed a series O
earlier investigators in claiming that two kinds of chimpanzees exist Ls the area of equa-
torial Guinea and Gabon (Fig. 1), one of these being a “gorilla-like” chimpanzee form,
usually referred to as the “kooloo-kamba,” its name being an onomatopoeic derivative
of its supposedly distinct call.
9 SHEA Vol. 4, No. |
AFRICA
a ee ee
ee ee
See \
25 2 AL
ee Vetus ee FON
ee Ne
wie Pot. troglodytes 7
P. t. kooloo—kamba
LY p }
\
WYN Ps paniscus
—— P. t. schweinfurthi mmnninine
: dytes
FIG, 1—(after Hill 1969a). The geographical locations of the four subspecies of Pan Meee
recognized by Hill. The pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) is a distinct species found =
Zaire River.
xistence
In this paper, I present a brief account of the century-long debate over Pe een the
of the kooloo-kamba and other forms claimed to be intermediates or hybrids ieee an
gorilla and chimpanzee, giving particular attention to the role of indigenous '
folk taxonomies in this discussion.
BACKGROUND AND EARLY HISTORY
rer Paul Du
e discovery
led Adven
of an
The kooloo-kamba was “discovered” and first described by the explo
Chaillu after his forays into equatorial Africa in the 1850s. His account of th
of this creature can be found in his well-known and controversial book ent .
tures in the Great Forest of Equatorial Africa (1890), which is a revised edition
earlier book. DuChaillu (1890, p. 290) wrote: were
We had hardly got clear of the bashikouays [ants] when my ¢a7s 100,”
saluted by the singular cry of the ape I was after. ‘Koola-kooloo, koola-
it said several times. Gambe and I raised our eyes, and saw, high up a ee
branch, a large ape. We both fired at once, and the next moment = eee ed, !
fell with a heavy crash to the ground. I rushed up, anxious to see if, oe uch
had a new animal. I saw in a moment that it was neither a ssbiego™ Y
[another of DuChaillu’s apes], nor a chimpanzee, nor a gorilla.
ree-
imal”
ae like anim
DuChaillu’s (1860) description of the morphology of this “chimpanzee wee oes
included a round head and face with high, well-developed cheekbones, jaws
less prominent than in any of the other apes, large ears, and a bare, black fact:
The?
os A #90100
distinctive feature of the ape supposedly was its cry, resembling the sound
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 5
DuChaillu (1860) reported that some Africans referred to this creature as the kooloo-
kamba, loosely meaning “‘that which speaks kooloo.” The only information which he
could obtain about the habits of the animal was that it lived in the mountainous interior
and was shy and rarely encounted. The skull of DuChaillu’s animal is housed in the
collections of the British Museum of Natural History, and it is pictured in Figure 2.
‘ni? @ 2 as = =
FIG, 2~(from Short 1980). Lateral and frontal views of the skulls of DuChaillu’s kooloo-kamba, left
(BMNH No. 1861.7.29.10) and a specimen of Pan troglodytes troglodytes, right (BMNH No. 1864.12.
1.7). With permission of R. V. Short and Journals of Reproduction and Fertility, Colchester, UK.
Earlier references had been made to the possibility of two chimpanzee forms in this
es of western Africa, one of which was claimed to be intermediate between known
chimpanzees and gorillas. The earliest reliable reference to chimpanzees and gorillas is the
account of Batell (ca. 1600, Huxley 1863) describing the large Pongo and the small
— An account by a British merchant given in Lord Monboddo’s (1775) tot —_
°bress of Language has been noted by Reade (1864), however, and it is interesting In
that it mention the gorilla (or
imPungu), the chimpanzee (or chimpenza), and a third es
ithe itsena), Franquet (1852) also claimed that two distinct chimpanzee species inhab-
ted the coast of western Africa in the area of Gabon. He called these species the chim-
Panzee and the N tchego, the former having a brown face and large ears, the latter with a
Pai face and small ears, as in the seillns Duvernoy (1855) examined a skeleton of
mnauet's (1852) N'tchego, and he concurred with Franquet’s (1852) conclusion that it
"as a distinct species. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1857) stressed caution, however, and
‘Usgested the possibility that the morphological distinctions being used for the species
s three species or types of manlike apes in western Africa:
ape intermediate between these
4 SHEA Vol. 4, No. 1
separation were only differences of sex or age. DuChaillu (1860) claimed that Franquet’s
(1852) N tchego was in fact an adult chimpanzee, noting (correctly) that facial color in
chimpanzees seems to darken with increasing age. us, DuChaillu’s opinion was that
Franquet’s N tchego was not the same as his own kooloo-kamba. This early confustion
and lack of agreement characterizes the entire century-long discussion of the kooloo-
kamba and other gorilla-like chimpanzees.
Although DuChaillu never suggested that his kooloo-kamba was the product of chim-
panzee-gorilla hybridization, others forwarded this hypothesis in an effort to account for
the reports of supposedly intermediate forms. German game hunter H. von Koppenfels
(1881, 1887) claimed he had observed gorillas and chimpanzees interacting in their native
habitat, and suggested that male gorillas and female chimpanzees unquestionably inter-
bred. Meyer (1881) discussed actual specimens purported to be hybrids, but concluded
that they were merely chimpanzees, however. One expert on the apes, Robert Hartmann
(1885), was undecided concerning the issue of hybridization, and suggested that DuChail-
lu’s kooloo-kamba and Duvernoy’s (1855) N’tchego be considered subspecies or species
intermediate between the chimpanzee and the gorilla.
Zoologist Ralph Garner (1896) was among the first to systematically observe primate
behavior in the wild. In the late 1800s, Garner studied the behavior of gorillas and chim-
panzees in equatorial Africa from the safety of a cage. (Although ethologists find they
need no such protection when observing ape behavior, Garner was working in a time still
smarting from the horrific exaggerations of DuChaillu and other “explorers”.) Garner
(1896) maintained that the kooloo-kamba and “common” chimpanzee were well-defined
forms which were not at all difficult to distinguish while alive (which suggests he relied
on inferred behavioral rather than morphological differences). In addition, British anato-
mist W. L. H. Duckworth (1898) reported on an ape specimen in his possession which was
difficult to label either a gorilla or a chimpanzee. He concluded that the creature was 4
representative of DuChailuu’s kooloo-kamba, noting that its large size provided some
claim to an intermediate position between the chimpanzee and the gorilla. Yerkes and
Yerkes (1929) reviewed the debates over the kooloo-kamba, hybridization, and inter
mediate gorilla-like chimpanzees. They doubted, but did not entirely reject, the po®
sibility of gorilla-chimpanzee interbreeding, and concluded that confusing intermediate
specimens which were difficult to classify reflected the close genetic relationship between
these apes.
In 1938, Raingeard reported on specimens which he claimed represented a distinct
form of ape intermediate between the chimpanzee and the gorilla. Schwarz (1939)
rejected this claim, arguing that the specimens were in fact representatives of the lower
Guinea subspecies P.t. troglodytes. In doing so, he recounted an earlier case, wh :
rics Vassal had presented material (skin and skulls) to the British Museum which r
claimed were of an intermediate ape taxon. Schwarz (1939) examined this material ie
concluded that one skull was a black-faced chimpanzee (P.t. troglodytes), the other I
being female gorillas.
Another naturalist who considered this problem was the well-known gorilla scout
Fred Merfield. He does not mention the kooloo-kamba in his 1956 book Goris
nib ag ye but rather discusses a gorilla-like chimpanzee known ok € ae
end inguistic variation of N’tchego). Chogas were alleged to resemble § ie
Prominent brow ridges, some cranial cresting, black skin, small ears,
a : ind
na, smell as gorillas” (Merfield 1956:72). Merfield viewed the chogas as @ eer
of chimpanzee combining the strength of gorillas with the cunning of ss 970)
though he felt that inter ity. Groves (1
breeding between the two was not a possibility. pygmy
as very briefly discussed the kooloo-kamba, and claims that intermediate pace
ee also exist, but he concluded that these forms are based on sporadic ™
ariation.
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 5
As noted above, this debate has most recently been rekindled by Hill (1967, 1969a).
Although largely agreeing with the classification of Schwarz (1934), Hill (1969a) was
struck by the persistence of local reports of the occurrence of more than one kind of
chimpanzee in the general area of lower Guinea. Some of the morphological features of
the kooloo-kamba outlined by Hill (1967, 1969a) are small black ears, pronounced brow
ridges, an extremely prognathic face, ebony black facial color, and a “swollen” nose
shaped like a gorilla’s (Fig. 3). In his reviews of the genus Pan, Hill (1967, 1969a) erected
a fourth subspecies of Pan troglodytes, labeling it Pan troglodytes kooloo-kamba. He
asserted that kooloo-kamba move about singly or in small groups, and not in large troops
like other chimpanzees. Both forms are said to occur side by side in the same forests,
but the kooloo-kamba, according to Hill, is restricted to high level forests of the hinter-
land in South Cameroons, Gabon, the the former French Congo, perhaps ranging to the
Zaire River (Fig. 1).
-_
tig 3—(from Hill 1969a). Two chimpanzees from the Holloman Air Force Base colony, Alamagordo,
a Mexico, The animal on the left was claimed by Hill to be a Pan troglodytes kooloo-kamba, that
nthe right is P. ¢. troglodytes. With permission of S, Karger Publishers, Basel.
ZOO ANIMALS
he debate surrounding the existence of the kooloo-kamba and chimpanzee-gorilla
may have reached its peak in the late 1800s, involving several living apes in
“an 200s. These creatures supposedly presented a mix of chimpanzee and gorilla
» and many authorities disagreed over which species they should be classi-
Was ge = any they varied in the ways they did. The most well-known a st
Carden stuca,” brought from the Loango coast of Africa to the Dresden Zoo sae
“a wild in 1874 (Yerkes and Yerkes 1929). Mafuca was described by one ed.
gorilla” eo. serable creature, 120 cm in height, reminding us in many respects é
Voly \ artmann 1885:215). The debate over Mafuca’s status generated a substantia
me of literature. She was indeed classified as a young female gorilla by several
6 SHEA Vol. 4, No. 1
people, although many vehemently maintained that she was in fact a chimpanzee. Still
others stressed the possibility that Mafuca was the offspring of a mating between a chim-
panzee and a gorilla. She was pictured in Hartman (1885), Brehm (1920), and Yerkes
and Yerkes (1929). Noted British anatomist Sir Arthur Keith (1899) assigned Mafuca
to DuChaillu’s kooloo-kamba species. The situation was confounded not only by differ-
ent conclusions, but also by the fact that several investigators apparently changed their
minds during the protracted debate.
A second captive pongid which engendered similar controversy was the adult female
“Johanna” from the collection of Barnum and Bailey. Although the circus owners
believed her to be a gorilla, Keith (1899) concluded that Johanna was a female kooloo-
kamba, of relatively vicious predisposition, and characterized by the peculiar call for
which that form was originally named. Keith (1899:296) also emphasized that Johanna
was significant “because she represents a variety of chimpanzee which approaches the
Gorilla in so many points that it is evident the characters which separate the two African
anthropoids are not so well marked as many suppose.”” Duckworth (1898) commented
that Johanna represented an unclassifiable ape, intermediate between the chimpanzee and
gorilla. He placed her with Mafuca, DuChaillu’s kooloo-kamba, and other intermediate
specimens, as did Garner (1896). Johanna was illustrated in a color plate in Elliot (1913).
FOLK CLASSIFICATIONS
One interesting aspect of this prolonged debate, and a theme which runs throughout
the century-long discussion, is that almost all claims for the existence of the kooloo-
kamba or other intermediate taxa are made with supporting references to indigenous
species the N'tchego. As for what they called the “common” chimpanzee, Franquet
(1852:94) had to admit: rae l’ignore, parce que je n’ai pas pens¢ 2 leur demander. '
not know that, because I did not think to ask them.] DuChaillu also relied on African
naming systems to help sort out chimpanzee variation and support his arguments i sie
species assignments. He claimed that the Africans of the area called Pan troglodytes
(then Troglodytes niger) by the name Nschiego, or the label used by Franquet ee
To support the validity of a new species of ‘“‘bald-headed”’ chimpanzee which he as
Troglodytes calvus, DuChaillu { 1860, 1890) noted that the Africans knew the creature :
the name of Nschiego mbouve, meaning something like ‘another tribe of Nschiego- eee
addition, DuChaillu (1860, 1890) stressed that the indigenous peoples knew his 0 ss
newly-discovered ape species by the name of kooloo-kamba, or simply kooloo, oP
basis of its distinctive call.
the existence of e
Garner (1896) also cited native naming practices as evidence for
). Further
Ik
Kooloo-kamba as distinct from the nytigo (the N’tchego or Nschiego ‘otk clit
described (Garner, 1896:211) another variety of ape in this area based on the 10
sification:
In the great forest regions of Esyira, the natives described to me another kind of _ yer
they averred was a half-brother to the gorilla. They know the gorilla by the nativ® name
"ina, and the other type by the name nytii. They did not confuse this with the native h are
nytigo, which is the name of the chimpanzee, nor with the kulu-kamba, all of sacs
known to them,
-sion to the
This account would give us another kind of gorilla-like chimpanzee aa
kooloo-kamba. the
: ® rica,
In his 1956 book, Merfield notes that in the Batouri district of contra meals
black-faced chimpanzee (or Choga) is known by Africans as N Killingi,
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 7
“gorilla’s brother.”” A brief exerpt from Merfield’s notes gives additional evidence; he
entered the following for one specimen: “extremely hairy beast, N Bodgil the native
name of this beast, means Gorilla-like. As they were carrying it in at first glance I thou
it was.” Raingeard (1938) argued that a form of ape intermediate between the gorilla
and the chimpanzee existed in Gabon. Differentiated from both of these species by the
native inhabitants, this ape was supposedly given names meaning “chimpanzee-gorilla” in
the various local dialects. In Akélé, the name of this creature was the Koula-Nguia, which
does seem to be a combination of native names for the kooloo-kamba and the gorilla.
Vassal (in Schwarz, 1939) mentioned an intermediate ape species from central Africa
which had the local label Dediéka (this could be a variation of N tchego or Choga). In
their description of African mammals, Perret and Aellen (1956:445) wrote:
Les Boulous appellent le chimpanzé: wo’o. Ils emploient le nom: ébot pour les individus
trés Ages qu’ils prennent pour un hybride du chimpanzé et du gorille. Le gorille, comme le
chimpanzé, est encore commun dans le region de Sangmelima. Il est connu, chez les Bou-
lous, sous le nom de: njiou ngui [The Boulous called the chimpanzee: wo’o. They use the
name: @b0t for very old individuals which they take for a hybrid between the chimpanzee
and the gorilla. The gorilla, like the chimpanzee, it is still known in the region of Sangme-
lima. It is known, among the Boulous, under the name of nji or ngui.]
It is clear from this passage that Perret and Aellen (1956) believed such “hybrid” inter-
mediates to be simply aged common chimpanzees. Further, one of the names used here
for the gorilla (nji) would seem to be the same as Garner’s (1896) supposed new
intermediate variety, or the ntyil.
an we take these various indigenous labels as support for the existence of the
kooloo-kamba, or a chimpanzee variety more closely approaching the gorilla? Hill
(1967, 1969a) clearly did, and many of the naturalists cited above felt similarly. Others
have reached a different conclusion, however. For example, Schwarz (1939: 58) cau-
toned his fellow naturalists:
Le kooloo-kamba, le dediéka et le koula-nguia, tous sont le meme animal: Le chimpanzé a
face noire de la Basse-Guinée. Sans doute les indigenes du Gabon, comme ailleurs, ne con-
de leurs rapports. [The kooloo-kamba, the dediéka and the koula-nguia, all are the same
animal: the black-faced chimpanzee of Lower Guinea. Without doubt the native inhabitants
of Gabon, as elsewhere, know only very incompletely the animals of their countries. It is
always necessary to be a little distrustful of their claims.]
Primate taxonomy. An introduction to the area of folk taxonomy and biology may be
Do i n, Berlin and Breedlove (1971), Brown (1979, 1982), Hunn (1975),
Wgeabed (1978), Gould (1979), and the series of articles in the August 1976 American
nologist special issue on folk biology.
It would seem that individual ape specimens have often elicited as much disagree-
Ment and deb
sely “Date among native African classifiers as among Western naturalists them-
wis For mstance, in the late 1800s a European hunter showed the skin of an p08
‘ae ne believed to be the product of chimpanzee/gorilla hybridization to various native
ki nly asking them what they called this animal. Most of the Africans labeled it a
1 ookamba, but several called it the Nschiego or Babu (chimpanzee), and a few claim-
conf vas the Njina (gorilla) (Meyer 1881). Part of the resolution of this classificatory
“ston may be that Western biologists have often erroneously assumed that indigenous
ed it w
P SHEA Vol. 4, No. 1
folk classifications closely correspond to our own Linnaean system. That such is not the
case seems clear from a passage in the field notes of Fred Merfield, which I examined at
the Powell-Cotton Museum in Birchington, U.K. In describing three chimpanzees from
the same troop, Merfield wrote (dates unknown):
The above beast is out of the same troop or family as nos. 449 and 450 and as the three
beasts were quite different, it shakes my faith as to really black-faced chimps or chogas
being a separate race. I have described the colour of the foregoing beasts as near as possible,
and have also made minute enquiries from various natives to try and find out if they recog-
nize more than one race of chimps. They do not. The different names they have for
chimps, generally speaking, depends on if the beast is large or small in build, old or young,
grey hair or black haired. The last six chimps I have had in I have asked the native name for
each beast from three or four independent natives, but they could not agree on the names,
so the various native names mean nothing.
Under another chimpanzee labeled ‘“‘Choga,” Merfield added: “Natives told me this
was Pamma Guargue and not N’Bodgil. It appears that they change the name according
to size and colour of hair as already mentioned. I cannot get any clear explanation.”
This assessment is supported by the comments of another African visitor, R. F, Burton
(1876:42), who noted two native names for chimpanzees, Nchigo Mpolo, meaning “large
chimpanzee,” and Nchigo Njué, “white-haired chimpanzee.” DuChaillu’s (1860) Nsch-
iego mbouvé is probably a similar descriptive tag. Therefore, at least some of the varia-
tion in the indigenous labels seems to relate to description of physical differences amons
individual specimens. Hays (1983) notes that the Ndumba of New Guinea distinguish
among certain closely related groups of animals on the basis of features such as color
pattern, tail length, and overall size. We should not assume that indigenous classifiers
make divisions for the same reasons or on the same bases as Western taxonomists (Dough-
erty 1978). Brown (1982) notes that individuals in “small-scale” societies frequently
know and utilize many names for zoological and botanical groups. Additional work
examining finer levels of classification of individual variations within species or subspecis
categories would be of interest to the present case.
CONFUSION AND VARIATION
subspecific,
and
o an inadequate
One of the primary reasons for the plethora of generic, specific,
infrasubspecific designations by early naturalists undoubtedly relates t
appreciation for the range and meaning of variation among individuals an hala
Mayr (1976) has labeled such thinking in terms of discrete and static types 4 —
ualism,” nothing that it was a fundamental characteristic of the pre-Darwini . adivid-
more, many biologists of the 19th century interpreted morphological variation
of the “great chain of being” (Lovejoy 1936). Thus, one goal of studies .
fication was to fill in the gaps between already discovered forms with gr
priori must exist. The words of Paul Topinard (1876, in McKown an oe
174) reflect this sentiment well:
. h a
nnedy 197?!
sts to make them “at
e variation
sition.
: : between one type and another, sufficiently recognized for naturali
Bh ieee of special groups, whether of order, family, genus, or species, i
the organ, or some bastard species, almost always comes in to establish the tran
Natura non facit saltum.
r
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY fe)
In regard to the foregoing remarks, it is perhaps ironic to note that indigenous classifica-
tions may have recognized and encompassed individual variation more fully than did our
own early taxonomies. Finally, one additional reason for the erection of new, albeit
intermediate, categories relates to “‘discoverer’s bias’? (Simons 1972), or the tendency to
argue that one’s own discovery represents a previously unknown form (genus, species,
subspeices, etc.).
Discrepancies and contradictions in the morphological and behavioral characteriza-
tions of the purported kooloo-kambas or intermediate forms clouds the likelihood of
the actual existence of such a distinct species or subspecies. To cite but several examples,
while Franquet (1852), Hill (1967, 1969a), and others stressed the small size of the ears
in the gorilla-like chimpanzees, DuChaillu (1860, 1890), in his original description,
claimed that the ears were very large. Similarly, DuChaillu (1860, 1890), Garner (1896)
and others described the face as very flat and human-like, the least prognathic of all the
apes, whereas Hill (1969a) cited as a characteristic feature of Pan troglodytes kooloo-
kamba, the “extremely prognathous face.” Such variance is also found in the labels.
Thus, is discussing gorilla-like chimpanzees, Merfield (1956) does not mention the koo-
loo-kamba, referring instead to the chogas, whereas Hill (1969a) simply lists “choga” as
but one of the many synonyms for the lower Guinea subspecies of chimpanzee known to
taxonomists as Pan troglodytes troglodytes, or the black-faced chimpanzee.
The behavioral descriptions of this purported variety are no more consistent. Hill
(1967, 1969a) followed several earlier investigators (e.g. Keith 1899; Hartmann 1885) in
describing the kooloo-kamba as cunning, malicious, and of savage disposition. By con-
ast, Garner (1896:41) referred to the kooloo-kamba as “a high order of chimpanzee,
characterized by a kindly expression and confiding and affectionate to a degree beyond
any other animal.” And finally, recalling that the name of this ape variety is an onoma-
topoeic label based on its distinctive cry of “kooloo,” it is of interest to note that in the
1860s when the Englishman Winwood Reade (1864:187) asked African hunters to imi-
tate the call of the kooloo-kamba, he reported that they made a noise like “ee! — ee! —
a~a—a!.” In sum, although the persistence of this century-long debate is in some ways
Suggestive, Hill’s (1967, 1969a) brief summaries camouflage a number of important
iconsistences and problems in these discussions.
Further confusion in terms of the descriptions of the kooloo-kamba and other
intermediate gorilla-like chimpanzees is raised when we consider that Mafuca, the ape
om Dresden described above, might have been a bonobo or pygmy chimpanzee (Pan
Paniscus) (Gijzen 1975). The small ears, coal-black face, and nasal region of some bobo-
zig do indeed recall the general appearance of gorillas. Yerkes and Yerkes (1929) made
this observation and Susman (1980) has more recently noted and illustrated this similar-
ity. Jungers and Susman (in press) argue that pygmy chimpanzees are relatively more
robust and “stocky” than at least the eastern variety of common chimpanzees (P. t.
een urthii), and thus more closely resemble gorillas. The geographical range of the
RimPanzees and the kooloo-kambas have been described (Fig. 1), although Urbain and
vote (1940) claimed that their specimen of Pan paniscus came from the northern (or
night) side of the Zaire River. Reynolds (1967) also discusses a possible extension of the
eh range of Pan paniscus. Further, Nishida (1972) gives a second-hand err of
"2 Claims that two kinds of chimpanzees co-exist in the Lac Tumba region of Zaire,
uth of the Zaire River. To add to the potential confusion, Freckhop (1935:11) com-
ie the cry of a captive bonobo to that of the kooloo-kamba, although the bonobo’s
coy given as a high-pitched “hi! hi! hi!” by other observers (e.g. Hill 1969a).
of Py ti (1935) also noted the curious fact that to the southwest of Lodja (in the ee
“ha " paniscus), one finds the locale “Tsheko,” recalling the indigenous name for the
*™m subspecies of common chimpanzee (P. t. troglodytes).
10 SHEA Vol. 4, No. 1
As if the confusion surrounding the existence of gorilla-like chimpanzees were not
enough, several reports of “pygmy gorillas” have been made through the years (eg.
Elliot 1913; Freckhop 1944; Groves 1970), giving us potential chimpanzee-like gorillas
also. These reports have never been confirmed, and the skulls of the intermediate crea-
tures have turned out to be either large male chimpanzees or small female gorillas (Groves
1970).
An additional consideration is that Hill’s (1967, 1969a) designation of the kooloo-
kamba as a subspecies of Pan troglodytes would appear to violate the modern taxonomic
understanding of the subspecies (Mayr, 1969), which requires such groups to be geo-
graphically distinct. For example, Hill (1967:53) notes of P. t. troglodytes and P. t.
kooloo-kamba that: “Both forms are said to occur side by side in the same forests, but
the koolokamba is restricted to the high level forests of the hinterland in South Came-
roons, Gaboon and the former French Congo.” Furthermore, Hill’s (1967, 1969a) assess-
ment of the morphological criteria distinguishing the various subspecies of Pan troglo-
dytes has been criticized by Reynolds and Luscombe (1971). A comparison of the sub-
specific status assigned by Hill to live P. troglodytes in the chimpanzee colony at the
Holloman Air Force Base (New Mexico) with independent records indicating their coun-
try of origin yields “a very poor correlation” (C. E. Graham, personal communication).
The two live animals at Holloman AFB assigned to P. t. kooloo-kamba by Hill are of
unknown origin.
CONCLUSIONS
tion of viable hybrids remai ae hasize that this has neve!
emains a real possibility, although I emphasiz 4 gorilla anges
. ; ‘dence of
overlap in lowland western Africa, but Jones and Sabater Pi (1971) provide oie
pap separation between the genera in one such area of sympatry
: n the morphological level, early workers such as Keith (189
tkes (1929) argued that chimpanzees and gorillas were quite similar.
9) and Yerkes and
More recently»
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 11
Ihave shown that patterns of ontogenetic development of the skull and postcranium are
very similar in chimpanzees and gorillas, many of the shape differences between adult
of these species being the result of the ultimate size differences, or the point of termin :
tion of the similar growth patterns (Shea 1981, 1983, in press). This is probably wh it
is large and robust male chimpanzees (or small female gorillas) which have eee tubeled
pene benbas or hybrid forms. Frechkop and Marit (1968) note the appearance of
pseudo-gorilla-like” features, such as cranial crests and a general robusticity of the
masticatory appartus, in certain specimens of male chimpanzees (which, by the wa
pe from the southeast rather than the southwest portion of the range of P. od
es
= se ae clearly are qualitative morphological differences between chimpan-
nekcy a i a ese findings help clarify some of the confusion and debate over pat-
ae! riation and intermediate varities. Indigenous folk taxonomies capture and
i le el aphbae tacie overlap and similarity between chimpanzees and gorillas
seal sie : edging”’ (Lakoff 1973) labels as “gorilla-like,” ‘‘chimpanzee-gorilla,”
“oe : her, and so forth when describing and classifying individual chimpanzees.
wn classifications offer the kooloo-kamba, the choga, and other intermediate varie-
cussed h ' ime F
must be paabeee the possibility of the existence of Pan troglodytes kooloo-kamba
jas Sait ete the real lesson of the debate over the kooloo-kamba relates to
pts to deal with the continuiti i inuti :
classifications. ities and discontinuties of the natural world in our
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
oul
. — oe to thank Elizabeth Mertz and Naomi Quinn for steering me toward the literature on
ato aaa I also thank Cecil Brown for reading and commenting on an earlier draft of this
eit: mments of Will Van Asdall and two anonymous reviewers significantly improved por-
Paper, and these suggestions are greatly appreciated.
LITERATURE CITED
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BREHM
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Sibeccs: Folk zoological
their universalit
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DOUGHERTY, J. W. D. 1978. Salience and
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5:66-80.
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and the Coun-
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Zool. Soc. Lond. 21:312-314.
12 SHEA
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DUVERNOY, G. L. 1855. Des caractéres
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thropomorphes. Arch. Mus. Hist. N
ELLIOTT,“ D..G., 1915, - Review of the Pri-
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FRANQUET, E. 1852. Sur le Gabon et sur les
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FRECKHOP, SERGE. 1935. A propos du
chimpanzé de la rive gauche du Congo.
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1943. Mammiféres. Explor.
Parc. Natn. Albert Miss. S. Freckhop.
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FRECHKOP, SERGE and C. MARIT. 1968.
elge Anthrop. Préhist. 79:31-40.
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s. Osgood, Londo
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ae A. 1975, Studbook of Pan paniscus.
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HAYS, TERRENCE E,
biology an
1983. Ndumba folk
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HILL, w. 67. The taxonomy of the
genus ar Pp. 47-54, in Neue Ergebnisse
der Primatologie, (D. Starck, R. Schneider,
and H. Kuhn, eds. ) Fisher, -aeeante
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JONES, C. and J. SABATER PI. 1971. Com-
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5B
JUNGERS, WILLIAM L., and RANDALL L.
AN. In press. Body size and
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il
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Jas wert
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miféres du Cam
J.L. Perret. Rev. Sauce er
May 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 13
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
RAINGEARD, D. 1938. Note sure un anthro-
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2:81-83.
RAVEN, PAUL H., BRENT BERLIN, and
DENNIS E. BREEDLOVE. 197) ane
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1213
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oe ELWYN L. nrg sae tia evolution.
pre New Yor
< ‘
Philadelphia, M#
|
Vol. 4, No, 1
i
J. Ethnobiol. 4(1):29-43 May 1984
EVIDENCE OF WOOD-DWELLING TERMITES IN
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES
KAREN R. ADAMS
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
ABSTRACT.—Distinctively shaped fecal pellets of wood-dwelling termites have been recov-
ered from a number of Southwestern archaeological contexts ranging from 600-2000 years
of age. Pellet presence in a site may derive from prehistoric use of termite-infested fire-
wood, or may signal actual termite colonization in the roofs and walls of ancient dwellings.
Recovery of abundant uncarbonized pellets throughout strata should alert the archaeologist
to possible post-occupational site disturbance; these same uncarbonized pellets may be use-
ful in tracing the prehistoric geographic distributions of various Southwestern termite
species. Carbonized pellets shrink differentially, depending on conditions under which they
burned, and cannot be used to infer termite species identification and distribution.
INTRODUCTION
Some primal termite knocked on wood
And tasted it, and found it good,
And that is why your Cousin May
Fell through the parlor floor today.
Ogden Nash (1942)
When Ogden Nash wrote about termites with tongue in cheek, he acknowledged an
insect whose history and habits have undoubtedly long interfaced with those of man.
There is now evidence that wood-dwelling termites have lived close to humans in the
American Southwest for at least ten centuries. Termite presence in prehistory may be
Signaled by distinctive fecal pellets recovered from ancient soil samples.
_ The archaeological record commonly reveals organic items that defy careful attempts
zi identification; often an ethnobiologist must be content with providing a thorough mor-
: ological description to share with colleagues. Escalated attempts at identification are
Justified if an unknown type occurs repeatedly in deposits at a single site, or in several
locations that vary in both space and time. In the Southwestern United States a decade
(bore, tween recognition of a small item originally labeled the “Tule Springs Unknown”
ecal is i Abas) and its identification by an entomologist as a wood-dwelling ee
ae 2 eae The connecting link was provided by a sharp-eyed graduate student who
tik ie that small items associated with termite nests in California and Utah looked just
| unidentified specimens he had observed while sorting plant and insect parts from
i al soil samples. Subsequent comparison by the author of ancient charred
ms ngs Unknown” specimens from a number of archaeological eepons with
“m wood-dwelling termite fecal pellets confirmed the identity of the ancient unknown.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF WOOD-DWELLING TERMITES
In contrast to earth-dwelling termites that actually inhabit soil, wood-dwelling ter-
23 i . . . .
aay are entirely confined to wood, the whole colony generally living within a sm
n
30 ADAMS Vol. 4, No.1
moister, often decaying wood. Dry-wood termites can easily invade and live in wood
located high above ground such as the wooden rafters of an adobe dwelling; they require
no contact with the ground throughout colony life. In contrast, damp-wood termites
may often be encountered in buried wood along water-courses or in buried stumps.
Distribution.—About forty species of termites inhabit the continental United States.
Nearly all species are native, having been here for millenia before humans arrived on the
continent. People, however, modify termite distribution by providing for their spread
into new and unoccupied areas (Kofoid 1946a:7). Activities such as the transport of
infested soil, wood, household furniture, and living plants provide a means by which
termite colonies become established in regions wholly new for some species. Lines of
fence posts and poles connecting cities and villages facilitate the spread of termites from
one locality to another. Termites now inhabit colder northern regions, warmed by the
same fossil-fuel burning furnaces that keep people warm.
Two families comprising five genera of wood-dwelling termites are known from
native habitats in the Southwestern United States today (Table 1) They include species
of both restricted and extensive distribution. Over half of the nine species occur below
Om. Patterns of plant use vary widely among the termites, with some occurring in
few plants, while others are found in a variety of plants in a broad range of habitats.
Food.—The food of termites is cellulose, one of the more resistant and durable products
of photosynthesis. Cellulose is extremely abundant in the xylem, or conducting tissue,
of woody plants. In general, sapwood is more appealing to a termite because it contains
less lignin and a greater amount of useful organic compounds than heartwood; likewis¢,
un-seasoned wood is more vulnerable to termite attack, as is wood felled in the summer
(Kofoid 1946b:571). While termites exhibit preferences when offered a variety of wood
types (Williams 1946:572) they will often eat whatever is available; even redwood, cedar
and cypress, often touted as “termite resistant”, are vulnerable. Five of the termites
listed in Table 1 are known to live in six or more native plants. Others opportunist
inhabit whatever tree products humans make available to them. These records suggest
other factor. If adequate moisture and minimum temperature requirements ar° pai
wood-dwelling termites might be able to survive in at least some of the woody plant
species in any given region.
Most termites can break down the cellulose of their plant hosts because olf 6a:
otic relationship with various Protozoa and bacteria that live in their gut (Kofoid a
5; LaFage and Nutting 1977). Undigested residue containing from 40-60% lignin,
than 30% carbohydrates, and negligible nitrogen is eliminated (LaFage 1976:98; Lee
Wood 1971:393). Because of the relatively low moisture content of the wood va
Sahai termites often produce compact recognizable fecal pellets (Light 1
5).
Fecal Pellets.—A typical pellet of a wood-dwelling termite is a small, hard, oblong ~*~
possessing six surfaces. At the angles between the six surfaces, longitudinal ge eat
often visible (Fig. 1). One end of the pellet is usually blunt, while the other may me
slightly tapered or rounded reminding one of a bullet (Fig. 2). The sides of the ee
generally parallel to one another, but may slope to one end as in pellets of
i uite
bas sides may be flattened, slightly convex or sometimes concave. Pellet ag a
variable, apparently related to the kind of wood being eaten (Castle 1946:28 vurface
Pellet $
author has seen white, tan, brown, black and mottled modern pellets. :
texture appears finely granular at 60x magnification; when cut in cross section,
interior is of a solid homogeneous texture similar to the exterior.
Length and width of modem termite pellets vary with species.
chosen, entire pellets of eight Southwestern wood-dwelling species were measu
Fifty random!
red under
see
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JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
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34 ADAMS Vol. 4, No. I
FIG. 1,—Sketch of a typical wood-dwelling termite fecal pellet, enlarged approximately 18x normal
size, Cross-sectional view (a) reveals hexagonal shape, while parallel ridges are evident on longitudinal
view (b).
FIG, 2.—Longitudinal view of modern Incisitermes minor termite fecal pellets, magnified 15x their
average length of 1.14 mm. Light colored parallel ridges alternate with darker, slightly concave sides.
30x magnification with an ocular micrometer (Table 2). Pellet diameter, measured mid-
way along the length before tapering begins, is generally less variable than pellet length,
measured from blunt to tapered end. A larger sample of 200 pellets of Pterotermes
revealed population statistics nearly identical to those of the smaller 50-pellet sample,
suggesting that a 50-pellet sample was representative.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST
Wood-dwelling termite fecal pellets have been clearly documented in a number of
archaeological contexts in association with humans in the Southwestern United Stat
(Table 3). These pellets span broad geographical and elevational ranges, and derive from
a variety of ancient Southwestern cultural traditions. All pellets are from contexts af
least 600 years old, up to perhaps 2000 or more years of age.
Most of the prehistoric specimens appeared charred to investigators (Fig- 3); sae
ancient organic items probably preserved through time because exposure to fre ©
dered them unappealing to degradative organisms. At each ancient site, such criterit
as context of recovery, carbonized condition. and presence of protective non-cult
sediment over cultural debri ibility that these
; , : og, termite
ngi function optimally only in moist, aerobic settings, “
fecal pellets buried in dry, oxygen-restricted sediments, may have been unable to S¥PP
€composers.
|
a OO
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 35
TABLE 2.—Diameter and length measurements on 50-pellet samples of eight wood-dweiling South-
western termites.
Species Pellet diameter (mm) Pellet length (mm)
Range x 0 Range x 0
Pterotermes 59- .83 el + .06 1.17 - 1.57 1,37 + .10
occidentis
(Walker)
Zootermopsis 56- .82 69 + .063 .89 - 1.31 1.10 + .103
angusticollis
(Hagen)
Zootermopsis 55- 1.07 81 +.13 98 - 2.14 1.56 +.29
laticeps (Banks)
Incisitermes 54- .74 .64 + .048 93 - 1.35 1.14 +.104
minor (Hagen)
Marginitermes 53- .69 61 + .04 82 - 1.10 96 +.068
hubbardi (Banks)
Paraneotermes 45- .61 53 + .04 51 - 0.87 .69 + 09
simplicornis
Banks)
Incisitermes 40- .56 48 +.04 63 - 0.91 a tM
banksi (Snyder)
Incisitermes 40- 56 48 + .04 .70 - 1.00 85 + .076
fruticavus (Rust)
itis. ae oar
- 3.—Longitudinal view of prehistoric charred termite fecal pellets from as
near ; ‘
sesh > Arizona. Although the pellets are magnified 17x their average
ably shrank when burned. Sometimes ancient pellets occur fused to one another.
ite along the Gila River
length of .87 mm, they
CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF TERMITE FECAL PELLETS
IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
inc] Two possible routes of introduction of termite fecal pellets into ancient dwellings
8 a transport in locally gathered firewood, and infestation of roof or side-wall con-
truction material.
have provided one very
Fir,
° *Wood.— Shrubs and trees brought in for firehearth fuel may
d dead termite colonies
el ee
Y avenue for termite debris to enter a dwelling. Both living an
Vol. 4, No. 1
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38 ADAMS Vol. 4, No.1
would be expected to harbor some pellets in the colony chambers and passageways;
burning might slowly heat these protected pellets as the fire etched into the fuel source,
Eventual carbonization of the pellets might result. The irregular occurrence of charred
termite pellets in samples from a site in Phoenix, Arizona (Gasser 1981:359) could reflect —
the occasional use of termite-infested wood for hearth fuel. Charred pellets in seven
separate fire-pit samples at a site near Snowflake, Arizona (Bohrer 1972), may also owe
their presence to this mode of introduction.
Infestation of Wooden Roof Beams and Wall Supports.—Perhaps ancient dwellers in
the Southwest experienced termite damage to various parts of their homes or towns
Puebloans of the Anasazi Tradition, as evidenced at Salmon Ruin in northwestem New
Mexico, built stone and adobe towns that had multi-layered roofs of plant materials.
For example, one room had a roof that consisted of a basal layer of large wooden beams
(vigas) of Pinus, Juniperus and Pseudotsuga (douglas fir), topped by smaller trunks
(latillas), a layer of Salix (willow) twigs, and finally Juniperus bark, all interspersed with
mud and dried plant parts (Adams 1980c). Such a roof, many meters above ground level
and supported by sturdy walls of adobe and stone, was vulnerable to attack by termites.
Airborne infestation by wood-dwelling termites could be signaled by hexagonal fecd
pellets that might drop to floors below and be recovered in soil samples taken centuries
later. While Dr. William Robinson of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research in Tucson,
Arizona has not observed termite damage in any of the large prehistoric beams taken =
from structures in the Chaco, Mesa Verde or Kayenta Cliff Dwelling areas (Letter Jan. §,
1982), perhaps the smaller latilla or twig layers provided suitable nesting sites. Finding
termite-galleried wood in ancient roof debris is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
Prehistoric dwellers of the Hohokam Tradition in Arizona built structures unlike the
communal pueblos of the Anasazi. Single houses, often partially sunken into the grou
were common among the Hohokam. The side walls of dwellings constructed at Snake:
town, a large Hohokam town in central Arizona, were fashioned of such plants as Populus |
(cottonwood) and Prosopis (mesquite), and occasionally of Juniperus. Mesquite and ie
tonwood were also used for the overhead rafters and lighter layers that comprised |
roof (Sayles 1938:81; Haury 1978:72). One can speculate that these plant materials 4)
have housed termites.
|
'
:
cence rt A RR een RSAR a
ENTOMOLOGICAL/ENVIRONMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE
al pellets in the
prehistoric dis
historic biog’®
The broad geographic and elevational distribution of termite fec
archaeological record posed the intriguing possibility of discerning the
tribution pattern of termites. Entomologists might appreciate a Pre
graphical view of termite range, while archaeologists might have yet
infer local site conditions by knowing what termites lived nearby. Length fi
measurements of modern pellets were secured to determine if one oF perhaps 4 © |
the species could be distinguished from all others. The resulting dichotomow turally |
on modern termite pellet population statistics (Fig. 4) revealed that, as with any ri pellets |
varying group of organisms, some species had unique attributes while others ha |
with characteristics shared in common by one or more species. nolog |
The real problem with identifying ancient termites from their pellet ne a
does not lie with overlapping population characteristics however. Carbonization © |
ments performed on carefully measured populations of modern pellets a ple 4)
shrinkage in both length and width dimensions can be moderate to severe Le ovat
depending upon amount of oxygen present and length of time exposed to fire. dertaki"g
able nature of termite pellet shrinkage parallels that found by researchers ge wit!
modern seed carbonization experiments. Seed size changes due to burning "1 Robet |
inherent seed differences (Renfrew 1973:11-13), moisture content (Stew
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY $9
1. Diameter .40-.45mm Incisitermes bankst, I, fruticavus
1. Diameter greater than .45mm
2. Diameter .45-.53mm 5.
2. Diameter greater than .53mm 4,
3. Length .51-.87mm, conical shape Paraneotermes
3. Length .63-1.00mm, rectangular Incisitermes banksi, I, fruticavus
4. Diameter .53-.61mm 5.
4. Diameter greater than .61mm 14,
5. Length greater than .93mm 6.
5. Length less than .93mm ine
6. Length .93-.98mm Marginitermes, I. minor, I. fruticavus,
Zootermopsis angusticollis
6. Length greater than .98mm
~
Length .98-1.10mm Marginitermes, I. minor, Z. laticeps,
Z. angusticollis
7, Length greater than 1.10mm
8. Length 1.10-1.17mm I. minor, Z. laticeps, Z. angusticollis
8. Length greater than 1.17mm 9
9. Length 1.17-1.35mm I. minor, Z. laticeps, Z. angusticollis, Ptero termes
9. Length greater than 1.35mm 10.
10. Length 1.35-1.57mm z sae Pterotermes
10. Length greater than 1.57mm Z. laticeps
ll. Length less than -63mm, conical Paraneotermes
ll. Length .63-.93mm
12. Conical shape Paraneotermes
12. Rectangular shape
Length .63-.82mm I. banksi, I. fruticavus
- Length greater than .82mm L banksi, I. fruticavus, Marginitermes,
Z. angusticollis
2 Diameter .61-.74mm 15.
» Diameter greater than .74mm 16.
: Length less than .938mm Marginitermes, Z. angusticollis
» Length greater than .93mm 6
. Diameter -74-.83mm 17.
: ter te than .83mm, Z. laticeps
length .98-2.14mm
17, ae
17 Length less than 1.17mm Z. laticeps, Z. angusticollis
; greater than 1.17mm 18
1
- Length 117-1 Stom Z. laticeps, Z. angusticollis, Pterotermes
Sreater than 1.57mm Z. laticeps
FIG, 4,
pichotomous key to whole, uncarbonized modem fecal pellets from wood-dwelling termites
€ Southwestern United States.
living
40 ADAMS Vol. 4, No.1
TABLE 4.—Mean size measurements of modern termite fecal pellets before and after exposure to heat,
Oxygen-rich carbonization! of Anaerobic carbonization? of
Dimension Incisitermes minor pellets Pterotermes occidentis pellets
Before After Jo Before After % |
Exposure Exposure Shrinkage Exposure Exposure Shrinkage
(n=50) (n=50) (n=50) (n=37)
Length 114mm 1.06mm 7 126mm .86mm 32
Diameter .64 mm .60 mm 6.6 73mm .51mm 30
1
2
Carbonized inside aluminum foil buried in hot coals for over one hour.
ee
Carbonized in a coffee can over an electric hot plate for three minutes. :
son 1971:381), as well as maturity, evenness of carbonization and total amount of
charring (Brugge 1965:49). It would be impossible to know, in this case, how mut
shrinkage had been experienced by pellets recovered from the ashes of an ancient firepit.
Since the bulk of pellets recovered from Southwestern archaeological sites to date have
been carbonized!, at present the size dimensions give no clues to the identity of the
termites. As uncarbonized pellets are recovered, however, they should be classified
in the hopes that both environmental information and the distribution of prehiston¢
termites may become known.
TERMITES AS AGENTS IN THE DISTURBANCE
OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
In addition to suggesting prehistoric termite biogeography, abundant uncarborite
pellets in an ancient site might serve as a clue to pre or post-depositional modification :
strata. For example, wood-dwelling termites could easily inhabit dense organic pet
that are typical of dry caves or rock overhangs in the American Southwest. As ees
utilized buried wood, sediment mixing could occur as internal, now-emP ya <
lapsed downward. The archaeologist should consider such a natural transforma
process in deposits that reveal broad distribution and fair numbers of uncarbonl?
pellets. cave
Earth-dwelling termites could also play a major role in soil mixing of het
archaeological sites, where moisture content is generally higher. Termites 13
merica have been known to mix, alter, invert and obliterate soil ho et
create new horizons and affect the spatial boundaries of different soils
son 1978:325). Not only might termites mix soils, but they could also prov
for air and water to move downward through deposits and thus increase chances
tion of organic material and destruction by fungi and bacterial degradative °F rting
mince earth-dwelling termites do not produce recognizable six-sided fecal pellets, spo
their former presence in a site would be difficult.
|
|
rizons, °F Jobt
a
os
SUMMARY
west
_ Fecal pellets from wood-dwelling termites had been isolated from Sout ctl
United States archaeological soil samples for at least ten years before their 10° to and
was secured. Potential avenues for the introduction of termite fecal pellets ™
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 41
dwellings include plant materials carried in as fuel, and infestation of roof or wall sup-
ports. Often the pellets are charred in ancient deposits. Carbonization experiments
ormed on modern pellets in the presence and absence of oxygen reveal that termite
pellets shrink from 6-30% in both length and diameter. Therefore, the possibility of
inferring ancient termite distribution from the morphology of carbonized pellets from
archaeological sites seems remote. While this particular record is mute regarding bio-
geographical and ecological data, other non-burned records may not be so. In a dry site,
such as a cave or rock overhang, widespread occurrence of non-burned pellets could signal
extensive termite colonization and potential mixing of site deposits. The identification
interpretation of insect remains from archaeological sites remains a largely unex-
rhe and Seales rich, source of information.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The keen sense of observation of Mr. Alan C. Reed, while a graduate student at Eastern New
Mexico University, provided the first clue that an unknown item from a number of Southwestern
archaeological sites might derive from termites. Without reservation Dr. William L, Nutting of the
Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, confirmed the hunch. Dr, Nutting also provided
guidance and, along with Dr. Michael K. Rust of the University of California, Riverside, supplied me
with modern termite fecal pellets for examination. Vorsila L. Bohrer not only recovered and describ-
ed the first “Tule Springs Unknown” specimens, she also served as the catalyst for this study. My
parents Louise and Adrian Rogers assisted with technical details, and Cynthia Lindquist photographed
the modern and ancient pellets. giants in ethnobiology, noted in Table 3, kindly sent me ancient
termite pellet specimens for scrutin
LITERATURE CITED
ADAMS, KAREN R. 1980a. Pollen, Parched
Seeds and Prehistory: a pilot investiga-
tion of prehistoric plant remains from
Salmon Ruin, a Chacoan pueblo in
1980b, Relative numbers of
Native Gdehofosails 3 in strata of poor pre-
servation, with emphasis on flotation.
Pp. 251-301 in Investigations at the Sal-
Mon Site: The Structure of Chacoan
Society in the Northern Southwest, vol.
Irwin-Williams and P. H. Shelley, eds.).
Ms on file, Eastern New Mexico Univ.,
Portales,
; - 1980c. Pines and other coni-
ers. Pp. 355-562 in Investigations at the
Salmon Site: The Structure of Chacoan
Society in the Northem Southwest, vol.
win Williams and P. H. Sh
$ on file, Eastern New Mexico Univ.,
Portales,
B
ns - and T. E. SNYDER. 1920. A
ison of the Nearctic Termites, with
tee On their Biology and penal
tribution. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus
108:1-298,
BOHRER, VORSILA L. 1972. Paleoecology
of the Hay Hollow Site, Arizona. Fiel-
diana, Anthr. 63(1):1-30.
1981. Former Dietary Pat-
terns of People as Determined from
Archaic-Age Plant Remains from Fresnal
Shelter, South-Central New Mexico. Ms
on file, Eastern New Mexico Univ.,
rtales
tein VORSILA L. and KAREN R.
ADAMS. 1977. Ethnobotanical Tech-
New Mexico. Eas
ontributions in a nevapehsey 8(1).
VID M. 1965. Charred Maize
pose GORDON
Un
GASSER, ROBERT
Plant Use at La Ciudad and other River-
ine Sites: the Flotation Evidence. Ap-
pendix IV. Pp. 341-380 7 n Archaco-
logical Investigations, Arizona Depart-
ment of es spo ortation, Phoenix. Test-
ing at La judad (Group Ill), West
Stier Loop (I-10), Maricopa
42
ADAMS
Vol. 4, No. |
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
County, Arizona. Ms on file, Museum
Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.
HAURY, EMIL W. 1978. The Hohokam.
Desert Farmers and Craftsmen. Exca-
pati at Snaketown, 1964-1965. Univ.
a Press, Tucson.
Bevin WILLIAMS. CYNTHIA. 1979. Post-
Pleistocene Archaeology, 7000-2000 B.C.
Pp. 31-42 in Handbook of North Ameri-
can Indians, Southwest (Alfonso Ortiz,
volume ed.), Smithsonian Institution,
Washington.
KOFOID, CHARLES A. 1946a. Biological
backgrounds of termite problems. Pp.
1-13 in Termites and Termite Control
(Charles A. Kofoid, ed.). Univ. Califor-
nia Press, Berkeley.
- 1946b. Seasonal changes in
wood in relation to susceptibility to
attack by fungi and termites. Pp. 564-
571 in Termites and Termite Control
(Charles A. Kofoid, ed.). Univ. Califor-
nia Press, Berkele
LA FAGE, JEFFERY P, 1976. abana
biochemistry, bioenergetics, and nu
tive value of the dry-wood termite ae
ginitermes hubbardi (Banks). Unpubl.
Ph.D. aa (Entomology), Univ. Ari-
zona, Tucso
ROR cans OE ae Ww. L. NUTTING. 1977.
Nutrient dynamics of termites. Pp.
165-232 in Production Ecology of Ants
and Termites (M. V, Brian, ape Inter-
national Biological AR . Cam-
bridge Univ. P
LEE, K. E. and T. G. eG 1971. Physical
and chemical effects on soils of some
Australian termites, and their pedologi-
cal significance, Pedobiologia, BD.
S.:376-409,
LEO, RICHARD F. and ELSO S. BARG-
HOORN. 1976. Silicification of Wood.
Bot. Mus, Leaflets, Harvard Univ. 25
1): 1-47,
»%- F. 1937. Contributions to the
Biology and Taxonomy of Kalotermes
(Paraneotermes) simplicornis Banks
vai Calif. Publ. Entomo-
logy 6(16):423-464.
———____. Bae Habitat and habit
types of termites and their economic
significance, Fp, 1]
y.
1946b. The distribution and
biology of the common dry-wood ter
mite Kalotermes minor. Pp, 210-238
in Termites and Termite Control. (Charles
A. Kofoid, ed.). Univ. California Press,
Berkeley.
Termites and Grow-
ed.). Univ. California sir. Berkeley.
NASH, OGDEN. 1942. Good Intentions.
Little, Brown and Co., Me osto
NUTTING, WILLIAM L. 1965. Ober
mopsis laticeps (Banks) (Hodotermite
dae). Psyche 72(1):113-125.
—_—_——. 1 Biological notes on ®
rare pete -wood termite in the Southwest,
Incisitermes banksi (Kalotermitidae).
The Southwestern Entomologist 4(4):
308-310.
RENFREW, JANE M. 1973. Pale a
botany. The prehistoric food plants of
e Near East and = Columbia
Dav. Press, New Y ;
ROBINSON, WILLIAM r " 1982. Letter
files of author, Jan. 8, 1982.
RUST, MICHAEL K. 1979. Anew —
of drywood termite see | on
North America (Isop ent
dae). Pan-Pacific cnc
1938. Houses, a
Emil W
Nora Gladwit
Haury, E. B. Sodas and
Gila Pueblo Medallion hee
-278.
SAYLES, E. B.
in Excavations at Snaketown
authors).
No. XXV. (Reprinted in 1965 by
Arizona Press, Tucson). nL
STEWART, ROBERT B. and bee
BERTSON, III. 1 =
and Sced Carbonization. Eco
25(4):381. avid
TO, LELENG P., LYNN MARCUS oor
CHASE and WILLIAM L.
. +a) cor
1980. The symbiotic see :
‘ermite:
é S ie 13:
Pterotermes occidentis. BioSy
109-137. he Ter
WEESNER, FRANCES M. 1965. ik
mites of the United States, 4
ciatio®
The National Pest Cont trol Ass
Elizabeth, ee ee
ites of t
19 Teva € logy
10.
tic Sesian, - 477-525 in Bi
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 48
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
Termites, Vol. IT (Kumar Krishna and WOOD, W. RAYMOND and DONALD LEE
F, M. Weesner, eds.). Academic Press, JOHNSON. 1978. A survey of distur-
New York. bance processes in archaeological site
WILLIAMS, O. L. 1946. Wood preference formation. Pp. 315-381 im Advances
tests. Pp. 572-573 in Termites and in Archaeological Method and Theory
Termite Control (Charles A. Kofoid, I (Michael B. Schiffer, ed.). Academic
ed.). Univ. California Press, Berkeley. Press, New York.
NOTE
lt distinguish naturally black items from those turned black by exposure to heat, one can gently
scratch the specimen against a piece of white paper, and a carbonized item will generally leave a
slight streak or smudge.
Book Review
The Desert Smells Like Rain: A Naturalist in Papago Indian Country. Gary Paul Nabhan.
San Francisco: North Point Press, 1982. 148 pp., illus., $12.50.
rom an overture punctuated by spadefoot toads and desert thunderstroms, to a
pastorale of bird-song around a desert oasis, and a crescendo of mariachi and Papago
polka bands, The Desert Smells Like Rain presents an intimate view of the Sonoran
— and its native people. Ethnobiologist Gary Nahban shares his experiences and
insights while studying run-off agriculture and traditional crops in the borderlands of
Arizona and Sonora. These adventures include a trek to / ‘toi’s cave in the Baboquivari
easing, a visit to a saguaro wine-drinking and rain-bringing ceremony, expeditions
\? ‘wo telic oases in the desert, and a pilgrimage to the Fiesta of San Francisco Xavier in
Nagdalena, Sonora. Along the way he introduces the reader to his Papago acquaintances,
Who are more friends than just informants.
In other chapters, Gary Nabhan explores the relationship between the disappearance
of traditional foods and dietary patterns and the endemic increase of diabetes, cardio-
ee problems, and other nutrition-related diseases among the Papago. He also
<< the native view of the indigenous wild relatives of important cultivated plants.
ne tepary beans, gourds, cotton, and tobacco are all considered to be plants that
pik re the trickster deity, has stolen or otherwise spoiled. An important theme ring
the So € Desert Smells Like Rain is Papago cognition of the changing hydraulic regime 0
noran Desert and the abandonment of traditional floodwater farming. —
bin pad germplasm conservation, linguistics, and traditional cient res
cillestion with insight, myth, and humor in The Desert Smells Like Rain. . eae 9
doesn’. Hi of notes and references is included, but in the back of the book whe
nly interrupt the flow of the text. vecgi
Wallace Paul Nabhan should be added to the list of authors that includes Alfre usse
With Bates Darwin, Edgar Anderson, and Stephen Jay Gould, natural history writers
eg ique talent of being able to present a tremendous amount of information in an
and ve
ry readable style. CHM
44 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 4, No.1
Book Review
By the Prophet of the Earth: Ethnobotany of the Pima. L. S. M. Curtin. Tucson: The
University of Arizona Press, 1984. 156 pp., illus., $6.95, paperback.
The title, By the Prophet of the Earth, pays homage to the Piman diety Jewed Makai,
the Earth Doctor, whose gifts are celebrated in this book. These gifts provided food,
shelter, medicine, and raw materials for the Akimel O’odham, “Running Wash People”
or northern Pima, and their ancestors for countless millenia in the Sonoran Desert.
Leonora Curtin’s book provides descriptions and uses for seventy-six plants, both
wild and cultivated, important to Piman culture. She also has accounts of Piman games,
legends, and miscellaneous beliefs. One chapter is devoted to material culture, from
houses to ceremonial rattles, with brief descriptions of how these are made and the plants
that are used. Scientific, Piman, and Anglo or Spanish common names are given for each
species.
By the Prophet of the Earth was first published in 1949, and most of the field
research was conducted immediately before World War II. This was the period of time
when the impact of Anglo diet, with its dubious gifts of white bread, canned goods, and
convenience good, was first being felt on the Piman reservation. L. S. M. Curtin hoped
that her book would both preserve some of the native Piman dietary knowledge and also
awaken a scientific interest in evaluating its nutritional “virtues”. The new forward to
y Doris
Calloway, Ruth Greenhouse, Harriet Kuhnlein, Charles Weber, and their collaborators has
demonstrated that native Piman foods, prepared in traditional ways, are nutritional
comparable or superior to modern Anglo foods now available on the reservation. Native
plant foods were seasonally important sources of vitamins, trace elements, carbohydrates,
essential oils, and high quality proteins. A recent study in Mexico (Arizona Daily Star,
p. 8D, May 27, 1984) has suggested that a 100 gram serving of prickly peat pads cat
reduce 60 mgs. of glucose in the blood of diabetics, demonstrating another link betwee
traditional diets and the reduction of nutrition-related diseases. Robert Corruccin! I
of Physical Anthropology 62(3):317-324, 1983).
This edition of By the Prophet of the Earth is a direct photographic r
the original text, with a new foreward by Gary Paul Nabhan. With the rece
of Amadeo Rea’s Once a River, this re-issue of Curtin’s book, and forthcoming
Richard Felger on Seri ethnobotany and Alfred Whiting on Havasupai h : ies ag
University of Arizona Press is rapidly becoming a leader in ethnobiological publicatio™
cH
eproduction af
nt publication
works bY
The
J. Ethnobiol. 4(1):45-60 May 1984
THE PRAGMATICS OF FOLK CLASSIFICATION
BRIAN MORRIS
Goldsmiths’ College
University of London
New Cross London SE14 6NW, England
ABSTRACT.~—In an examination of Chewa folk biological classifications, specifically those
relating to the fungi, the paper suggests that functional criteria are intrinsic to their taxo
nomic ordering, and that their mode of classification is essentially prototypical rather than
categorical and hierarchic.
INTRODUCTION
In 1925, almost sixty years ago, Malinowski (1974:44) wrote: ‘The road from the
wilderness to the savage’s belly and consequently to his mind is very short. For him the
world is an indiscriminate background against which there stands out the useful, primarily
the edible, species of animals and plants.” There has been a justified, though perhaps
unnecessarily harsh, reaction against this kind of pragmatism. No one has expressed this
better than Levi-Strauss, who has argued that the outlook of pre-literate peoples towards
the natural world is primarily intellectual, and that totemic symbols cannot be under-
stood in terms of a naturalistic perspective. For Levi-Strauss (1966:9) the “specific”
character of the animal and plant world is the initial source or impulse for symbolic
classifications, but the main purpose of these classifications is not a practical one: “It
meets intellectual requirements rather than... satisfying needs.”
equal interest, however, is the viewpoint of the ethnoscientists, such as Brent
Berlin and his associates ( 1974). Although stemming from a different theoretical tradi-
Non—that of Anglo-Saxon empiricism—the latter share with the structuralists an interest
in folk classifications. As with Levi-Strauss, folk knowledge is seen primarily in classifi-
‘Atory terms, and there is an equal stress on a logic of what Levi-Strauss (1969:163) calls
°ppositions and correlations, exclusions and inclusions . . .”, that is, on systematics and
coherence, Furthermore, though focusing on specific semantic domains, they have other
affinities with Levi-Strauss in their search for universals, reflecting a consistent and
‘althy opposition to cultural relativism. Similarly, like Levi-Strauss, ethnoscientists
Mi folk classifications as expressing a purely intellectual interest in the natural world.
‘reas for Malinowski (1925), pre-literate people appear to think through the stomach,
and
> = nacre the ethnoscientists view the interest in the world of pre-literate people as
meni and intellectual and, divorced from pragmatic concerns, as being related primar-
a Lad
have s ces for order”. Neither tradition, of course, denies that animals a
Gas, “arian significance, e.g., food or medicines, but both imply that this is largely
— to the way that people systematically classify the natural world. ee
tahges. the different philosophical perspectives of the ethnoscientists ie a se
Wii. the two traditions naturally advocate a different kind of intellectu ae
ki — For Levi-Strauss, pre-literate people are concerned with hs wei
ne his. g3 unifies through symbolic logic diverse aspects of their culture; icon
orderin Pteiti (1974), on the other hand, subjects are proto-botanists concerne er
th & the natural world through criteria based on morphology and structure. om
folk da etctives have been necessary, but they have also limited our understan ing o
‘sifications, The structuralist approach, by focusing on the symbloic logic, over
aves the social reality and tends to ignore the praxis of human groups. The
46 MORRIS Vol. 4, No, 1
approach of the ethnoscientists, on the other hand, has tended to underplay the relevance
of practical interests in the structuring of folk taxonomies. My aim in this paper is to
focus on the latter issue and to show, through an examination of the natural taxonomies
of the Chewa people of Malawi! that pragmatic concerns are highly relevant in inter-
preting the nature and structure of folk classifications, echoing some of Bulmer’s (1974)
early misgivings about ethnoscience.
TWO ILLUSTRATIONS OF FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES
In an article on the uses of succulent plants in Malawi, one biologist, Hargreaves
(1976:190), admitted that he found local plant nomenclature somewhat confusing.
He wrote:
I found, for example, that a small herbaceous mint, a shrub, a grass and the large tree Acacia
albida were all referred to as ‘Mbeya’. These plants were totally unrelated and showed no resem:
blance to each other. I was therefore puzzled until an informant told me to taste them. Thenit
became clear. ‘Mbeya’ means ‘salt’! I soon learned to overcome my own taxonomic prejudice
and look at plants according to their uses. Many plants in Chitipa, in fact, have no local name
because they have no use.
And he goes on to state that “Botany grew from herbals listing useful plants and did not
arise out of the objectivity which modern scientists like to pretend to.’
It would be easy, of course, to dismiss these suggestions as untenable. Some plants
in Malawi, as elsewhere, have names but no apparent utility, e.g. the parasitic Kamfit
Striga Asiatica. Clearly there is no simple correlation, as Hargreaves seems to imply,
between utility and nomenclature. Nonetheless, it is important to realize, as Brokensh
and Riley (1980:121) write of the Mbeere, that utility is a major factor in the classifice
tion of plants.
One could also perhaps question Hargreaves on his knowledge of the local lange
and suggest that Mbeya is not a plant name at all, since it means salt; the term, sign
cantly, is not in the Malawi ‘Dictionary of Plant Names’ (Binns 1972). Indeed,
thought it important to indicate the semantic confusions that appear to ba th
local floras, when terms were discovered which meant ‘medicine’ or ‘poison’ or ave :
name of some local disease or complaint (cf. Carrington 1981). These, it is su
cannot possibly be taxonomic labels! Although offered as criticisms of botanists,
Pagiisn setae as “heartsease”, “eyebright”, ‘“‘sanicle” (from Latin verb sano,
gum’’, “rubber”, “wormwood” and “liverwort” are valid plant names—?
those terms that have long since disappeared from our vocabulary, ¢-8+
(yarrow). It is therefore somewhat misleading to assume that terms like
‘“ : a Z Jassifi-
salt” or the name of some disease do not have taxonomic significance 1M folk ¢
; 2 os jon.
cations; indeed it is my contention that they do, which brings me to my secon@”” 1970), !
Some years ago while studying the epiphytic orchids of Malawi (Mortis :
noticed that many of these plants were well-known to local people, and that pie:
moner species—Angraecopsis parviflora, Cyrtorchis arcuata, Bulvophyllum san : wa
though morphologically quite distinct, were referred to by the collective term Mwal
ae 0, meaning “child of the wind”. Given my ecological bias, I thought cas
appropriate term for epiphytic orchids, many of which grew high on the outer ‘ast
of trees. Many years later I discovered that this term was applied to several ge
life forms—herbs, shrubs and climbers—and was not restricted to epiphy ’
Focused on the family Vitaceae, the herbs Cyphostemma junceum and Ampé e
obtusa being prototypical, many of these plants, but not all, are referred tO got to
generic terms (Table 1.). Plants referred to as Mwana wa mpbepo belong; there
4
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 47
May 1984
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48 MORRIS Vol. 4, No.1
several distinct families, and each one is used as a medicine in the treatment of a disease
which is called by the same term, and which is as complex as the plant taxon. The
important point is that Mwana wa mpbepo is a polysemic term, and it is quite contrary
to Chewa thought to consider plants and diseases as somehow utterly distinct and exclu-
sive domains (cf. Turner 1967:299-358). Many plant categories do indicate their utility,
and one herbalist I knew categorized the plants she used either by the term (Mtengo)
Wazilengo (relating to misfortunes caused by medicines) or by the term (Mtengo) wa
madzoka (of the spirit induced illness Madzoka). For these particular trees she never
used, or indeed knew, any other term. To understand Chewa folk concepts, therefore,
one has to accept that they have a pragmatic dimension, and that such taxonomies att
not conceptually isolated, as a domain, from other aspects of Chewa culture.
ZOOLOGICAL LIFE FORMS
As with many other cultures, there are no terms in Chewa that can be considered
equivalent to the English terms ‘animal’ and ‘plant’, which derive from Latin and wert
used widely only toward the end of the 16th Century (cf Morris 1980). The Chewa have
a concept of life (- Moyo) and in many contexts use terms that imply a distinction be-
tween the two main types of living organisms. The noun-classes themselves to some exten!
reflect this distinction. Whereas many animals belong to the Munthu class A/Fisi, A/Ny*
lugwe, A/Mende (hyena, leopard, creek rat), most of the Mtengo category —which includes
the majority of the plants known to the Chewa—belong to a different noun class (typically
referred to as the Mtengo class) such as Mkuyu, Mkundi, Msopa, Mlombwa (all taking the
plural prefix Mi-). As in other languages, there are a host of terms referring both to ‘ast
morphology and usage and to plant growth that would imply a distinction between —
and other organisms, but whether such distinctions warrant the label of “covert” category
(Berlin et al 1968, 1974; Brown 1974) is difficult to say.
The main life-form categories of the Chewa are as follows:
“ANIMAL”
NYAMA MBALAME NJOKA NSOMBA CHIROMBO
Edible Birds Snakes Fish and ae
quadruped intestinal Edible —_
worms crustaceans
: ‘ amma:
Nyama is a polysemic term referring both to meat and to any edible ie edible
It can include edible reptiles and amphibians but it excludes Nsomba ( mples
freshwater crustaceans), Mbalame (birds) and Njoka (snakes). Nyaa ge mye
meaning: and in normal contexts it excludes the larger predatory mammals, ¢-5
leopard, and lion, as well as those smaller animals not usually eaten, :
and jackal. It also has a great ritual significance to the Chewa because © i a”,
with hunting. Schoffeleers (1968) suggests that besides meaning “edible mee con
refers to the spirit or power released by the blood of a slain person—thus Abts
cept a mystical quality. Significantly the “flesh” of a bird, snake or a vegetable 8” |
is not referred to as Nyama but as Mnofo. Besides these four main life forme 7 irom?
zoological drastically narrows their meaning—there is a kind of residual category " 10
which refers to any hostile wild animal; Nyalugwe (leopard) and Fisi (hyena) 4 Z
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 49
typical. Essentially however, Chirombo, means any useless living thing, and also includes
weeds and most invertebrates; like Nyama, the term also has important symbolic conno-
tations, being associated with evil spirits and with the masked dancers (who impersonate
spirit animals) at certain ceremonies.
“Within” these categories a distinction is made between wild and domesticated spe-
cies. Domesticated animals are referred to as Chiweto or Chifuyo; the latter terms include
chickens, ducks and dog, as well as the larger livestock like goats and cattle. For example
Bakba refers to the domestic duck, and besides being seen as outside the Mbalame (bird)
category, is considered quite distinct from wild species such as Chipweyo, the fulvous tree
duck and Kalanga, the Hottentot teal. Europeans often use Bakha as a generic term, but
Chewa-speakers around Lake Chilwa were adamant that the term Bakba applied only to
the domesticated species.? This conceptual demarcation is common amongst the Chewa;
Nkbumba and Nguluwe, for example, refer to the domestic and wild pig respectively and
Nkbunda and Njiwa to the domestic and wild pigeon. The distinction between the village
(Mudzi) and woodland (Thengo) is indeed an important ecological and symbolic demarca-
tion amongst the Chewa, and it is a division that has wide cross cultural reference (cf.
Strathern 1980).
an important sense, then, three of the five life form categories which I have briefly
discussed above are largely functional categories that cannot be understood simply in
terms of morphological criteria. The polysemous nature of the main category Nyama
suggests, as Bulmer remarked, that such ‘life-forms’, “may be defined as much by cultural
evaluation ... as by their objective biological characteristics” (1974:23). Needless to say,
in Chewa thought people (Anthu) form a separate and unique category.
BOTANICAL LIFE FORMS
There is no term in Chewa for “plant” although literate speakers of the language
often try to find or make one. Thus the terms Chomera or Chimerara (derived from
Ku-mera, to sprout or shoot) can be used to describe plants generally but their focus is
essentially on cultivated species, especially those like the sweet potato which are propa
gated vegetatively. These terms have no general use. There are three basic terms in
Chewa for what might loosely be described as the plant world: Mtengo, which, at a
‘uperficial level, is a general category for trees and woody plants, Maudzu, grasses, =
Stass-like herbaceous plants like the anthericum lilies, and Bowa, edible fungi. :
The majority of plants known to the Chewa fall under the category Mtengo, and in
addition to trees, it includes vines, creepers and small herbs. It also refers to a stick, the
woody stem or a piece of wood; the allied concept Thengo is a general term for woodland
dominated by the genera Brachystegia and Uapaca (not “bush” as it is usually translated),
as distinct from evergreen forest Nkhalango. The term Chire is more frequently used to
refer to regenerate bushland. ‘
To understand the meaning of Mtengo, however, one has to shift one’s perwpers***
and view the natural world not only in terms of morphology but also in terms seven’
olen Telish dish.
‘as a ‘tree’ yet it is only a small slender herb, barely six inches high. aie
ahead herbs, however, do not fit into the Mtengo category. If a local person is neg
mint 2*t of plant, say, a balsam is, or whether a generic category is a “tee! Micngo 1 ®
rommant may be hesitant, and may conclude that it is a Maluwa (flower), significant'y
50 MORRIS Vol. 4, No.1
using the plural. So in a sense Duwa or Luwa (flower—singular form) can take on the role
of a general plant category, although many small herbs remain essentially unaffiliated.
Many Europeans are surprised to discover, therefore, that many conspicuous plants such
as Gloriosa virescens, Crinum pedicellatum and Crocosmia aurea have no name, and are
virtually unnoticed and unrecognized by Chewa speakers (cf. Brokensha and Riley 1980;
121) who yet, somewhat paradoxically, have such a detailed and accurate knowledge of
the plant world. The reason is that Mtengo is essentailly, that is prototypically, a cate-
gory of useful wild plants, and that Crocosmia aurea (for example), which has no evident
uses, has no name and is not a ‘tree’.
Two other words are often used almost interchangeably with that of Mtengo. The
first is Mankbwala, which may be translated as “medicine”, and includes both animal and
plant material. Medicines and their uses permeate Chewa culture, and are utilized for pro-
tection against witchcraft (Ufiti), as good luck charms and in the treatment of illness and
disease. I have often, in pointing to a shrub or tree, asked someone ‘What’s this?” (Iebi
ciani?) only to get the reply “Mankbwala”, and many of my Yao informants in Malawi
used the term Mtera which is a generic concept for both “medicine” and “tree”. Such
polysemy seems widespread in Africa, and in his classic study on the Azande Evans
Pritchard (1937:440) notes:
“The Zande word which I have translated as ‘medicine’ or ‘magic’ according to contexts f
Ngua means ‘tree’ or ‘wood’ or ‘plant’ so when we ask a Zande what medicine is used for act
tain activity we are asking him what tree or plant is used.”
are intimately linked.> The second word which is used almost as a synonym for Mremg?
is ‘root’. The true Chewa term is Mezu (plural Mizu) but I rarely heard this term used it
the area where I did my research; the concept Mtsitsi was employed instead.
for us to understand or feel the significance that roots have for the Chewa. —_
am stressing the importance of utility in Chewa classifications I am not denying that 4
do not have an interest in plant morphology and structure—indeed they
interest if focused to a large extent on leaves and roots. In asking what uses
plants were (Ntchito ciani?) the immediate response often was “You dig down” ee
ba Pansi), and you were expected to realize the implications, i.e. that it had orn”
value as Mankbwala. Many times I have observed herbalists digging up roots to © an (an
confirm the identification of a plant, and one woman to whom I showed a specimen r
Albuca lily) said to me “Bring me more leaves and the root and I'll tell you what ger
Many herbalists, in particular, have an amazing propensity for identifying pe
their roots. This is because many of the plants that are of crucial importance f
Chewa are neither trees, nor do they have conspicuous flowers; it is their utility eee
or medicines that give them salience. Several members of the plant families Vitaces
4 Greek hetb®
Chewa which comes
pond to the broad morphological divisions of ‘tree’, ‘shrub’, ‘herb’ (noted by eae
tus, [Hort 1968] ) or ‘vine’ (cf. Berlin et al 1974:373). There are terms which feet
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May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 51
because they are not used as cordage, are not considered ‘vines’ at all, although they
ought to be on morphological grounds. Equally important is the fact that bamboos,
bananas and many cultivated plants are considered outside (unaffiliated) to the two main
categories. Thus millet, maize and sorghum are not Mandzu, although, again, they ought
to be by morphological criteria, and indeed the pearl millet Machewere belongs to the
same genus Pennisetum as does the grass Nsenjere, This division largely reflects what we
have already noted, namely the important symbolic categorization in Chewa between the
village and the woodland, and both Mtengo and Maudzu essentially refer to useful plants
that are to be found in the woodland.
oug! re is a pragmatic emphasis at both the life-form and generic levels of
Chewa classifications there are also a number of intermediate categories that have a
largely functional significance. I have already mentioned Mwanawampbero. Three other
taxa are worth noting: (1) Thelele is a grouping of plants used in the preparation of a
kind of mucilaginous relish, referred to by the same term. It is focused around the semi-
cultivated Hibiscus acetosella. Other species in this category are, in addition, referred to
by monotypic generic terms, such as Denje (Corchorus trilocularis) and Chewe (Sesamum
angolense). (2) Mtibulo, although probably of Yao derivation, this is a category that is
widely applied to plants that are used by men as a potency medicine. The category is
focused on the creeper Mondia whytei. (3) Mpira is usually translated as rubber, but it
is employed as a taxonomic category for many latex-bearing plants like Landolphia
kirkii and Euphorbia geniculata. Whether one considers these as generic or intermediate
categories seems unimportant: what is essential to understand is that these taxa have both
a functional and a taxonomic significance for the Chewa. And each of these categories—
indeed almost all categories for the Chewa—have a prototypical member which virtually
defines the class; for instance, Hibiscus acetosella is described as Thelele Yeni-Yeni (truly
this plant) (cf. Berlin et al 1974:34, Bulmer 1979:58).
To further stress the close relationship between utility and classification I now out-
line, in some detail, the Chewa classification of fungi, a category that tends to be over-
looked by cognitive anthropologists.
CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI (Bowa)’
Around 500 species of the larger fungi have been described from the Shire Highlands
« Malawi (Morris 1983). Around 14 percent (70) of these are known to have cultural
Significance for the Chewa. With the exception of two taxa, all are categorized as Bowa
and are considered edible. Although it may be possible to speak of Bowa, like the English
‘erm mushroom, as a general concept for the larger fungi, in Chewa it essentially refers
caly to edible species. Edibility is a defining characteristic of the taxon, and in everyday
“age inedible and poisonous fungi are not considered Bowa. Any of the latter species
categorized at all, for they have no generic name, are usually referred to as Chirombo.
's Category, as we have noted, is complex; it essentially refers to any organism that is
Useless or harmful to mankind. ;
ee I have heard it suggested that the term Chirombo is not applicable to fungi or plants,
a almost everyone I knew who collected fungi made a clear categorization bebween
a oe or Bowa, and inedible species which were described as Chirombo. “It is not
eats @ but a useless thing (Chirombo)’’ was an expression that women often used. re
ica 2 NG several species which are in fact edible, but which are not eaten (as far as I oe
i a in Malawi have no common name. Examples are Agaricus silvaticus, and, m
‘gag district at least, Suillus granulatus. 4 te she cloanitt
cation of fn TePOrt on local foods Williamson (1941:12) mentions ee ee
and wh ies “each district seems to have its own distinct set of names. is 1s truc,
What is significant is that not only is there wide agreement about common names
52 MORRIS Vol. 4, No, 1
within a specific locality, but there seems to be a common pattern of categorizing fungi
throughout Malawi. The basic schema is denoted as follows:
FUNGI
BOWA CHIROMBO
(See Table Two)
No specific names in the folk
taxonomy: it includes inedible
and poisonous fungi such as —
FODYA WA NYANI AFROBOLETUS LUTEOLUS
(LYCOPERDON CITRINUM) AMANITA MUSCARIA
NGOMA WA NYANI HYPHOLOMA SUBVIRIDE
(CALVATIA UTRIFORMIS) LECCINUM UMBONATUM
XEROCOMUS PALLIDOPORUS
ETHNOMYCOLOGY OF THE CHEWA
Most women in rural areas have an extensive knowledge of the identification and
ecology of fungi. Although I recorded about seventy edible species, because of thelr
varied geographical distribution, few women knew all of them. Most female infoomr
could name, without difficulty, about 20 species. Knowledge about fungi, as with other
wild vegetable foods, is largely confined to women, and there were few men who knew
anything about fungi, except for the commoner species, which they normally rele
simply as Bowa. | asked the president of a herbalist association, a man with a deep
impressive knowledge of medicinal plants, what edible fungi he knew. He named —
and after a few minutes of thought, admitted that he could remember no
variability in folk knowledge according to age, sex, class or ritual affiliation
overlooked in some discussions of folk classifications (cf. Hays 1976:491). i
Although there is a broad correspondence between folk terms and scientific “7
clature, several names are applied to species of quite diverse scientific gener The . %
for doing so may be ecological. For example, many mushrooms are associated ee
Msuku tree, (Uapaca kirkiana) and these bear names that indicate the association, ies of
suka, Nakasuku, Ngunda Suku (Pipe of the Msuku). Thus certain edible sp¢@
Lactarius are put in the same category as Cantharellus, although local people oking
fuse them, for they usually treat the latex-bearing Lactarius to a more elaborate ©°
procedure. Likewise the two species of Lentinus share the same term as ore de
wat thas Luteopurpureus, Kamcbikuni (Nkbuni, firewood), as all grow om OF BSS
timber,
more.
5 tends to be
ived
Other groupings are based on texture or appearance. Kanchombo 1s ® ae er
from Mchombo, the navel, and is indicative of a pointed or unbonate cap. It 3s spe .
cally applied to Termitomyces eurrhizus whose sharply pointed cap enables the ae
push its way through the termite mound. But it is also applied to two estos “Ate.
of Psathyrella, one of which significantly bears the specific name Atroumbona as
dark, Umbilicus, navel). The mycologist, Pegler is clearly thinking along the same we
¢ Chewa. Another widely used term is Msongolo wa Nkbwali—“the lower Ie6
.
MEN Sa A a ee ae Se OST IS ey Se NE cinemas nainiamiiaietmieeeies
ee -
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 53
Francolin”. This has been noted with reference to a number of very different fungi —
Cantharellus tenuis and Melanoleuca Melaleuca for example, and alludes to the reddish
color of the cap, which is reminiscent of the red legs of this common game bird.8
Like all good mycologists, Chewa women do not put much stress on color, but when
handling and identifying fungi rely more on smell and texture. When discussing my speci-
mens with women, I found great difficulty curbing their natural tendency to tear the
fungus apart, as they always do in verifying the identification of a particular species. If
one asks a woman to group a collection of fungi they invariably place the important
species into two categories. Into one category they place Russia schizoderma, all the
Cantharellus and Termitomyces schimperi; into the other they put the three main species
of Amanita, and Termitomyces eurrhizus. If one asks about the rationale behind this
‘covert’ categorization it is suggested that the second grouping consists of those Bowa
which have a slippery texture—“‘Onse Lutelele”’. This is in accord with the folk classifi-
cations, for the taxon Katelela is virtually a generic term for the edible Amanita. Again
this links with an important functional category within the Mtengo life-form, Thelele
(discussed earlier).
Folk generics (see Table 2) can be roughly divided into two types: simple generics
like Manyame, Nakajeti and Nyonzwe, and those which have metaphoric connotations,
such as Ngoma wa Nyani, (‘Drum of the Baboon”), Mpafa ya Fulu, (‘Liver of the Tor-
toise”) are examples. But significantly, this division corresponds to the cultural impor-
tance of the fungi; all those generic terms which are metaphorical are of secondary impor-
tance as a food source, or like Fodya wa Nyani, Baboon’s Tobacco (Lycoperdon citrt-
num) are considered inedible.
Finally, it is worth noting that Chewa Women see a much closer association between
mushrooms and meat (Nyama) than between fungi and either plants or vegetables. One
woman categorized a basket of fungi by dividing them always into two piles, Nyama
(edible) and Chirombo (inedible fungi). She used the term Nyama almost as a taxo-
nomic category for the edible species. This association of fungi with animal life, rather
than with plants (Mtengo), based as it is on texture and edibility rather than morphology,
. probably widespread in traditional cultures. Gerard described fungi as “meates”, and
the tissue of fungi is normally spoken of by analogy as flesh (cf. The writings of Theo-
Patastus in Hort 1968:21). One anthropologist, writing of the Semai people of Malaysia,
on that fleshy fungi are indeed grouped with animals as ‘real’ food (Dentan 1968:
4-35). The Chewa clearly see Mtengo and Bowa as quite distinct categories, and the
general notion, accepted by Europeans and many past biologists, that all living things
he, to one of two kingdoms, plants and animals (with ‘fungi’ placed in the hase
‘aoe makes little sense to the majority of Chewa women. To suggest to a Chewa
Particular fungus belongs to the Mtengo category is rather like asking an English
+ Pinte whether a cabbage was a kind of tree. Thus the views of Chewa women are pro-
Aaa to those of the modern taxonomist than the ideas of the great botanist
CONCLUSIONS
— given above a broad outline of Chewa folk classification, and specifically the
be — of fungi (Bowa ). In the light of this discussion some broad conclusions can
iti omy. although ethnoscience was motivated by a genuine desire to present the cog-
ia Principles of a particular culture (and Sturtevant (1964) indeed defined ethno-
m ‘f as a “specific cultural conception of the plant world”) an undue focus was put ae
—. ology and classification. But folk taxonomic hierarchies are relatively shallow, an
ag hierarchy is almost a misnomer when one considers, for instance, that about .
* of Tzeltal plant categories are unaffiliated to any life-form taxa, and that some
54 MORRIS Vol. 4, No.1
TABLE 2.—Chewa classification of the Taxon Bowa
Cantharellus cibarius
CHIPATWE WAYERA
NAFUWANKHUKU
NGUNDASUKU
Cantharellus congolensis
CHIPATWE CHAKUDA
NAKAMBUZI
MANYAMA
CHIPATWE (Y) MAKUNGUTA (Y)
Cantharellus longiporus
PATWE WAFIRA
NGUNDASUKU
ANAKSUKU
Cantharellus densifolius
NGUNDASUKU WAYERA
MSONGOLO WANKHWALI Catharellus tenuis
Melanoleuca melaleuca
KASANJALA
KANJALA
Lactarius gymnocarpus
KUNGULUKWETITI |
KAMSUKU
NKWICHI
NAKASUKU |
Lactarius sp. JW 563 |
KAMBWALO
KAMPHANDE
Lactarius sp. BM 131
NGUNDASUKU
Lactarius vellereus
Russula schizoderma
Russula sp. JW 578
LILANGWI
CHIPINDI USINDA (Y)
MKADZADZULO
Russula sp. JW 593
Russula sp. JW 580
MALOBA
Russula cyanoxantha
FIRA
TERENYA TERENYA WA
Russula ochroleuca
TERENYA WAYERA
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
TABLE 2.—Chewa classification of the Taxon Bowa (continued)
UTENGA (Y)
TAMBALA
NDELEMA
KATELELA
NGODZI
NAKAJETI (Y)
KAMCHIKUNI
MPAFA YAFULU
MPHAMFA
KALISACHI
Macrolepiota diolichaula
NAMANDADERENGWA
Amanita hemibapha
KALONGONDWA
KATSOBOLA
NDEZA
Amanita rhodophylla
Amanita zambiana
SANDJlI
Amanita bingensis
NAKAJONGOLO
MSONGOLO WANKHWALI
Aminita elegans
BONGOLOLO
NAKATOTOSI (Y)
KATALESYA (Y)
Amanita rubescens
Amanita goossensiae
MUSENDAIWA
Amanita sp. JW 595
Lepiota sp. JW 585
Gyroporus luteopurpureus
Lentinus cladopus
Lentinus squarrosulus
KAMSEMPHA
CHINTSEMPHA
NAKATASI (Y)
Phlebopus colossus
GOMA WANYANI
Russula nigricans
Phaeogyroporus portentosus
Pulveroboletus aberrans
Suillus granulatus
Xerocomus soyeri
Schizophyllum commune
Clavaria cfr albiramea
KABVISAZA
KASANZA
MUSANJALA
NAKAMBI (Y)
56
MORRIS
Vol. 4, No.
TABLE 2.—Chewa classification of the Taxon Bowa (continued)
NTHANDO
KANCHOMBO
Unaffiliated taxa
KASALE
CHANJIRA UPYA
NAKATERESYA
UTALE
BAMBOMULUZA
KATSOKOMOLE
NGUNDA NGULUWE
MPANDO WAFISI
BOWA WAFIRA
KAFIDI
KAMWAZI
MKODZO WAGARU
KAMTHOVA
UJONJO
NYONZWE
Termitomyces robusta
Termitomyces eurrhizus
NAKATERESYA (¥)
UTEMBO (Y)
M
MAZUMBUKIRA
KAMBVI
Termitomyces microcarpus
MANDA
Termitomyces clypeatus
NAKASUGULI
Micropsalliota brunneospermé
Psathyrella atroumbonata
Psathyrella a
Mycena us Jw 697
HAMASALA
Termitomyces schimperi
NYONZWE WANKULU
USINDA WANKULU)
LILANGWI
MANANDARENGWA
MAZUMBUKIRA
NAKASOWU (Y)
Termitomyces striatus
Termitomyces aurantiacus
Termitomyces nr titanicus
Xerocomus pallidoporus
Strobilomyces costatispora
Gyroporus castaneus
Lactarius sp. JW 581
Russula lepida
Russula atropurpurea
Russula delica
Raa es rena Ded aise ST
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 57
TABLE 2.—Chewa classification of the Taxon Bowa (continued)
DEGADEGA Amanita baccata
KACHITOSI Amanita nr calopus
BONGOLOLO Amanita vaginata
PEZUPEZU Amanita fulva
Oudenmansiella radicata
NKALANGANJI Serulina lachnocephala
KANJADZA Stereopsis hiscens
KANYAMA Cymatoderma dendriticum
ULANDI (Y) Inocybe sp. BM 74
NKOLAKOLA Agaricus campestris
MSOLO WANKHWALI Agaricus sp. JW 571
MATWE Auricularia auricula
MAKUTUKUTU
KHUTULANJOBVU
MANGUNGULI Collybia dry ophila
KWASANGA _ Collybia sp. JW 662
85 percent of the generics are monotypic. When Friedberg (1979:85) suggests that
plants in Bunaq taxonomy appear to be classified more according to a “complex” web of
resemblances” rather than forming a neat hierarchy, she would seem closer to the ethno-
graphic reality. Moreover, to suggest as do some ethnoscientists, that “a culture itself
amounts to the sum of a given society’s folk classifications” (Sturtevant 1964:100) or
that “natural phenomena may be said to be culturally relevant simply by virtue of their
existence” (Hunn 1977) is to state both too little and too much. In the former regard,
folk knowledge extends well beyond what is encapsulated in formal taxonomies, and
many Chewa-speakers knew the medicinal properties of plants for which they could
hot give a name, for much knowledge is memorate or unformalized. In the latter regard,
to suggest that classification extends well beyond what has immediate ey ee
Plants and animals have salience simply because they happen to be there within the
human life-space, because “curiosity as well as hunger is a basic human drive” is to go to
the opposite extreme.
The Chewa do not “see”, let alone know and classify most of the fungi which are to
be found in their immediate environment, and the same might be said of most human
8 Overlapping categories. While they do have a deep interest in the naming and categor-
ation of plants (and in this they contrast significantly with the Hill Pandaram) their
bette | ;
ina largely focus around prototypical taxa. Hallpik
35) that i
nctional categories exist although these are seen rather mis
tax : :
nomic groupings (cf. Hays 1979:257). But a true understanding of the nature of
58 MORRIS
folk classifications, both in a culturally specific context and in terms of the evolution-
the “encoding sequence”—of life-form categories demands that we incorporate into the
As anthropologists we should be concerned with systemat-
ically exploring the relationship between folk classifications and other aspects of cultural
life. To view folk taxonomies simply as taxonomies, abstracted from utilitarian, ecolog-
cal and cultural concerns, limits our understanding of how human groups related to the
analysis functional criteria.
natural world.
LITERATURE CITED
BERLIN, Gee D. E. BREEDLOVE and
P.H. RAVEN. 1968. Covert categories
and a taxonomies. Amer. Anthr. 70:
290-99
1974, neta of tzeltal plant
casificition. Academ ess, New York.
BERLIN, BRENT. 1974. ee notes on
Covert Categories and Folk Taxonomies.
Amer. Anthr. 76:327-331.
976. The concept of rank in eth-
ibbinionical ek some evidence
from aguaruna folk botany. Amer. Ethnol.
3:381-99.
BINNS, BLODWEN. sl Dictionary of
v3 nt names in Malaw Govn. Print.
mba.
BROKENSHA, DAVID and W. RILEY BER-
NARD. 1980. Mbeere knowledge of their
vegetation and its relevance for develop-
ment. Pp, 113-129 in David Brokensha,
D.M. Warren and Oswald Werner, Indig-
eous Knowledge Systems and Develop-
ment, at Press of America, Lanham
North Dak
BROWN, CECI. H. 1974, Unique beginners
and covert categories in folk biological
taxonomies. Amer. Anthr. 76:325-327.
1977, Folk botanical life forms:
their universality and growth. Amer.
Anthr. 79:317-342,
1979a. Folk Zoological life-forms:
their universality and growth. Amer. Anthr.
1-817.
81:79
- 1979b. Growth and development
of folk botanical life forms in the Mayan
seed family. Amer. Ethnol. 6:366-
85.
BULMER, RALPH. 1974. Folk Biology in the
New Guinea Highlands, Soc. Sc. Inform.
13:9-28,
1979, Mystical and mundane in
Kalam classification of birds, Pp. 57-79 in
Ro llen and David Reason Classifi-
eitionin: in their social context. Academic
Press, New York,
Vol. 4, No, 1
wiapraeaicn F. 1981. Linguistic pitfalls
whe dt Zairean folk taxonomy research.
publ. Mss. Nat. Univ. Zaire.
DENTAN, ROBERT K. i“ The Sema,
olt, Rinehart, New Yor
EVANS- PRITCHARD, BE, 3s a Withcraft,
Oracles and Magic amongst the Azande,
Clarendon Press, Oxfor
FOLEY, DANIEL J. 1974. “Herbs for use and
for delight. Dover Publ., New York.
FRIEDBERG, CLAUDINE. 1979. Socially s&
nificant plant species and their taxonomic |
h Bunaq of
position among the fe Een
primitive though. Clarendon
Oxford. fee and
HARGREAVES, BRUCE J. 1976. Kill
HAYS, TERENCE E. 1976. a
method for the identification 0 th
sonar in ethnobiology- Ame
1. 3:489-507. be
he 1979. Plant classificatio” <
Saas a :
nomenclature in Ndumba, ie ost
Guinea Highlands. Ethnology
try People #
Coun
270.
HOEG, ve he A.
Enquiry into plants.
19
ee ee ? si
Folk Biological Classificatio
Anthrop. 84: :830-847. “ savage
LEVI-STRAUSS, C. 1966. ae
Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 59
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
May 1984
__. 1969. Totemism. Penguin Books,
Harmondsworth.
ne Structural Anthropology.
ooks, Harmondsworth.
Simemex. B. 1974. nel: science and
religion. Souvenir Press, London. Reprint
of 1925 edition
MITCHELL, J. C.
Manchester Univ. Press, Manchester.
MORRIS, BRIAN. 1962. A denizen of the
evergreen forest. African Wildlife 16:117-
121,
1956. The Yao Village.
cekenine 2 LAOS. epee of Zoa Estate,
Cholo alg 17:71-7
967. Wild on of Mlan
Mountain. African Wildlife heey
152-157
ete 970 The Orchids of Malawi.
Society of Malaw
1976. Geka the Savage Mind?
Notes on the natural taxonomies of a
hunting and gathering people. Man (NS)
11:542-547
bs aga Folk Classifications. Nyala
1983. The Macrofungi of Malawi.
Un
NGUBANE, HARRIET. 1977. Body and
Mind in Zulu Medicine. Academic Press,
London.
RICHARDS, AUDREY I. 1969. Land, labour
NOTES
mt
.
and diet in Northern Rhodesia (1939),
Oxford Univ. Press
SCHOFFELEERS, J. M. 1968. Symbolic and
social aspects of spirit worship among the
ang’anja. Unpubl, Ph.D. Thesis, Oxford
Univ.
STRATHERN, MARILYN. 1980. No nature,
no culture: The Hagen Case, Pp. 174-222
in C.P. MacCormack and M, Strathern
Nature, Culture and Gender, Cambridge
Univ. Press.
STURTEVANT, W. C. 1964. Studies in
Osta and Cognition (1974) Methuen,
ondon.
BAO S.J. 1969. Animals are good to
think and good to prohibit. Ethnology 8:
424-459,
TURNER, VICTOR. 1967. The forest of
s Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca,
New York.
WILLIAMSON, JESSIE. jan Nyasaland
native foods. Nyasaland Tim
1975. Useful a of Malawi.
Univ. ‘Mewek Zomba.
WITKOWSKI, STANLEY R. and CECIL H.
OWN. 1978. Lexical Universals Ann.
Rev. Anthr. 7:427-51.
WITKOWSKI, STANLEY R., CECIL H. BROWN
and PAUL K. CHASE. 1981. Where do
tree terms come from? Man (NS) 16: 1-14.
Ethnobotanical research in Malawi was undertaken during the year 197 9-80 and was supported
4 an SSRC ‘ites for which I am grateful. My own ethnobiological researches in Malawi go back
ore than twenty years, for during seven years’ residence in
8845) I icc a lot of data on the folk names and cultural uses of plants an
mals. (cf. Morris 1962, 1964, 1967). I am thus fairly fluent in Chichewa.
residence I became a student ‘novitiate’ to several asinganga (doctor-diviners
the Thyolo and Mulanje districts
d small mam-
lists, and altogether I worked closely with about twenty-five informant friends, ten of whom
were wo
Van Asdall and Pat Caplan
re
the peasant communities of Malaw
men. In the on, of the present paper I am appre
to offer ethnographic material on the wi
It is beyond the
scope of this present ate
a or some useful background material on the Yao and
ciative of the help given by Willard
ider culture
Chewa-speaking peoples cf Mitchell (56. Schoffeleers 1968.
~@
of edibilit
T ’
td $ (1969) interesting discussion of animal categori
are not considered to be birds (Nog), and that many
es in Thailand notes that chickens and
categories are almost t defined in terms
60
7
Sy
>
~I
.
MORRIS Vol. 4, No.
NOTES (continued)
How these ethnographic facts fit into the encoding sequence in the evolution of zoological life
orms, as postulated by Cecil Brown and his associates (Witkowski and Brown 1978:4374,
Brown 1979a) it is difficult to assess. But clearly Nyama is a life-form category of the same
taxonomic status as Wjoka and Mbalame (under no circumstances would Njoka be described
a kind of Nyama), and it is defined by cultural criteria for which Brown’s perspective finds no
place, at least in his discussion of animal categories. Moreover, to situate ‘animal’ beyond or
outside the schema obscures some interesting developments that have occurred in the evolution
folk taxonomies, and the shift of focus from utility to morphology.
The polysemous nature of plant categories is widespread (cf Richards 1969:232, Bulmer 197%
20, Ngubane 1977:22). In a recent paper, apelin) and his associates (1981) note that the
wood/tree polysemy is found in a variety of lan es. Whether the loss of this polysemy
ma linked to increased societal complexity is sick to say, for a hunter-gathering com-
unity like the Hill Pandaram has three morphological categories—Maram (trees and woody
an) Valli (creepers and lianas) and Chedi (ferns and herbaceous plants) (Morris 1976: 546),
that very similar to those described elsewhere (cf. Berlin et al 1974, Berlin 1976: 385, Hays
1979 ) while a much more technologically complex society like the Yao has but two life forms
(excluding the fungi), the primary category Mtera, which like the Chewa Mrtengo, is polysemous
and extremely wide in scope. Brown’s study of the development of Mayan botanical life-forms
(1979) indicates that almost all life-form categories derive initially from functional polysemous
concepts, and yet, surprisingly, in an earlier paper (1977:320) he appears to define these cate
gories as non-functional.
The Anglo-Saxon word “wort” originally meant ‘root’, and was used to designated many ar
that has medicinal properties. Many English plant names still carry the term, ¢8. melee fot
Wort, Figwort, Mugwort, Ragwort. It has been suggested that it was a virtual synonym
“herb”, a concept that did not originally refer to small herbaceous plants, i.e., it was ge
morphological category at all, but to any plant that had utility as medicine or for a
trees
poses (Foley 1974:187). Many common herbs, of course, are shrubs (Dogrose),
Hazel) or climbers (Nightshade), Early English folk seer A 2 also seem, therelor
have a functional bias. In an interesting ages Hoeg (1983) has described how country Pe al
n Norway are able to identify fems by the feel of their rhizomes, and in Ge rard’s classic ‘He
(1597) the illustrations of the plants all vii the structure of the roots, sometimes, ae
common arum, without the flowers.
With respect to the present paper I should particularly like to express my thanks f0 a
Selemani and her sister Esmie, Benson Zuwani, Kitty Kunamano, pennies. iter “
the thies
Importantly when categorizing and describing fungi reference is continually ma a a fiety
rin
‘primary’ colors, names - era, light or white, -da, dark or black, and - fira, Cove
ssa as well as yellow. These are basic to the Chewa and have important sy™
tatio
if
although
In a recent paper, Hunn (1982) has modified his earlier views and has, like nye classifi
more substantive theoretical manner, come to stress the ‘utilitarian factor in
tions.
that about
In a more recent study of the Aguaruna Indians of Peru, Berlin (1976:393) mee cultusl
one third of the plants known to these people are conceptually recognized bu
importance
J. Ethnobiol. 4(1):61-72 May 1984
PROTEIN CONTENT OF SOME EDIBLE INSECTS IN MEXICO
JULIETA RAMOS ELORDUY de CONCONI
OSE MANUEL PINO MORENO
CARLOS MARQUEZ MAYAUDON
Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Auténoma de México
Apartado Postal 70-153, México, D.F. 04510
FERNANDO RINCON VALDEZ
MANUEL ALVARADO PEREZ
ESTEBAN ESCAMILLA PRADO
Escuela Superior de Agricultura “Hermanos Escobar”
Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua, México
HECTOR BOURGES RODRIGUEZ
Instituto Nacional de la Nutricién “Salvador Zubiran”’
Mexico, D.F.
ABSTRACT.—Of the 101 species of edible insects collected and studied in several Mexican
States, 77 were analyzed for protein content and evaluated for protein quality, Percent pro-
tein varied from a low of about 10% to a high value of slightly over 81%. For many species
of insects, protein quality, as evaluated by aminoacid profiles, compared favorably with
those recommended for nutritional purposes by FAO/OMS. It is suggested that with appro-
Priate technology and consumer acceptance, commercially produced insect food products
would help alleviate hunger and malnutrition.
INTRODUCTION
Entomophagy, the consumption of insects by humans, has long been known, espec-
in regions where environmental conditions are often adverse (Ancona 1931, 1932,
1934; Blasquez 1870; Bodenheimer 1951; Conconi and Pino 1979; Figueroa 1968; Hoff-
hose sti Lapp and Rohmer 1937; Ruddle 1973; Skinner 1910; Thompson 1954; Tihon
946; Wallace 1852). In fact, in some areas they are a major food source and are even
dried and stored in large quantities for consumption when food is scarce. Considering
that in some regions different species of insects are available for consumption in different
rie dg since the eggs, larvae, nymphs, pupae (grubs), and adults of, for example,
itterflies, moths, bugs, flies, ants, bees, beetles, termites, grasshoppers, and dragonflies,
are 5
often eaten, a large number of different species of insects are consumed by humans on
4 Worldwide basis.
ially
the at hunger and malnutrition is a problem in human populations in many parts me
0 st 1s well known. In some instances the problem may not be a sufficient supply
piicnie a 3 deficiency of high quality protein. And so the search for new food
ta” meluding the identification and development of localized ethnic ones, con-
ing wi America food resources are becoming increasingly scarce ey er on
indigenoy ; 1s becoming more expensive. It is thus imperative to identify an ee
attent; : vod resources. In this report of preliminary research we have tumed 0
‘on to insects not only because of their abundance, biomass, and high quality
Peoples tn a because of the time honored practice among many flame Siete
With a nutritj tn America of consuming live, roasted, and fried insects, providing
Hous protein source.
62 CONCONI et al. Vol. 4, Na
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Collection and identification.—The insects for which nutritional studies were conducttl
in this report were collected during field work in various parts of Mexico where peop
regularly use them as food. The stage of the insect life cycle which was eaten was nott!
in every case. A portion of the collection was preserved in acetone for later chemi
analysis and the remainder was placed in alcohol for later taxonomic identification a
as vouchers.
All specimens were identified at the Laboratory of Entomology, Institute of Biolog,
The National University of Mexico (U.N.A.M.) in Mexico City, through the use of the
taxonomic literature and reference collections.
Chemical and nutritional analyses.—-Aminograms were prepared by the Department
Nutrition Physiology of the “Salvador Zubiran” National Institute of Nutrition of Mexico
All other analyses were performed at the Laboratory of Nutrition and Biochemistry ©
the Veterinary Faculty of U.N.A.M. ;
Protein content was determined by the Kjeldahl method (Pearson 1970), with
results calculated on a dry weight basis. Aminoacids were measured with an ami
analyzer (Beckman CL 119) with the aid of a minicomputer (Beckman model 126 De )
System) designed to integrate peak areas of chromatograms. Tryptophan measuremes
were obtained by the Spies and Chamber (1949) method. Aminoacid profiles ween
pared to those recommended by FAO/OMS (Patron 1973), and a “chemical 46"
aminoacid profiles based on 100% was devised to give us an index of protein quality. |
Trejo et al. (1974) interviewed scientists, chefs, and consumers in Mexico City |
determine the acceptability of commercially produced insect food products.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Conconi and Bourges (1977) reported in that year that 491 species fe 10)
we recorded
had been recorded on a worldwide basis. During our research in Mexico woe These ©
species, eaten at various stages of development depending upon the pies bugs, lit
longed to 31 families in nine orders and included dragonflies, grasshopper» Age
treehoppers, cicadas, caddishflies, butterflies, moths, flies, ants, bees,
dix 1 The number of edible species per order varies from 30 - facth |
(mostly wasps) to only one in the Anoplura (lice). A couple of interenet®
of edible Diptera are flies of alkaline lakes. he 77 pee
Protein content, expressed as grams of protein per 100 g of sample, eae
of insects we analyzed, is shown in Appendix II. The data is straight forw"""
ey note the range in nutritional values within and between insect tax two :
highligh ting, though, that protein values varied from a low of about 10% se sumii
of ants to a high of slightly over 81% for the wasp, Poly bia sp. By wy the
seven species in the low range had about 29% protein, 19 species fell with fe :
60% to 69%, 11 species from 70% to 77%, and one species had over 81% Pe ban
Several incidental but nonetheless interesting facts seem W eH
species of butterfly in the family Helialidae utilize Arbutus glandu
they exhibit the lowest (34.34%) protein values and the highest (71.
These values are for Hylesia frigida and Eucheria socialis, respectively:
the highest value is for the eggs of several bugs (71.52%), known
Mexican caviar,
“6,
as
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 63
Protein quality, as related to human nutrition, is dependent upon the amino acid
composition of the source, and we devised a chemical score (Table 1) from aminoacid
profiles to facilitate comparisons (see Methods). As noted, our profiles were compared to
those recommended (for nutritional purposes) by FAO/OMS (Patron 1973). In general,
values for Mexican edible insects obtained for the amino acids isoleucine, leucine, lycine,
threonine, valine, phenylalanine and tyrosine surpass the recommendation by FAO.
Some Mexican insects, however, had lower values for methionine, cysteine and trypto-
phan than those recommended by FAO/OMS. The highest score for Mexican insects was
found in immature queens of Liometopum apiculatum, larvae of Sciphophorus acupunc-
tatus and adults of Hoplophorion monograma (Conconi and Bourges 1977, Table 1).
TABLE 1.—Chemical score of some edible Mexican insects.
Atizies taxcoensis 10% Sphenarium histrio 60%
Ephydra hians 42% Cossus redtenbachi 60%
Hylesia frigida 45% Atta mexicana 60%
Parachartegus apicalis 50% Sphenarium purpurascens 65%
Euchistus strennus 56% Vespula squamosa 70%
Boopedon flaviventris 56% Brachygastra mellifica 70%
Sphenarium Spp. 56% Brachygastra azteca 70%
Melanoplus mexicanus 56% Polybia parvulina 70%
Trigona sp. 58% Liometopum apiculatum 80%
Musca domestica 58% Sciphophorus acupunctatus 81%
Pachilis gigas 58% Hoplophorion monograma 96%
en eeteneeseasnsneneensitinieemnsinnnanniiiaenie
The conversion efficiency ratio is based on weight gain by the organism per gram of
food eaten. For some edible insects this ratio ranges from 2.1:1 to 11.8:1. The average
tatio for the edible insects studied is about 4 to 5:1. For comparison, the ratio for
chickens is 2.6:1, for beef cattle 10:1, and for sheep 19:1 (Taylor 1975, DuFour 1981).
In part this is because insects are poikilotherms and thus do not allocate a large propor-
Hon of food in maintaining body temperature.
As early as a decade ago Trejo et al (1974) interviewed 12,300 people (see Methods)
concerning the acceptability of commercially produced insect food products and reported
at in this survey 93% indicated that developing insects on a commercial scale was a
800d project considering that insects are, in general, a nutritious, economical, delicious,
complete food, and “in the future.” nae
The result of this study and the survey by Trejo and others suggests that with im-
a technology insects could be a valuable renewable natural resource. The estab-
sament of massive culturing practices could result in the continuous production of a
tich new protein source for the diets of people in the not too distant future.
Editor’s note.—Although I would have liked a more detailed description of the methods
used, I have decided to publish this paper because of the timeliness of the subject and
ritcaeg of its considerable social significance. I recommend that readers who would like
tails of methods and other procedures contact the senior author.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
cal Garden of the Institute of
© want to express our gratitude to Dr. Robert Bye of Botani
he translation and suggestions
W
Bi
er The National University of Mexico (UNAM) for his help in t
the Manuscript,
64 CONCONT et al.
LITERATURE CITED
ANCONA, L. H. 1931. Los chilocuiles o
gusanitos de la sal de Oaxaca. Ann. Inst.
Biol., Univ. Mex. 11:265-277.
pce Marla 1932. Los jumiles de Taxco.
Ann. ek Biol., Univ. Mex. IV:193-195.
34. Los gusanitos de maguey.
Ann. ink: Biol., Univ. Mex. V:134-140.
BLASQUEZ, I. 1870. Insectos de maguey.
Naturaleza I, 39-46. Mexico.
BODENHEIMER, F. S. 1951. Insects as
human food. Junk Publishers, The
uc
ague.
CONCONI, J. R. E. de 1974. Los insectos
c na fuente de protcinas en el
futuro (proyecto). Reg. Sec. Educ,
Publ. 1639/7
H. BOURGES R. 1977. Valor
nutritivo de ciertos insectos comestibles
iol., Univ. Nal. Auton, Mex. Ser. Zool.,
48:165-186.
PINO M. 1979. Insectos
come stibles del Valle del erate y su
valor nutritivo. Ann. Inst. Biol., Univ.
Nal. Auton. Mex. Ser. eae 50:573-574.
, PINO, M. J. y O. GONZALEZ.
1981. Digestibilidad 7 in vitro de algunos
inscctos comestibles en Mexico. Folia
Ent. Mex. 49: 141-154,
, H. BOURGES y J. M. PINO M,
1981. Valor nutritivo y calidad de la
proteina de tres insectos comestibles de
Mexico. Folia Ent. Mex. 48:101-102.
- de 1982. Los insectos como una
foenite de protcinas en el futuro. Ed.
Limusa, Mexico, p.
» H. BOURGES y J. M. PINO.
1982. Life cycle of Liometopum api-
culatum and Liometopum occidentale
var. luctuosum (Hymenoptera-F ormici-
dac), with reference to their nutritive
casts. Proc. 9th Congr. Union Study
Social Insect. 2th supplement: 1.
, F. RINCON V., H. BOURGES R.,,
J. M. PINO M., M. ALVARADO y E.
ESCAMILLA. 1982, Hymenopteca
Aculeata edible in Mexico. Their nutri-
tive value with ¢ mphasis in protein quan-
tity and quality. Proc. 9th Congr. Int.
Union Study Soc. Jn Supplement: 2.
» H. BOURGES y J. M. PINO.
1982. Valor nutritivo y calidad de la
—__——., J. M.
1983. eis nutritivo y calidad de la
Vol. 4, No. |
proteina de algunos insectos comestibles
de Mexico. i Ent. Mex. 53:111-118.
OM. y H. BOURGES R.
protcfina de algunos insectos comestibles
de Mexico, XVIII Congreso Nacional de
Entomologia, Resumenes p. 134-135.
DE FOLIART, G. R. 1975, Insects asa
urce of protein. Bull. Ent.
yoni 21(3):161-163.
DUFOUR, P. 1981. Insects: a nutrition
to
FIGUEROA, R. F. de
cion al conocomiento del valor nutritivo
de los insectos comestibles. Tésis prof.
E.N.C.B.I.PN. Mex. 24
HOFFMAN, W. E. 1947. Insects as human
food. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 49: 223-237.
tata C. & J. ROHMER. 1937. Compos:
413-41 6.
PEARSON, D. 1970. The chemical analysis
of foods. Six. Ed. J. & A., London.
1973. The human us
RUDDLE, K. fs
insects. Biotropica V. (2):941 a
SKINNER, A. 1 The use of i
North American Indian
Ent. Soc. 18:264-267. Z i948
SPIES, J. R. and D sai
tion of tryptoP
Chemical determination i 91110): "12.
m
TAYLOR, R. 1975. sutvertie “
stomach, Woodbridge Press
Co., California. ait
ee studi
1954. ad a
24, Manchester Univers!
chester, England.
TIHON, L. 1946. A propos de
pount de vue alimentaire.
Congo Belge 37:865- 368. H0
TREJO, S. F., GARCIA, A- RU
Trans. Ent. Soc. Lo
$ rermites ®
ull. Agee
0%
roduccl®
May 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
APPENDIX 1.—Edible insects in Mexico.
65
Order/Family Species Stage Place Consumed
Consumed
Odonata (Dragonflies)
Aeshnidae Anax sp.1 nymphs Sonora
Orthoptera
Acrididae Ochrotettix cer salinus Burm. Oaxaca
(Grasshoppers) Tropinotus mexicanus Oaxaca
Brunner
Osmilia flavolineata De Greer Oaxaca
Plectrotettra nobilis Walk Oaxaca
Schistocerca paranensis1 Veracruz, Tabasco,
Burm. Campeche, Yucatan
Sphenarium spp. 1 Morelos, Puebla,
Oaxaca
Sphenarium purpurascens nymphs Oaxaca
Charp.
Sphenarium histrio| Gerst. adults Oaxaca, Guerrero
Sphenarium magnum Marquez Oaxaca
Taeniopoda sp.1 Morelos
Trimerotropis sp.2 Hidalgo
Melanoplus sp. Oaxaca
Melanoplus mexicanus Sauss Oaxaca
Spharagemon aeguale Say. Michoacan
Schistocerca sp. Oaxaca
Boopedon flaviventris Sauss. Oaxaca
Boopedon sp. af. flaviventris nymphs Oaxaca
Sauss. adults
Arphia falax Sauss. Oaxaca
Encoptolophus herbaceus Oaxaca
Sauss.
Anoplura ( (Lice)
Pediculidae Pediculus humanus! Linneo adults Oaxaca
Hemiptera (Bugs)
Pentatomidae Euchistus crenator! Stal Morelos, Estado de
Mexico, Hidalgo,
Veracruz, Guerrero
Common Name Euchistus lineatus 1 Walk Morelos, Estado de
(“Jumiles”) Mexico, Hidalgo,
Veracruz, Guerrero
Euchistus strennus1| = nymphs Morelos, Estado de
(E. zopilotensis) Distant adults
Edessa mexicana! Stal.
Edessa petersii Stal.
Edessa conspersa Stal.
Atizies taxcoensis! Ancona
Atizies sufultus Smith
Mexico, Hidalgo,
Veracruz, Guerrero
Morelos
Guerrero
Estado de Mexico
Guerrero
Guerrero
66
CONCONT et al.
APPENDIX 1.—Edible insects in Mexico (continued)
Vol. 4, No. 1
Order /Family Species Stage Place Consumed
Consumed
Coreidae Pachilis gigas! B. nymphs Queretaro, Guer-
adults rero, Hidalgo, Sn.
Luis Potosi
Corixidae Krizousacorixa azteca! Jac. eggs Estado de Mexico,
(Water Bugs) Guanajuato,
Michoacan
Common name Krizousacorixa femoratal nymphs Estado de Mexico,
(‘‘ahuahutle”’ Guerin Guanajuato,
“axayacatl’’) Michoacan
Corisella texcocanal Jac. adults Estado de Mexico,
Guanajuato,
Michoacan
Corisella mercenaria! Say Estado de Mexico,
Guanajuato,
Michoacan
Notonectidae Notonecta unifasciatal adults Estado de Mexico,
Guerin Guanajuato,
Michoacan
Belostomatidae Lethocerus sp. 1 nymphs Distrito F ederal
Abedus ovatus! Stal. & adults Distrito Federal
Homoptera
Membracidae Um bonia reclinata Germar adults Puebla
(Treehoppers) Umbonia sp. nymphs Morelos, Guerre?
Hoplophorion monogramal & adults Michoacan, Guet-
ermar rero, Estado de
Mexico
Cicadidae Proarna sp.2 adults Hidalgo
(Cicadas)
Coleoptera (Beetles)
Curculionidae Metamasius spinolae 1 Vaurie Hid ae
Rhynocophorus palmarum1 Tabasco, Gué
Linneo Veracruz is
Sciphophorus acupunctatus G. Hidalgo, ye
Mexico,
Scarabaeidae Strategus sp.1 larvae Nayarit,
Phyllophaga spp. Michoacan
Xyloryctes spp. 1 Chiapas
Crysomelidae Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say larvae Oaxac
Histeridae Homolepta sp. larvae Oaxaca
Passalidae Oileus reinator Trequi larvae Os
larvae Oaxaca
Passalus af punctiger
Lep. y Serv.
—
May 1984
APPENDIX 1.—Edible insects in Mexico (continued)
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Order /Family Species Stage Place Consumed
Consumed
Cerambycidae Cerambyx sp. larvae Michoacan, Guer-
rero
Trichoderes pini| Chevr. larvae Guerrero, Micho-
acan
Stenodontes cer. maxil- larvae Oaxaca
losus Drury
Aplagiognathus spinosus N. larvae Oaxaca
Cicindelidae Cicindela curvata! Chevr. larvae Chiapas
Cicindela roseiventris| Chevr. larvae Chiapas
Trichoptera
Hydropsichidae Leptonema sp.1 larvae Veracruz
Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Megathymidae Aegiale (Acentrocneme) Estado de Mexico,
hesperiaris1 Kirby larvae Hidalgo, Tlaxcala,
Queretaro, San Luis
Potosi, Oaxaca,
Jalisco, Distrito
Federal.
Geometridae Synopsia mexicanaria Walk larvae Distrito Federal
Hepialidae Phassus sp. larvae Oaxaca, Puebla
Noctuidae Heliothis zeal Boddie larvae Puebla, Hidalgo
Ascalapha odorata! Linneo larvae Oaxaca, Guerrero
Spodoptera frugiperda S. larvae Estado de Mexico
Cossidae Xileutes redtenbachi1 Hamm __larvae Estado de Mexico,
Hidalgo, Tlaxacala,
Queretaro, Puebla,
San Luis Potosi,
Oaxaca, Jalisco,
Distrito Federal.
ee Laniifera cyclades! Druce larvae Hidalgo
leridae Eucheria socialis1 Westwood larvae Distrito Federal,
Chihuahua,
Hidalgo
See Catasticta teutila Doubleday _larvae Oaxaca
turnidae Hylesia frigida Hubner larvae Oaxaca
Arsenura armida Cramer larvae Puebla, Oaxaca,
Veracruz, Chiapas
— (Flies)
Phydridae Ephydra ita i hians| larvae Estado de Mexico
(Say) Cr iced
Pity (Mosiies) tibialis} larvae Estado de Mexico
“ee Cresson :
uscidae Musca domestica Linneo larvae Nayarit, Veracruz
68
CONCONT et al.
APPENDIX 1.—Edible insects in Mexico (continued)
Vol. 4, No, 1
Order /Family Species Stage Place Consumed
Consumed
Hymenoptera
Liometopum occidentale var. eggs
luctuosum W. larvae Michoacan, Puebla
Zacatecas
pupae
Formicidae (Ants)
Liometopum apiculatum1 eggs
Mayr. larvae Estado de Mexico,
Hidalgo, Tlaxcala
pupae
Myrmecosistus melliger1 Llave Tamaulipas,
(Luc) adults Hidalg
Myrmecosistus mexicanus! W. Yucatan, Campecté
Atta mexicana! Bourmeir adults Veracrus, Oaxaca,
Guanajuato
Atta cephalotes! Latr. Chiapas, Guerrero
Apidae (Bees)
Apis mellifica, L. honey All Mexican
Republic
Melipona fasciata guer- eggs Guerrero
reroenisis! Schw.
Melipona beeckei! Bennet larvae bios a
* ‘ O xaca, a ’
Trigona jaty! F. pupae a peche, Yucal
, : ‘ Oaxaca, T asco,
Trigona nigra nigra! Cress as peche, Yucatt#
tao
Partamona sp.1 Campeche, ¥¥@
Trigona sp. eects
Yucat?
Lestrimelita limao1 Sm. eggs Campeche,
pupae
larvae
Vespidae (Wasps)
Brachygastra lecheguana! L. eggs Michoaca?
larvae
pupae
Brachygastra mellifica Say immature _Oaxace
stages
P. : Oaxaca
oly bia spp. eggs Michoacam
Polistes sp. larvae Michoacs®
i
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 69
APPENDIX 1.—Edible insects in Mexico (continued)
Order /Family Species Stage Place Consumed
Consumed
Polybia occidentalis Oaxaca
bohemani Holmgren
Polybia occidentalis Oaxaca, Michoacan,
nigratella B. Veracruz, Puebla
Polybia parvulina Richards immature Oaxaca
Brachygastra azteca Sauss stages Oaxaca
Mischocytarus sp. Oaxaca
Parachartegus apicalis F. immature Oaxaca
Polistes canadensis L, stages Oaxaca
Polistes major B. Michoacan
Anmophila sp. Oaxaca
Vespula squamosa Drury Oaxaca
IConconi, J. R. E. de and H. Bourges, 1977.
2Conconi, J. R. E. de and J. M. Pino M., 1979.
70 CONCONT et al. Vol. 4, No.1
}
APPENDIX 2.—Protein content of insects, expressed as a percentage of grams of protem —
per 100 grams of sample on a dry weight basis. |
Species (arranged in orders) Common Name, Stage Consumed Percent
Notes Protein
Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps)
Myrmecosistus melliger “hormiga mielera’’, “honey ant”’2 940
Myrmecosistus mexicanus “hormiga mielera”’, “honey ant” i
Melipona beeckei “abeja que no pica” a
Liometopum apiculatum “escamol’’, larvae i
Liometopum occidentale var. “‘escamol’’, adults be
luctuosum
Liometopum apiculatum “escamol de obreras”’ ie
Liometopum occidentale var. ‘“‘escamol de reproductores” —
luctuosum
Atta cephalotes “hormiga arriera’”’2 hee
Liometopum apiculatum “escamol’’, adults 45.06% |
Liometopum apiculatum “escamol”’, adults ee
Liometopum occidentale var. “escamol de obreras” “
luctuosum 50%
Polybia sp. “avispas”’ larvae a
Brachygastra mellifica “avispas, panal de castilla”’ 53.39%
Liometopum apiculatum “escamol’’, pupae 54.59%
Parachartegus apicalis “avispa ala blanca” 57.19%
Polistes instabilis “avispa guitarrilla”, pupae 57.93%
Polistes major “avispa coloradad”’, pupae 3.42.59
Atta mexicana “hormiga chicatana”! ae 60
Polistes instabilis “avispa guitarrilla”’, larvae 40-5844
Polybia parvulina “avispa negra” &* 61.57%
Polybia occidentalis bohemani “avispa rayada”’ 69,148
Brachygastra azteca “avispa cola amarilla” 62.85%
Vespula squamosa “avispa panal de tierra’”’ 62.93%
Polybia occidentalis nigratella “avispa huevo de toro” 62.97%
Polybia sp. wasps eggs, larvae, pupae 66 90-47.94%
Liometopum apiculatum “escamol”’, larvae y pupae 71.9
Polistes major “avispa colorada” larvae 74.51%
Mischocy tarus sp. “avispa negra con franjas” 81.69%
Polybia sp. “avispa negra”
Orthoptera (Grasshoppers,) “chapulines” 52.138
Sphenarium histrio1 58.31%
Plectrottetra nobilis 58.31%
Sphenarium histrio 58.31% |
Sphenarium purpurascens 58.31%
Melanoplus sp. 59.658
Sphenarium magnum 9
Sphenarium histrio = bolivaril 65.138
Trimerotropis Sp.
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 71
APPENIX 2.—Protein content of insects, expressed as a percentage of grams of protein
per 100 grams of sample on a dry weight basis. (continued)
Atizies taxcoensis “Jumiles de Texce
Corisella texcocana
Corisella mercenaria
No ; 7
: Onecta unifasciata “ahuahutle”
Krizousacorixg azteca
Species (arranged in orders) Common Name, Stage Consumed Percent
Notes Protein
Sphenarium sp. 69.97%
Taeniopoda sp. 70.92%
Arphia falax 71.35%
Boopedon sp. flaviventris 71.35%
Sphenarium sp. 71.35%
Melanoplus mexicanus 71.35%
Encoptolophus herbaceus 71.35%
Melanoplus femur-rubrum 75.30%
Boopedon flaviventris 77.13%
Sphenarium spp. 77.13%
Melanoplus mexicanus 77.13%
Hemiptera (Bugs)
Edessa conspersa “jumiles”’ 36.82%
Atizies sufultus 44.10%
Edessa mexicana ‘“jumiles” 44.10%
Euchistus zopilotensis = strennus “jumiles”’ 44.10%
Euchistus zopilotensis ‘jumiles”1 44.67-41.82%
Edessa petersii ‘jumiles” 58.56%
Pachilis gigas “chamoes”, nymphs2 62.95%
Pachilis gigas ‘“chamoes”, adults2 65.39%
Abedus ovatus *‘cucarachon de agua” 67.69%
Corisella mercenaria “axayacatl”’! 68.70%
Corisella texcocana 69.94-54.44%
Corisella mercenaria 69.96-54.44%
Notonecta unifasciata “axayacatl” 69.96-54.44%
Krizousacorixa azteca 69.94-54.44%
Krizousacorixa femorata 69.94-54.44%
70.30-51.25%
71.52-58.25%
71.52-58.15%
71.52-58.15%
71.52-58.15%
Krizousacorixg femorata 71.52-58.15%
H
rs Ac (Treehoppers, Cicadas)
Umbonia reciij 32.73%
i eclinata Torito 34%
°Plophorion mono pre 59.57-44.84%
grama eriquito del aguacate
Proarng Sp. oes: . a 72.02%
79 CONCONT et al. Vol. 4, No.|
APPENDIX 2.—Protein content of insects, expressed as a percentage of grams of protein
per 100 grams of sample on a dry weight basis. (continued)
)
|
Species (arranged in orders) Common Name, Stage Consumed Percent
otes Protein |
Diptera (Flies)
Ephydra (Hydropirus) hians “susano del agua’’, larvae 35.90%
Fam. Stratiomydae y syrphidae “gusanos planos de maguey” 53.10%
Musca domestica “gusano del queso,” larvae 54.17%
Ephydra (Hydropirus) hians “‘mosca del agua’”’, adults 60.22%
Musca domestica “gusano del queso”, pupae 61.54%
Coleoptera (beetles)
Olleus reinator “ticoco” ae
Aplagiognathus spinosus “gusanos de elite podrido”’ 260% 5
Passalus af. punctiger *“bechano”’ 2648s
Phyllophaga sp. “‘susano de la tierra” 23488
Sciphophorus acupunctatus ““picudo del maguey”’ a
Metamasius spinolae “picudo del nopal”2 <
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
Phassus sp. “gusanillo”
Xyleutes redtenbachi “gusano rojo de maguey” 3710
Hylesia frigida “mariposa del madronio”’ pe
Heliothis zea “susano de maiz’2 7
Synopsia mexicanaria “pescaditos”’ ne
Laniifera cyclades “gusano del nopal’”2 ie
Acalapha odorata “Mariposa del muerto” 50.808 }
Eucheria socialis “susano del madrono”, larvae? 30.28%
Aegiale (acentrocnem e) “‘gusano blanco de maguey "2 51
hesperiaris 51.81% |
Arsenura armida “gusano del jonote”’ 359.188
Catasticta teutila “gusano del muérdago” ee 71.608
Eucherta socialis “mariposa del madrono”’, pupae
1Conconi, J. R. E, de and H, Bourges, 1977.
2Conconi, J. R. E. de and J. M. Pino M., 1979. oo
See a
J. Ethnobiol. 4(1):73-92 May 1984
ALTERNATIVES TO TAXONOMIC HIERARCHY:
THE SAHAPTIN CASE
EUGENE S. HUNN
Department of Anthropology
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98195
DAVID H. FRENCH
Department of Anthropology
Reed College
Portland, Oregon 97202
ABSTRACT.—The folk biological classification system of the Sahaptin-speaking Indians, a
hunting-gathering people of the Columbia River Plain, is compared with other well docu-
mented systems. The Sahaptin system is notable for its lack of taxonomic hierarchy,
especially in the rarity of binomial names. Such names imply taxonomic subordination of
the binomially labeled taxon. Sahaptin speakers more frequently employ complex names
hierarchy in Sahaptin folk biological classification and nomenclature are discussed. An evo-
lutionary /functional explanation based on the relative sizes of the folk biological domains of
hunter-gatherers versus subsistence agriculturalists is preferred.
INTRODUCTION
areewest, (F ig. 2) has shown Sahaptin to be an unusual case in comparison with
sification systems previously described. Plant and animal classification
ack of hierarchic struc-
In fact, the system closely approximates the null point of were
the single level system. Berlin has postulated that such a system shou
ial stage in an evolutionary sequence of development of folk taxonomies
74 HUNN & FRENCH Vol. 4, No. |
in
(K)> ’
pay MBS
LF LF LF G G i
[ [||
e: ¢ ¢ ee A ¢ @°% 5 5a
S$ § poe. 63 ’
| BINOMIAL
NOMENCLATURE
4
aLF = life forms, G = folk generics or basic level taxa, S = folk specifics, V = folk
tals, based on Berlin, Breedlove, and Raven (1973).
bThe kingdom (K) rank is typically not named.
: ; eee ‘ . taxonomic
FIG. 1,—Idealized taxonomic structure indicating the relationship per
levels and ranks and showing the distribution of binomial nomenclature.
amed lift
Following Berlin’s lead, Brown (1977, 1979) sought to demonstrate that — ie
form taxa, i.e., inclusive taxa at a level above that of the basic folk tae yentori
“folk generic” rank of Berlin), are added progressively to the folk biological ia
of the world’s languages. Sahaptin is at an early stage of development, ne a
Brown’s analysis, having a single botanical and a single zoological life ee have as fev
wee’ and ‘bird’. Of 217 cases sampled by Brown, only six are judged to
(5 cases) or fewer (one case) life forms (1977:324, 1979:796). ore appar
The minimal degree of hierarchic development in Sahaptin is even di q numbe
when Berlin’s folk specific taxonomic level is considered. Berlin has ae percent
of well documented folk botanical and zoological systems in terms a: hich bi ,
“folk generic” taxa subdivided by subordinate “folk specific” pnw 7 case
names are characteristically applied (1976:389). These and an addition tistics,
marized in Table 1. There is a surprising degree of consistency oo these sta a being
except the Hanundo falling in the range of 11% to 18% of basic level we for
typic. Sahaptin stands in sharp contrast. The frequency of basic os mt for ani
taxa is 1% (excluding recent coinages), with only two cases known, we
is 2%, with four cases known. : ne
It is misleading, however, to conclude that Sahaptin-speakers i to rans 0
ture within their biological domains. Furthermore, they use nomenclatu ‘dicate relat
cate the structure they perceive, just as the use of binomial names may vers emi
of taxonomic hierarchy. We will describe two regular nomenclatural ee
in Sahaptin to indicate relationships among folk biological ere oa
quently employed than is binomial naming in Sahaptin folk biol
reflect perceived resemblance or “kinship” among taxa. These dpe at
in direct contrast (cf. Lancy and Strathern 1981) rather than suborain
taxa to those more inclusive.
are sua
ne
)
'
.
:
'
v
a
;
b
f
§
|
|
;
;
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 75
7
FIG. 2.--Ma ae
peoples. sg _— — Northwest showing territory utilized by Sahaptin-speaking
and under their eS hei territory used primarily by Sahaptin-speaking peoples
tin speaking Sesion as e peripheral area indicates territory used annually by Sahap-
Hons. Both areas are 7 ee with neighboring groups of other linguistic affilia-
“Mobility as a Factor PP i Reproduced from page 22 of Eugene S. Hunn,
WAR in: Rese, miting Resource Use in the Columbia Plateau of North America,”
A.A.A.S. Symposi ce Managers: North American and Australian Hunter-Gatherers,
ium Volume 67, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.
rence to its relation-
Sahapti
ptin speakers are much less likely to name a taxon by refe
—than speakers of
ship to 5
om
Other well ie taxon—whatever the nature of that relationship
relations in Rhine ee The percentage of basic taxa named by refere
: is i :
alone in comparable syst ecteaeae aged less than the percentage of binomially named taxa
METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
1) the naming re-
imals examined in
In the Sah .
S pales ryt ab have consulted a variety of sources:
-speaking consultants to individual plants and ani
sponses of
76 HUNN & FRENCH Vol. 4, No.1
TABLE 1.—Degree of basic level polytypy in folk biological systems.
Number of Basic
System Polytypy % Level Taxa Source
Sahaptin plants 1 rT Hunn 1980
Sahaptin animals 2 236 Hunn 1980
Chacan Quechua plants 1] n.a. Brunel 1974
Ndumba plants 14 385 Hays 19744
Ndumba animals 16 186 Hays 1983#
Tzeltal Mayan plants 16 471 Berlin, et al. 1974
Tzeltal Mayan animals 17 335 Hunn 1977
Aguaruna Jivaro plants 18 566 Berlin 1976
Hanunéo plants 36 n.a. Conklin 1954
a These numbers represent the “shared” inventory, i.e., shared by nine of Hays’ 10 infor:
mants. His totals are thus conservative compared with those reported by other researchers,
who list a collective inventory.
Pee
situ or as pressed specimens, 2) discussions with consultants (
the characteristics of plants and animals (named in Sahaptin),
reported by colleagues (K. French, V. Hymes, B. Rigsby, H. Schuster)
graphers and linguists (M. Jacobs, E. Curtis, M. Pandosy, W. Everette).
diverse quality. However, in the aggregate they represent several thousan
the naming of plant and animal taxa. ticular,
The key methodological issue is the operational definition of aname. In pie tie
names must be distinguished from more ephemeral constructions such as de cted of
phrases, nonce forms, and idiosyncratic labels. Though a name may - we
two or more words, it is a single lexeme (Conklin 1962), that is, the _ nt mor
of the lexeme is not readily inferred from the referential meanings of its eer
phemes or words. Thus, “silverfish” is not a silver fish and a “blackbird” is 701] of
bird which is black. For present purposes, a name must also reflect some rshed
consistency of application across individuals and naming events. We havea mploye?
criterion for our data that to be considered a name a lexical expression aa the
consistently by at least two individuals on at least two independent octé
o doubt has
Jed to the |
same referential meaning. This criterion is conservative in that itn vovides ast
exclusion of some names from the corpus here considered, Howevet, - ae
tematic means to exclude many (perhaps not all) nonce forms. This critert ee
eary but not a sufficient condition for a lexical response to be considered ei the d
sions must also be considered appropriate responses to the queTy, ‘Wane
X?” In Sahaptin this is tun i-wanik-¥a.”2 > maniket) 10
Sahaptin speakers are quite emphatic in denying the status of “name (we . Atetf
sponses considered to be transparently descriptive. It seems to US noun
tion is identical to or closely parallel to the linguists’ distinction betwee? We have
and polylexemic expressions (Lyon 1977: Vol. 1, 18-25; Taylor 1988) atters:
queried consultants about each named taxon concerning use¢s, distribution de
morphological and behavioral features. When consultants are able to PF
detalee
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 77
ancillary information about a named organism, we feel justified in concluding that the
name indeed refers to a distinct concept, a “semantically primitive” kind of living thing.
We are also concerned here with a particular class of names, that is, those which
indicate syntactically a formal or structural relationship between the taxon named and
some related folk biological taxon. Such structure-defining names necessarily will be
morphologically compound and thus particularly difficult to distinguish from lexically
compound expressions of parallel syntactic composition. English structure-defining
names are typically (if not exclusively) of binomial form, as for example, “big-leaf
maple” and “hammer-head shark.” The binomial form of these names consistently
indicates that the taxon so named is subordinate to the taxon named by the head con-
stituent of the name. Such names must be carefully distinguished from descriptive
phrases, such as “moss-draped maple” and “man-eating shark,” and from metaphorical
look alikes such as “‘poolshark,” “poison oak,” and “silverfish,” already mentioned.
Parallel naming conventions have been described for a number of languages unre-
lated to English, and the binomial pattern may be universal (Berlin, Breedlove, and Raven
1973). The lexemic typology devised by Conklin (1962), since refined by Berlin (1973),
recognizes the binomial name form as of privileged status, and the class inclusion relations
indicated thereby have come to be seen as the fundamental structural principle of folk
biological classification. The generality of binomial naming in folk biological nomen-
clatural systems, plus its incorporation as the basis of scientific biological nomenclature,
has obscured the fact that this naming convention is just one of several naming pattems
indicative of structural relations among taxa.
In Sahaptin there are three nomenclatural pattems commonly used to reflect two
distinct types of formal relations among taxa. Binomial nomenclature used to indicate
class inclusion is one of these. More frequently used in Sahaptin are two other nami
patterns. These latter indicate relations of coordination—a relationship sometimes refer-
red to metaphorically by Sahaptin consultants in terms of human social or kinship
relations, as for example, dog, coyote, and wolf are said to be naymu ‘relatiye/friend’ of
one another,
One of these coordinating naming patterns is superficially binomial, in that the name
is formed of the modified name of a second taxon, which remains unaltered as the head
constituent. The attributive constituent is the bound suffix-waakuf, which may be
glossed ‘resembling’ or, simple ‘like’. For example, c i#awaakutis used to name Belding’s
ground squirrel (Citellus beldingi), while cit [ci (onomatopoetic) + 4a (agentive)]
names Townsend’s and Washington ground squirrels (C. townsendti, C. washingtoni).
Consultants who used this name (one each from the John Day and Umatilla dialects)
distinguish Belding’s on the basis of size, calls, and range. The suffix -waakut is also
frequently employed to indicate similarity in a descriptive context, as when the color
of a horse is described as wiwnuwaakut ‘huckleberry-like’.
ao a second Sahaptin syntactic convention used in coordinate naming is ia
ne ma ‘n combined with sound symbolism. This is a highly productive syntactic we
bance sea Qacobs 1931:135-140; Rigsby n.d.) indicating variously eal Rn i
ae ri ity, and—as here—the status of “younger sibling,’ i.e., the dea ence ‘
Pkg iy peripheral taxon to the more central or salient prototype. for a
Petia dog’ is derived by this process from k’usi ‘horse’. This naming process 1s ne
to recently introduced species such as the horse; it is also used, for example, in
8 a species of Vaccinium that is a traditionally favored food item, wiwliwiwlu
maa dh (‘Vaccinium scoparium Leiberg)3, derived from wiwnu ‘black mountain
i (V. membranaceum Dougl. ex Hook.), the archetypical fruit for Sahaptin
ers.
En Such relations of coordination of similar plants and animals may be de scribed in
glish (or in other languages including Tzeltal), but such descriptive expressions as
zy HUNN & FRENCH Vol. 4, No.1
I? 6
s
“dog-like” in English or “kol pabaluk sok sus”’ ‘almost the same as wasp’ in Tzeltal are
never used as names. The status of the parallel Sahaptin forms as true names is suggested
by the fact that the nonce form wiwluwiwluwaéakut has been recorded (in response to an
ambiguous Vaccinium specimen), as has the binomial tanan sit’yYswaakui, literally,
‘Indian corn’, from tanan ‘Indian’, plus sit ‘xs ‘Brodiaea hyacinthina (Lindl.) Baker’,
plus -waakut ‘like’.
A DISCUSSION OF THE SAHAPTIN CASES
Binomial Names.—The Sahaptin use of binomial nomenclature is sporadic, at best, and
at times appears to be actively avoided. One simple case of binomial nomenclature
involves the recognition of two species of raspberry:
émik saxat, lit. ‘black raspberry’
(1) Saxat
luc’G Saxat, lit. ‘red raspberry’
Since the red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) is rare in the Sahaptin range, the unmodified
generic term Saxat is normally used to label the common blackcap raspberry R. /euco
dermis Dougl.) (cf. Curtis 1911:175).
The naming and classification of willows (Salix spp.) in Sahaptin is complex. Tie
general term is ttax5 (tax¥ in NW dialects). However, the large, erect peachleaf willow
(S. amygdaloides Anderss.) is singled out as habaw. It is unique among the we
its straight, nearly branchless bole (Peattie 1950:346-347), and thus is favored for “
house framing. The categories babG@w and tta@xs are seen as closely related but we
taxa. Other native willows (e.g., Salix exigua Nutt. ssp. exigua var. exigua, 5. ee
Muhl. var. mackenzieana (Hook.) Crongq., S. scouleriana Barratt, S. lasiandra ee : iL)
caudata (Nutt.) Sudw.) as well as the introduced willows (S. alba L. var. oiteli a
Stokes, S. babylonica L.) are ttax§. This term may be modified, though without #
consistency, as pu?ixpu?ux ttaxs ‘gray willow’, often used to refer to the me
leaved coyote willow (S. exigua), and pt’xanupaméa ttaxs ‘mountain-forest Wi"
Scouler willow (S. scouleriana), the typical large willow of the montane pee
willows are “just” ttax¥ ‘willow’, which creates a “residual category” pci “
labeled [R] in the diagram below.
(2) babaw ‘peachleaf willow’
ttaxs ee pu 2uxpu ?ux ttaxs ‘coyote willow’
. bl
pt’xanupamd ttaxs ‘Scouler willow
provides an in
cherries
[R] ttax¥ ‘residual willow.
Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana L. var. demissa (Nutt.) Torr.)
comparison. Chokecherries are an important traditional food. The cherm™ recognize |
from red to black, but discontinuously so that three color types are ee e
Modern-day Sahaptins are aware of this variation but refused to apply bine® dk itera
variants, even when prodded to do so. Several consultants rejected *emiik j th .
‘black chokecherry’ and *Iuc’f tmis._ ‘red chokecherry’, while accepung of no si
pti names. They asserted that this variation among chokecherries 8
icance.
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 79
The four acceptable examples of binomial naming applied to animals are neither very
widely nor very consistently used. Two informants distinguished the rare snowy owl
(Nyctea scandiaca) as gityx miimanu, literally, ‘white large owl’. Unmodified miimanu
calls to mind as prototype the great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), the most common
and the most powerful owl in the region. This is attested by consultants’ descriptions of
miimanu vocalizations, appearance, and habits. The term miimanu is now also extended
to other medium to large owls, such as the barn owl (Tyto alba) and short-eared owl
(Asio flammeus), when examples of these species are presented for naming. This may
indicate that contemporary speakers have never learned the “proper” names for these
owls. Although this naming pattern might suggest that the snowy owl is considered a
kind of great horned owl, such is not the case. The snowy owl is seen as a related, but
coordinate form, on the same taxonomic level as miimanu. The situation might be inter-
preted taxonomically if we were to posit two polysemous senses of miimanu (cf. Berlin
1976:391-392), as follows:
miimanu ‘great horned owl’
(1) miima@nug ‘large owl’
gityx miimanu ‘snowy owl’
However, this interpretation is hypothetical, Snowy Owl illustrations were never identi-
fied as unmodified miimanu (and their rarity prevented evaluation of naming responses in
more realistic settings), and in the single myth recorded in which Snowy Owl is a charac-
ter the binomial expression was used exclusively. Thus it is not possible to determine if
quyx miimanu is more like the English “pack rat” (a kind of rat) than “musk rat” (which
1s not a kind of rat).
Several consultants distinguish black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) from
their white-tailed cousins (L. townsendii).
pla¥ (=qityx) watwas (=twini) wilalik#,
literally ‘white-tailed jackrabbit’
(2) wilalik
Emitk watwas wilalik,
literally ‘black-tailed jackrabbit’
lies with equal force and
d the side-blotched
literally, ‘blue-tailed lizard’, by two consultants from contrasting dialect groups. The
pic 's tail is used as a good luck charm in gambling. Two lizards are not included in
penny but are contrasting basic level taxa: xli#awit, literally ‘of root _—" 7
un ab on lizard (Phrynosoma douglassi), and t'uulnawata, literally coun ape is fe
_ “ertain identity.5 Both are morpohologically divergent species. Though ¢ wulnaw
's clearly thought of as a lizard-like creature, the homed lizard (n.b., “horned toad’ in
80 HUNN & FRENCH Vol. 4, No.1
colloquial English) is not. The horned lizard is in addition considered to be an “Indian
doctor” worthy of special respect and protection.
(3) xlif@wit ‘horned lizard’
t uulnawata ‘unidentified lizard’
[lizard-like] [R] watik Gsas 1 ‘residual lizard’
watik Gsas 9
lamt watwas watik Gsas ‘skink’
Typical snakes are called py#¥, with the abundant garter snakes (three species of
Thamnophis) considered unexceptional examples. This name also may be applied un-
modified to the racer (Coluber constrictor) and the gopher snake (Pituophis no
leucus), two other common species. However, the gopher snake was named mci pylis,
literally, ‘big snake’, by at least three consultants of as many dialects. Others apply @
contrasting basic level term, ppaw, to this species (Johnson-O’Malley 1977), perhaps
reflecting a more differentiated nomenclature before Euro-American settlement. hn
dividual consultants have on occasion used additional binomials to distinguish gartet
snakes and racers, but such usages failed to meet our nomenclatural standard for cot
sistency of application. The western rattlesnake (Crotalus viridus)—like the homed |
lizard, an “Indian doctor”—is not considered to be a kind of pyé, though its |
waxpus, clearly suggests an etymological link with pyi#X now obscure to native speakers: |
Thus ‘snake’, as we understand it, remains a covert category in Sahaptin. |
nei pyiis ‘gopher snake’
pyis2
(4) [snake] [R] pyii¥ ‘residual enake’
waxpus ‘rattlesnake’ |
minimal develo?
lied to one re |
in the case
All four cases of binomial nomenclature among animals involve 4
ment of the specific contrast set. In three cases a binomial name is apP
tional “species” within a folk “‘genus”’—or possibly to a coordinate form
the snowy owl—while the other member(s) of the genus is (are) not wae
parallel binomial. Thus it would be necessary to postulate an unmarked me form of te
specific category in three of four cases in order to preserve the hierarchic
taxonomic model.
|
/
|
|
q
.
: ip
Expressions of Binomial Form which are not Valid Specific Names — Binomial
veh Bet
were not treated above (very few cases are known for Sahaptin). Te scenes ti
lin’s distinction (1973:217) between “primary” names such as “mockin os, the oe
contrast with such names as “robin” (not “robinbird”), and “secondary -_ '
binomials, such as “bald eagle,” which contrasts with “golden eagle,” 4 name is the fort
structure. One example of a “binomial name” at the basic level in Sahap at (for One?
thw nat nusux ‘Chinook salmon’, more usually and simply rendered tkwinat a grt
rhynchus tschawytscha). The taxon nusix ‘anadromous salmonid’ includes
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 81
basic level categories (Hunn 1979), but spontaneous binomial combinations have been
recorded only for tk’imat, the prototype of nusux.
tkWinat (niisux) ‘Chinook salmon, typical’
tkilattkVilat ‘jack Chinook salmon’
sinux ‘silver salmon’
(1) niisux ‘salmon/steekhead’
kalux ‘blueback salmon’
mit ‘ula 1 ‘dog salmon’
Susayns ‘steelhead’
The category niisux may be considered a small “‘life form” (as there is no general term for
‘fish’ in Sahaptin) or a named intermediate level taxon (see Berlin, Breedlove, and Raven
1973), as it includes several basic level taxa. A similar situation holds among names for
coniferous trees, at least as Sahaptin is spoken today. Spruce trees (Picea engelmannit
Parry ex Engelm.) may be called qutqit patatwi ‘prickly fir’. However, patatwi also
includes a number of trees known by primary names, e.g., waqutqit ‘hemlock’, tap a¥
‘Ponderosa pine’, and manikaa¥ ‘white-bark pine’. The occasional use of a primary name
for spruce, mic ‘ipaas, literally, ‘itchy tree/shrub’, suggests that the binomial term is a
recent replacement for the “true name” now forgotten.
patatwi ‘balsam firs, especially the subalpine fir,
extended to the Douglas fir’
paps ‘Douglas fir, or large fir in general”®
qutqit patatwi/mic ‘ipaas ‘spruce’
waqutqit ‘hemlock’
(2) patatwig ‘coniferous tree’ kimila ‘larch’
wawanin§ ‘yew’
tap aX ‘Ponderosa pine, sometimes extended to
pines in general’
kalamkalam ‘lodgepole pine’
nanikaa’ ‘white-bark pine’
More than 20 varieties of k’fisi ‘horse’ are recognized nomenclaturally by contem-
eed consultants (a more exact count is not possible due to the productivity of bino-
labeling used to describe horses). These varieties are labled as in the wes
wiwn Ss: maamin ‘appaloosa’, kawxkawx ‘palomino’, luz’G ‘bay’ (from Iué’G ‘red’), and
wnuwiakut thuckleberry roan’ (literally ‘huckleberry-like’). It is acceptable to Say
‘appaloosa horse’, but such a binomial variant is rarely noted in normal
Such as Emik ‘black’, which thus may also mean ‘black horse’, according to context. ="
Ma . , H
y be named binomially, as for example, Zmitk Siwiwsiwiw ‘black roan’. Sahaptin horse
ication illustrates an unusual elaboration of Sahaptin nomenclature that is 2 con-
:
82 HUNN & FRENCH Vol. 4, No.l
sequence of a recently introduced biological phenomenon, a domesticated, and thy
extremely variable organism. We have thus excluded horse varietal terms from present
consideration. The very large number of recognized horse varieties is also anomalous with
respect to the expected distribution of polytypy (Geoghegan 1976), a pattern consisten!
with the recent incorporation of the horse in Sahaptin culture.
We have also excluded cases in which a heterogeneous basic level taxon is frequently
but idiosyncratically or inconsistently further specified binomially. Examples include
#ay ‘worm/caterpillar/maggot’ and kliwisd ‘ant’. Variation within these broad categorits
may be noted by reference to color, behavior, habitat, or host organism, but the forms
seem clearly to be on-the-spot inventions to entertain the ethnographer. Finally, we have
excluded cases involving recently introduced species. The binomial expression tanan X,
literally ‘Indian X’, is used by a few consultants to distinguish native forms from related
introduced forms. For example, one consultant contrasted tanan Saak ‘Indian onion’, the
wild species of Allium, with S4ak proper, which this consultant restricted to garden
onions. Another individual referred to an ear of varicolored “Indian corn” as tani
sit’xWswaakul, literally ‘Indian corn’. These usages, besides being recent, are idiosyncrats
and sporadic.
The Suffix -waakut ‘like’—This naming convention is much more frequently used i
botanical names than in the zoological. Our single animal case is the ground sq
example cited above.
(1) ¢ ita ‘Townsend’s/Washington ground squirrel’
ciilawaakul ‘Belding’s ground squirrel’
Plant examples are as follows:
(2) anipa¥ ‘Claytonia lanceolata Pursh’
anipaswaakut ‘Montia sibirica (L-) Howell
g look-alike and oo
The first named is an “Indian potato”; the second is a strikin ot is a
0
relative, lacking underground tubers. In fact, the presence of a tuberous f
used by certain botanists to distinguish Claytonia from Montia. This use of an ereon
was recorded by Gunther during a 1935 ethnobotanical survey in western
(1973:29) and is current on the Warm Springs Reservation in eastern Oregon.
(3) €78 ‘Purshia tridentata (Pursh) DC.’
y
cee Nutt.
Z isiwaakut ‘Cercocarpus ledifolius
cest)
the rose family ena the
Purshia and Cercocarpus are large shrubs or small trees of
e southeastem
Purshia is widespread, while Cercocarpus is found only on th
Sahaptin range.
(4) nank ‘Thuja plicata Donn.’
ort.)
kwaakut ‘Calocedrus decurrens is
Florin.’
ret
ee : two large
This Warm Springs case is precisely parallel to the preceding but involves
t
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 83
species of the cypress family (Cupressaceae); Thuja is common and widely used, while
Calocedrus is known only from the southwestern corner of the Sahaptin range.
(5) saxi ‘Philadelphus lewisii Pursh’
saxiwaakut ‘Sy mphoricarpos albus (L.) Blake’
Here two shrubs, though not closely related, share the characteristic of opposite leaves.
Both are common, widespread, and useful; Philadelphus, in the rose family, as a durable
wood and source of soap; Symphoricarpos, in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae), as
a medicine. The “junior status” of Symphoricarpos may be because of its shorter stature
and smaller leaves and flowers.
(6) suspan ‘Fragaria spp.’
suspanwaakut ‘Geum triflorum Pursh’
Pasi the strawberry (Fragaria) is compared to another herbaceous species of the same
amily (Rosaceae). The strawberry is a favorite though incidentally important food;
Geum triflorum is used medicinally.
(7) taw8a ‘Artemisia tridentata Nutt.’, ‘big sagebrush’ in part,
tawsawaakul “A. vaseyana,” a montane
ecotype of A. tridentata, and A. arbuscula
Nutt.’
bad Pte at lower elevations, occasionally attaining the stature of a small tree. It
decck ” ental technological applications and is a medicine. Tawsawaakut is a form
ed by high elevation (‘‘A. vaseyana”’) or impoverished soils (A. arbuscula).
(8) tméF Prunus virginiana L.’
tm#xXwaakut ‘P. emarginata (Dougl.) Walp. and
domestic P. cerasus L., etc.’
me onerrene priority of the chokecherry (P. virginiana) presumably is because of its
paroit ighly regarded food. Bitter cherry (P. emarginata ) is not eaten here but has
aa done and medicine value. The inclusion of the domestic cherries (P. cerasus,
sa gives the derived category a residual quality, that is, we might gloss tmiswaakut as
y cherry but the chokecherry’.
(9) wak’ ‘ ‘
) wak‘amu ‘Camassia quamash (Pursh) Greene’
wak ‘amuwaakut ‘Iris missouriensis Nutt’?
ad ene in the Liliaceae, is a staple root food while the iris, Iridaceae, is not
The sa showy monocots with grass-like leaves.
names modifie - com and tomatoes provide two additional examples of the use of plant
been kno ied in this way. Both are introduced domesticates, though corn may have
known pie = Sahaptins before Euro-American contact. Com is almost universally
in the li sit’xYswaakut; its namesake sit’x¥s is Brodiaea hyacinthina (Lindl.) Baker
y family, valued for its edible corms. The resemblance perceived, however, 15
=m
exons
ws
84 HUNN & FRENCH Vol. 4, No.1
not between corn and the lily as plants, but in the form of the edible portions of ead
the kernel of corn fancied to resemble the corm of the Brodiaea, Our second examples
precisely comparable. The introduced tomato is often called 3éapawaakut ‘rosehip
like’, and indeed a tomato’s fruit bears a substantial superficial resemblance to the fmt
(hip) of the native roses. These two cases are intermediate between the instances dep
cribed above in which two taxa are closely related conceptually on the basis of oven!
morphological resemblance, and instances in which the perceived resemblance is bast
on some single characteristic shared by the “prototype” and the form compared toi,
as when a “huckleberry roan” is called wiwnuwaakut ‘huckleberry-like’ based on shai
color.
Reduplication.—This naming pattern is less frequent than the preceding, butit is usedin
the same way to link a simply named prototype to a derivatively named form (or forms)
perceived to be closely related. It usually carries the additional implication of relatively
smaller size. Botanical examples include the huckleberry case already cited:
~ iis
(1) wiwnu ‘Vaccinium membranaceum Dougl. ex Hook’
lawiwlu ‘V. scoparium Leiberg’
The prototype in this case is a highly valued staple food; V. scoparium is mee
d
more as an incidental treat. Both the shrub and fruit of V. scoparium are
some Sahaptin dialects taller native onions are called 34ak, while low-growing ner
are saaksaak:
(2) Saak ‘taller wild onions’
: ’
saaksaak ‘low-growing wild onions
JIHUROHUER
an be : in which
A similar (or identical?) contrast is handled differently in other dialects, av
taller onions of wet meadows are called qUlawi and the low-growing rock om
simamwi.
Zoological examples include the following:
(3) tk®inat ‘typical Oncorhynchus tschawytschwa’
tkwilattkWilat “jack” Oncorhynchus
tschawytscha i
oes 9 s i : ave
The “jack” of the Chinook salmon is a form of that species that Tack otc
earlier than i i i ifi i ze.
s typical. They are identifiable by their smaller s The next two
sidered a kind of tk*inat, but a “species” of salmon in its own right.
are close parallels.
(4) apin ‘head louse’
rates”
apilapil ‘small swarming inverteb
Examples of the latter include aphids and the larvae of mosquitoes.
(5) #txnt ‘horse fly, typically, extended to include other large biting flies
ite aesaie eect istxliistxli ‘gnats’
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 85
Our final example is the intriguing case of the horse and dog. Contemporary Sahaptin
speakers, as well as those who served as Pandosy’s informants (1862), call the dog k'usi-
k'tisi, literally ‘little horse’. However, the horse is the more recent introduction (Haines
1938). Dogs are known from the Pacific Northwest archaeologically since 10,400 BP
(Lawrence 1968), and thus must have been the original referent of k’usi. Horses were
likened to dogs presumably because of the role they came to play in human social econ-
omy as highly useful and esteemed (but inedible) pets. The horse’s large size and rapid
incorporation as an essential mode of transport and currency of social exchange appar-
ently produced the semantic shift now evident:
(6) kisi ‘horse’
k’usikiisi ‘dog’
A similar process occurred in Tzeltal with deer and sheep and peccaries and pigs (Berlin
1972:82-83).
We have not counted here cases of reduplication used to name early growth stages of
a plant or animal, such as alugatalugat ‘recently emerged frog/toad’, from aluqat ‘adult
frog’, and tap Gytap'ay ‘Ponderosa pine seedling’, from tap ‘aS ‘Ponderosa pine’. We
have not counted Jaliklalik ‘columbine’ (Aquilegia formosa Fisch.), derived from mamik
‘seed of white-bark pine’, as the resemblance is drawn between the seeds of the respective
plants only, a naming pattern like that of corn and tomato.
Implicit Recognition of Prototype/Satellite Structural Relations.—The coordinate rela-
tionship between a prototypical category and one or more satellite taxa—explicitly recog-
nized in the above examples by reduplication or the suffix -waakut ‘like’—is frequently
implicit in Sahaptin. Such implicit relationships are manifested by consultants’ state-
ments that taxon X is similar or related to taxon Y or by patterns of identification errors
(Hays 1976). In each of the following cases a heterogeneous basic level taxon has a
closely associated satellite taxon which—if not named in its own right—would be sub-
sumed by the heterogeneous category as within the “sphere of influence” of the proto-
type (cf. Bright and Bright 1965).
(1) x@txat ‘duck in general with the mallard prototypical’, except for,
r
taStaS ‘common merganser’
(2) pyé¥ ‘snake in general with variable focus’, except for,
r
waxpus ‘rattlesnake’
(3) watik sas Tizard in general with Sceloporus/Uta apparently protypical’, except Or,
r
t ‘uulnawala ‘unidentified lizard’)
(4) kijwisé ‘ont in general with Formica spp. prototypical’, except for,
r
tamSuy ‘a species of small, non-biting, black ant’
(3) wixalyalf
‘spider in general with no apparent prototype’, except for,
tispun ‘black widow spider’, and
TT
kaatlam wux4 ‘tharvestman’, literally ‘long-leg’
86 HUNN & FRENCH
(6) ttaxs ‘willow in general with no apparent prototype’, except for,
babaw ‘peachleaf willow’
The rattlesnake and black widow spider are significant dangers; the peachleaf willow, due
to its atypical growth form, is of special utility; while the common merganser wamel
olumbia River villagers of the approach of Paiute Indian raiders. In these cases the
special utility of the satellite taxon seems of paramount significance in motivating its
special recognition. Morphological singularity seems the dominant factor in the casesol
t‘uulnawata and the harvestman. Why tamSuy is deemed worthy of special attention
remains a mystery.
DISCUSSION
We have examined 21 legitimate cases (and a number of marginal ones) in which
pairs of taxa conceived to be related are linked nomenclaturally. In all cases the pattem
is similar: the prototypical taxon provides the nomenclatural base for naming the per
pheral relative. This pattern is obvious in the cases of reduplication (N=6) and in theus
of the suffix -waakul ‘like’ (N=9). It is somewhat less clear in the binomally labeled
cases (N=6). However, at least in the case of the snowy owl the binomial quyx none
carries no implication of taxonomic subordination to the unmarked prototype, mem
‘great horned owl’. Thus at least 16 of 21 (76%) of these cases of indirect nammg involve
conceptual coordination between basic level taxa, one focal, the other peripheral, = .
than hierarchic subordination between taxa at higher and lower levels or ranks of a !@
onomy.
Sahaptin also contrasts with other cases cited in the literature in terms of the extea
to which indirect naming of any sort is used. The percentage of taxa named by ee
to other taxa, either by reference to a superordinate taxon or a coordinate, Pe
taxon, is 5%, compared to ca. 35% binomially named taxa in Tzeltal (Berlin, wee ;
and Raven 1974:37; Hunn 1977:79). Thus, not only do Sahaptin speakers babes A
ordinating one taxon to another nomenclaturally, but they also are less given to al
one taxon in terms of another. A related observation is that Sahaptin consultan For
skeptical of “names” which are transparently descriptive of either form id foe
example, thistles (Cirsium spp.) are always referred to as qutqit, literally ‘thomY |
same breath, consultants aver that qutqit is not the plant’s ‘real name. pa
has been able to recall what the “real name” is, but all agree it is not ipa
“real name” does in fact exist. Consultants react similarly to the label tweanhy sf
literally ‘for the hair’, applied to a variety of plants used “medicinal
hair grow long or to prevent graying. By contrast, Tzeltal speakers freely . ee essentid
the form ‘X-medicine’. This Sahaptin naming style may reflect a belief in i foc
power of names. Naming ceremonies and the inheritance of ancestral ae 1 Sahap!
point of Sahaptin ritual observance even today. However, it is not clear 4 ele
speakers differ in their regard for the sacred power of names from a ee
which use indirect naming more freely. Such a connection should be inven vet
The Sahaptin nomenclatural pattern we have described may be ean ‘lusotys
ways. These interpretations might be of three types, the pattern being: ( might 3
stylistic, or (3) evolutionary. Those who argue for the pattern as ~_s : ;
that the Sahaptin data are the result of a degenerative process due to an ‘ust |
Perhaps the Pre-contact Sahaptin system more closely resembled the bee ,
Aguaruna, or Hanunéo systems in reliance on binomial naming. The ese a
ethnobiological inventory, i.e., 450 Sahaptin basic level taxa versus ere he pres |
in Tzeltal, 1000+ in Aguaruna, and 1000+ in Hanundo, might suggest af
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 87
accessible inventory is significantly less than it once was. If acculturative losses dispro-
portionately affect productive lexemes, we should expect acculturated systems to exhibit
a smaller percentage of binomial names than fully viable systems.
do not believe acculturative loss explains the Sahaptin data. First, though it is
likely the pre-contact system was larger, it is doubtful that it was ever as large as the com-
parison systems for the basic reason that the ecosystems familiar to the Sahaptin people
are less rich in species than those of the Tzeltal, Ndumba, Aguaruna, or Hanundéo, all in
humid, tropical environments. Furthermore, there is continued nomenclatural recogni-
tion of some very similar and closely related species, as those of the genus Lomatium
(Hunn and French 1981). Although one might expect binomials to be applied to such
cases, they are not. We call attention also to the fact that in many languages binomials
are most frequently employed in naming species of high cultural salience (Berlin, Breed-
love, and Raven 1973:216). Such names are likely to be disproportionately persistent
under acculturation. Finally, we note that in several instances binomials and other pro-
ductive lexemes have recently replaced unanalyzable linguistic expressions in Sahaptin
nomenclature as in the examples cited of gutgiit patatwi ‘spruce’ and néi pyiii ‘gopher
snake’, Thus indirect naming may be more frequent in contemporary Sahaptin than it
was pre-contact.
It may be argued that patterns of naming simply reflect styles peculiar to the “‘gen-
ius” of one language or another. We may appreciate such variation as illustrating the rich
diversity of human cultures, but draw no more general conclusions. For example, French
(1960) has documented dramatic differences in naming responses between samples of
native speakers of Sahaptin, Upper Chinookan, and English to standardized collections of
plants. Sahaptin speakers much more frequently labeled unfamiliar plants with nonce
forms indicating perceived relationship or similarity, i.e., of the form X-waakut ‘like-X’,
while Upper Chinookan speakers simply said, “I don’t know.”8 English speakers were
Particularly inclined to invent names or to subsume unfamiliar plants within known
categories. However, if the predilection for the use of binomial names were purely
stylistic, Berlin’s universals could not be relied upon (1973). The consistency with which
inomials are applied for example in Tzeltal, Ndumba, Aguaruna, and Hanun6o, is strong
fontrary evidence. It is also noteworthy that published exerpts from languages such as
Eskimo (Irving 1953), Groote Eylandt (Waddy 1982), Agta (Headland 1983), and Khoi-
san (Lee 1979:464-478) suggest that these languages might closely resemble Sahaptin in
their disuse of binomials. It is at least suggestive that the former set of languages are of
subsistence farmers, the latter of hunter-gatherers. This brings us to our third alternative
type of explanation.
Evolutionary explanations of this nomenclatural pattern may be of three basic types,
cting the evolution of: (1) intellectual capacities, (2) social organization, or (3)
e : ‘
Re and economic systems. There are respectable proponents of each of these
Olution
refle
wt have labeled coordination here is an example. The subsequent evolutionary step—
the bac plements but does not supplant the first—is one of “vertical” SRT orm
sage folk taxa by means of generalization to produce named life-forms and, u ti-
taxa ¥» the unique beginner, and of differentiation, to produce folk specific and varietal
nation — names are indicative of this latter process. From Une perapertve re reek
We belies superior mode of classification, being more ‘abstract neoiege na ‘ .
of a} ve this assessment has no basis in fact, but rather represents the bias of speake
anguage, English, that has enshrined binomial nomenclature as the scientific ideal.
To reco '
ee i i h as to recognize that X
‘Sa kind of y. is like Y requires abstraction fully as muc
88 HUNN & FRENCH Vol. 4, No.|
Durkheim and Mauss argued in Primitive Classification (1963) that the conceptul
recognition of hierarchy, as in a taxonomy, is a byproduct of the experience of socid
hierarchy. Thus one might argue that Sahaptin folk classification lacks hierarchicl —
development comparable to that of the Tzeltal because the pre-contact Sahaptin speaken
were egalitarian hunter-gatherers within an acephalous polity, while the Tzeltal Mayans |
had long known the reality of state and nation. This hypothesis is tempting in that
Sahaptin social relations stress coordination and do not emphasize subordination. Though
chiefs (miyawax) were recognized, their power was limited. Much more salient wer —
bilateral kin ties and dyadic trading partnerships between ‘friends’ (cf. Marshall 1977)
There is a curious parallel between the Sahaptin stress on individual autonomy and ther
stress on the essential uniqueness of plant and animal names. However, it is patently
false that Hanunéo—which surpasses Tzeltal in degree of taxonomic hierarchy in the folt
biological domains as far as Tzeltal surpasses Sahaptin—have experienced extremes of
social hierarchy. Furthermore, the Wasco/Wishram place considerably greater stress 0m —
social hierarchy than do their Columbia River Sahaptin neighbors, yet share their aver
sion to hierarchy in their folk biological classifications. It seems the apparent correlation
of taxonomic hierarchy with social hierarchy may be an epiphenomenon of the under-
lying subsistence systems. This brings us to a consideration of the third evolutionary
perspective, the ecological.
The pattern we have observed here suggests that folk biological classification system
have evolved from a single-tiered system of coordinate taxa among hunter-gatherers 10*
multi-tiered system (a taxonomic hierarchy proper) exhibiting a high incidence of bast
level polytypy (Geoghegan 1976) among subsistence agriculturalists. A further stage ©!
development (or of devolution, if you will) has been suggested (Dougherty 1978, Brows
1979) to account for the progressive increase in the number of highly inclusive morph —
logically based life-form categories and parallel reduction in numbers of basic level ta
The initial phase of this evolutionary pattern might be explained by reference 0 pie
cess of domestication. Diverse cultivars might reasonably have been the initial “a
of binomial names. They are very commonly applied in such instances. However, m®
wild plants and animals are also so named. Therefore, we must assume 4 process
. . i i i
generalization whereby binomial naming was extended to wild relates or
or animals,
: ee is
domesticated plants than of animals in Mayan subsistence—indicates that th
thetic process has run its course in Tzeltal. ins to be
This is a plausible account but an incomplete explanation. Tae eer folk
explained the apparent correlation of the degree of polytypy and the size _
biological inventory (Table 1). Independent of the domestication of plants an i
an elaboration of taxonomic hierarchy might serve as a more efficient me .
store a larger quantity of folk biological knowledge. It is presumably —s
to remember a set of five terms—one naming a basic level taxon and the sda
binomially labeled subdivisions, such as pine, Ponderosa pine, white pine, | a snap
and white-bark pine—than to learn the unrelated names of four generat P
tap as ‘Ponderosa pine’, pak inakaas ‘white pine’9, kalamkalam ee to incre
nanikaaS ‘white-bark pine’. Thus we might expect the use of bine” al
rapidly beyond a certain threshold of basic level name expansion, ann Such
entallt
interpretation fits the data of Table 1. However, we have not oF ae name
of knowledge which, by this hypothesis, gives rise to the increase in vatherers
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 89
with modern urban dwellers having the smallest, in relation to the degree to which each
system depends upon detailed, widely-shared knowledge of natural history. Thus bino-
mial nomenclature, if functionally linked to the scope of a folk biological domain as
hypothesized above, should be inversely correlated with this progression of modes of
production. This seems not to be the case.
We would like to propose a possible resolution of this seeming contradiction. First,
we believe it likely that hunter-gatherers will have smaller folk biological inventories
than subsistence farmers in the same habitat. This accords with an otherwise curious
fact that Kalahari San hunter-gatherers are more selective of the plants they use than
nearby agricultural Bantu (Lee 1979:180). They can afford to be more selective because
of their low population densities and high mobility. Subsistence farmers are subject to
periodic crop failures (Colson 1979), at which times they are forced to rely on wild foods
the hunting-gathering San consider inedible. Their sheer numbers force them to recognize
a wider range of species as of potential use than is true of the San. If this hypothesis is
correct, the increased reliance on binomial naming by agriculturalists may be understood
as a response to the need for an expanded ethnobiological repertoire. Brown (1984) has
recently arrived at precisely this conclusion on the basis of an extensive series of cross-
language comparisons.
Subsequent industrialization and urbanization reduces the need for detailed know-
ledge of natural species among the general population. As a consequence, the sweeping
ultimate expression of our evolving capacity to comprehend natural diversity is seen
rather to result from a sequence of economic developments affecting our need to know
aspects of that natural diversity (cf. Hunn 1982).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
il E, Hunn’s research has been supported by NSF Grant BNS7616914 and by grants from the Mel-
ville and Elizabeth Jacobs Research Fund. D. French’s research has been supported in part by a PHS
ee GM-11287, from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Student assis-
Fie was supported by grants to Reed College under the Shell Assists program and the National
sain Foundation (GY-4746, GU-3364). French would like to thank the Wenner-Gren Foundation,
ie zs Reynolds, the Social Science Research Council, and the American Philosophical Society for
ra aid, and Nancy Fowler and Kathrine S. French for a critical reading of the manuscript. Terence
Ra 5% Paul M. Taylor provided most helpful critical comments. This work would not have bn
sult weenie. the generous instruction, advice, and encouragement of our Sahaptin-speaking con
ants. We dedicate our efforts to honoring their cultural achievements.
LITERATURE CITED
BERLIN, BRENT, 1972. Speculations on and PETER H. RAVEN. 1973. General
the Growth of Ethnobotanical Nomen- Principles of Classification a
ome. Lang. and Soc. 1:63-98. clature in Folk Biology. Amer. Anthro.
274978; tea ¢ :214-242.
Relation to ee a ae NE ord. rinciples of alee
Nomenclature, Annu. Rev, Ecol. Syst. Plant Classification: An Introduction to
iheiiadd the Botanical Ethnography ofa Mayan-
i - 1976. The Concept of Rank Speaking Community of Highland Chia-
Lan hnobiological Classification: Some pas. Academic Press, New York. ee
Vidence froms Aguaruna Folk Botany. BRIGHT, JANE O., and WILLIAM BRIG
BERLIN Ethnol. 3:381-399, 1965. Semantic Structures in Northwest
» BRENT, DENNIS E. BREEDLOVE, California and the Sapir-Whorf Hypothe-
90 HUNN & FRENCH Vol. 4, No.|
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sis. Amer. Anthro. 67(5), Part 2 (Special
Publication): 249-258
BROWN, CECIL H. 1977. Folk Botanical
Life Forms: Their University and Growth.
Amer. Anthro. 79:317-342.
1979. Folk Zoological Life
Forms: Their University and Growth.
Amer. Anthro. 81:791-817.
1985. Mode of Subsistence
and Folk Biological Taxonomy. Cur.
Anthro. 26(1). Forthcoming.
BROWN, CECIL H., JOHN KILAR, BAR-
BARA J. TORREY, TIPAWAN TRU-
ONG-QUANG, and PHILLIP VOLK-
MAN. 1976. Some General Principles
of Biological and Non-Biological Folk
Classification. Amer. Ethnol. 3:73-85.
BRUNEL, GILLES. 1974. Variation in
Q
dissert. wae rop.), Univ. California,
BULMER, in fis N. H. 1974. Folk sign
n the New Sihantig Highlands. Soc. Sci
tidoeah 1
COLSON, ELIZABETH. 1979. In Good
Years and in Bad: Food Strategies of
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CURTIS, EDWARD §. 1911. The North
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ton Press, Norwood, Massachusetts.
DOUGHERTY, JANET W.D. 1978. Salience
and Relativity in Classification. Amer.
Ethnol. 5:66-80.
DURKHEIM, EMILE, and MARCEL MAUSS.
196 Prizaltive Classification. Trans-
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FRENCH, DAVID H. 1957. An Explora-
tion of Wasco Ethnoscience. 24-
226 in Amer, Philosophical Society
Year Book 1956,
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3
1960. Taxonomic and
Other Gates! Processes. Paper
presented to the Amer. Anthrop. Soc.
f
ogy: The casita to) ne “a
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1981. Neglected Agen
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J. Botany. 59:2326-2330
GEOGHEGAN, WILLIAM H. 1976, Po
typy in Folk Biological Taxonomies
Amer, Ethnol, 3:469-480.
GUNTHER, ERNA. — 1973. Ethnobote
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HAINES, FRANCIS. 1938. The —
ee d of Horses
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HAYS, TERENCE E. 1974. Mauna: Expl
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3:489-507
ht Ndumba Folk Be
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Nome
1 ge sia and
botanical Cl i Antrag ae "5924!
HEADLAND, THOMAS "988. a
botanical Anomaly: The Dearth <4
iol. 3:109-120:
79, Ta
HEALEY, CHRISTOPHER. 1978-79. 1
nomic Rigidity in Fo ee
Classification: Some E “
Maring of New Guinea.
5:361-384. vale
HUNN, EUGENE S. 1975. mad
Tzeltal Version of the Anim Kingdo® ©
4-30
Anthrop. pee 48:1 pe ‘
f Folk ae Classifica
Fok 2
Model o
ks :5 08-52
Amer. Ethno gee - oe
ities in Natur
ii 1979. Sahaptia dl
sification. Northwe st Anthro. :
Notes 14:1- ie Be rei |
to the National Science :
Manuscript, Dept. An
Washington, i = vitae
Jogical
Folk Bio 088
tor in
Amer. Anthrop. 84:8
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 91
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
HUNN, EUGENE S., and DAVID H. FRENCH.
1981. Lomatium: A Key Resource for
Columbia Plateau Native Subsistence.
Northwest Science 55: 4,
IRVING, LAURENCE, 1953. The Naming
of Birds by Nunamiut Eskimo. Arctic
6:35-43,
JACOBS, MELVILLE. 1931. A Sketch of
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Pairing as an Alternative to the Taxo-
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Anthrop. 83:773-795.
LAWRENCE, BARBARA. 1968. Antiquity
of Large Dogs in North America. Tebiwa
11:43-49,
LEE, RICHARD B. 1979. The 'Kung San:
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ndon,
LYONS, JOHN. 1977. Semantics. Two
volumes. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
MARSHALL, ALAN G. 1977. Nez Perce
eighboring Languages in Portland, Oregon, August 1982. The Sahaptin examples cite
Social Groups: An Ecological Interpre-
tation. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissert. (Anthrop.)
Washington State Univ., Pullman.
PANDOSY, M. C. 62. Grammar and Dic-
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PEATTIE, DONALD CULROSS. 1950. A
Natural History of Western Trees.
Bonanza Books, New York.
RANDALL, ROBERT A. 1976. How Tall
is a Taxonomic Tree? Some Evidence
for Dwarfism. Amer. Ethnol. 3:543-
553.
RIGSBY, BRUCE J. n.d. Sahaptin Gram-
mar. Jn Handbook of North American
Indians: Language, I. God ed.
Volume 16. Smithsonian Institution,
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TAYLOR, PAUL. 1982. Plant and Animal
Jakarta, Indonesia.
WADDY, JULIE. 1982. Biological Classifi-
cation from a Groote Eylandt Abori-
gine’s Point of View. J. Ethnobiology
2:
a Primarily from Hunn’s John Day and Umatilla data. French’s Warm Springs Sahaptin data Gitter
in detail b
2 :
Sahaptin words are writte
ut are supportive of all key conclusions.
n in a phonemic orthography adapted from Rigby (
n.d.) as follows: plain
sto : i ,
= Fie affricates are p, t, c, X, & k, k®, g, q™; glottalized stops and affricates are P , nyea ts
, > a e :
ORE oh q” * Spirants are S, #, 5, x, x, x, xW; sonorants are ™, 7, I, w, y;
vo eae
‘ Wels are i, » 4, U, UU, a, aa.
*In Northwest S
animate’ to play ‘wh
laryngeals are b, 7; and
F : :
*F Some consultants wiwliwiwlu refers instead to a wild blueberry, Vaccinium caespitosum Michx.
¥ tes
ahaptin dialects twini ‘tail’ replaces wat was. Some speakers prefer qUyy wh
ite, i imate ny
ite,
co : Ose it
Nsultants are unsure as to the characteristics of t wulnawala agrecing that it 1s a snake-like
: t
lizard that e
rhonotus);
talis),
®Contempor
Abies, while
nal classificato
ary consultants assert the papS is equivalent to very large st
Patatwi refers to all others of these genera. This seems unlikely to represent the origi-
Ty situation and contradicts some facts of the contemporary situation,
Jumps’. Some informants may apply the term to alligator lizards (two wens =
thers may have in mind the rare and local western whiptail ( Cnemidophorus occiden-
individuals of Pseudotsuga or
most notably
92 HUNN & FRENCH
the fact that patétwi very clearly implies a prototype with the characteristics of Abies, tov
aromatic foliage. This characteristic—and important uses contingent upon it—are not cited fo
7 For some speakers the iris is nunaswaaku ?, named after the mariposa lily Calochortus
Dougl. The classificatory principle is the same, as C. macrocarpus is a valued winter e
ration.
8 A form functionally parallel to Sahaptin -wéaku # ‘-like’ is used by speakers of the Wasco.
Upper Chinookan, but only to describe, not to name categories.
9 This term was not cited in previous discussions of Sahaptin tree terms as it is apparently
today to the Northwest dialects.
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 93
BOOK REVIEWS AND ABSTRACTS
After a year of writing letters to publishers, badgering friends to finish book reviews,
and pounding out last minute abstracts myself, I am finally starting to learn my craft.
The Journal of Ethnobiology is now on the review list of most major publishers of
ethnobiological works. If any of our readers are interested in becoming reviewers, please
send me your name, address, and preferred subject area. We will also welcome unsolicited
reviews if you discover a book that you want to share with our readership. Significant
works that have been in press for awhile but may have been missed the first time around,
should also be considered.
—Charles H. Miksicek
Book Review Editor
Book Review
Fading Feast: A Compendium of Disappearing American Regional Foods. Raymond
Sokolov. New York: E. P. Dutton, Inc., 1983. 276 pp., illus., $6.95, paperback.
Fading Feast is a delightful collection of twenty-four essays collected by gastro-
ethnographer Raymond Sokolov, on a two year expedition sponsored by the American
Museum of Natural History through the backwaters and byways of the American heart-
land. This Indiana Jones of the culinary set, sought out endangered dishes from Tilla-
mook Cheddar to Terlingua Chile, Kosher Challah to Cajun Boudin Blanc; foods with
regional flavor and ethnic identity. In our homogenized and mass-marketed culture,
most of these traditional dishes are only reserved for family gatherings and seasonal
feasts. Others are only found in gourmet and specialty shops.
Many of these regional specialties are losing out to their more commercially market-
able cousins. The small Key Lime, also known as the Mexican Lime, has been replaced
y the Tahitian Lime, actually a green lemon-hybrid with questionable parentage. Maine
lowbush blueberries are far more difficult to harvest, process, and ship than the larger,
mercial species imported from Persia. Virginia hams take much longer to smoke and age
Prt than the brine-cured, water-injected product available from our local packing
or we Other delicacies are just plain rare, such as the Michigan morel, La Jolla abalone,
P nesota wild rice. Still others, like white lightning are downright illegal. ae
have — the most sobering tales in Fading Feast deal with traditional delicacies og
Native eT ne by government regulations or competing business interests. “
and ie harvest in the Pacific Northwest has been severely impacted by ssp “
whlch “e t fishing, the timber industry, and damming the wild streams. een v9 A
govern as always been tainted by the cowboy-shepherd rivalry, 1s NOW being — :
shipm ment permit regulations that favor recreational vehicles over ranchers. cpus :
white a - gooseberries is strictly regulated because they are an alternate host for “
that ae a ter rust. Department of Agriculture regulations on meats are sO en
bird ae with tenacious pin-features, have been replaced by turkeys as the a a ot
in Kent cken has replaced squirrel in Brunswick stew, and you will never find a blac
ucky Burgoo.
94 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 4, No,!
You are what you eat is more than just a trite phrase. The food we eat is a reflectia
of our cultural heritage. Delicate, wafer-thin piki bread, made from blue corn grown wit
the proper ceremony, ground on a stone metate, and cooked on a red-hot pihi stones
elegant expression of everything that epitomizes traditional Hopi society. Black-eyel
peas and rice express the ties of South Carolina Gullah culture to its African roots, :
I have always felt that the more senses that are used in a learning experience, i
stronger a lesson is learned. Each essay in Fading Feast is followed by a collection 0
traditional recipes that will tantalize the nose and palate.
A review of a “cookbook” may seem a little out of place in a “serious” scientific
journal, and yet a regional feast has been an important part of most of the recent Eth .
biology Conferences. In San Diego we tasted an astounding variety of Japanese dei
cacies, in Oklahoma we feasted on buffalo, and in Tucson we sampled traditional Papage
and Southwestern fare. After a Northwest Coast banquet that included baked same
smoked ooligan, and salmonberry sprouts, many of the participants at the Seattle cor
ference wondered what next year’s gathering in Boston would have to offer. It wout
seem only logical to open to the chapter of Fading Feast that describes a traditional New i
England clambake and start hunting for a cord of hardwood, a truckload of rece |
:
bushels of clams, and dozens of eager volunteers. It would also seem appropriate to inv
Raymond Sokolov as the after dinner speaker.
ca
Book Review
Hoko River: A 2500 Year Old Fishing Camp on the Northwest Coast of wee: —
Edited by Dale R. Croes and Eric Blinman. Pullman: Washington State er |
Laboratory of Anthropology, Reports of Investigations, No. 58, 1980. x*
illus., $9.50, paperback.
m edge of the |
The Hoko River Site was a coastal fishing camp on the northe Like the we
tion due to the constantly wet, anaerobic environment. Faunal remains ee am
the site include a vast array of mollusks, fish, birds, land mammals, a
Botanical artifacts include basketry, cordage, wooden fishhooks, con}
wedges, and wooden handles for hafting microliths. Pollen and noe
— are also discussed. Information derived from the experiment
and utilization of various artifact types is also presented. den
Hoko River includes a sie de eee on Ethnohistory by Jenel Ngee
Maureen Brinck-Lund which provides very useful historic and ethnograp sont provi
Detailed analyses are provided for each artifact class. The methodology ee pecal®
Interesting insights into the problems and potentials of wet-site archaeo , the OF |
much of the detailed data from Ozette Village is not as yet widely av » archacolo®
parative data included in Hoko River will prove invaluable to other wet-sit
and paleoecologists. king with
Hoko River will make those paleoethnobiologists that are used to wo
from open sites with much poorer preservation, green with envy-
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 95
Book Review
Farming Practice in British Prehistory. Edited by Roger Mercer. Edinbrugh University
Press, 1981. viiit 245 pp., illus., 9.50 Pounds Sterling, paperback.
Farming Practice in British Prehistory is a collection of papers from a symposium
held in honor of Robert Munro at the University of Edinburgh in 1980 on prehistoric
farming and its relevance to modern agricultural problems. It begins with a brief history
of agrarian society in the British Isles and an overview of modern British agriculture.
Peter Fowler’s chapter, ‘“Wildscape to Landscape” provides data on prehistoric field
systems derived from an analysis of aerial photography. Halliday, Hill, and Stevenson
examine “Early Agriculture in Scotland”. Sian Rees reports on prehistoric agricultural
tools, including sickles, ards (Celtic plows), and brush hooks. P. Rowley-Conwy suggests
that much of the northem European pollen data should be re-evaluated not in terms of
the more traditional interpretation of slash and burn land clearance, but in favor of more
extensive clearance and permanent field systems. He cites long-term yield data from
from cereal crops after fifty years of continuous farming by traditional methods. Peter
Reynolds discusses the results of three research projects at the Butser Iron Age Farm,
dealing with experimentally replicated and utilized ards, the yields of prehistoric grain
types- emmer and spelt wheat, and the competition between field weeds and crops.
(I have often wondered why Reynolds’ book, Iron Age Farm: The Butser Experiment,
has not received more attention in the American literature on experimental archaeology.)
Gordon Hillman presents guidelines for interpreting crop husbandry practices from the
A. J. Legge focuses on Iron Age cattle husbandry. Michael Ryder reports on skins,
fleece, and other important products from prehistoric livestock. Alexander Fenton dis-
cusses another significant animal product, manure which was critical to maintaining the
high yields reported in earlier chapters.
Although the specific geographic focus of this research is the British Isles, and more
generally temperate Europe; the data, models, and methods presented in this volume will
be of interest to any investigator studying traditional agricultural problems.
CHM
REFERENCE CITED
Reynolds, Peter J. 1979. Iron-Age Farm: The Butser Experiment. London: British
Museum Publications, Ltd.
May 1984 97
RAYMOND MAURICE GILMORE
1 January 1907 — 31 December 1983
Photograph: Mike Hatchimonji, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History
Ray Gilmore leading a whale-watching expedition.
well 31 December 1983, the San Diego community lost one of its most seersnn
binbac scientists, Dr. Raymond M. Gilmore. His sudden death on the eve of his //t
his 1 “Y Occurred as he was about to lead a whale-watching boat excursion. Throughout
is life, Ra thoughtfulness. He
Was n ° ae
ete an engaging storyteller and a precise lecturer. An ethnobiologist before a
hiss erg Into vogue, he ignored academic boundaries. Scarcely any subject in my
shite and anthropology seemed to escape his scrutiny. His 65 published popular anc
oli wu Papers cover the subjects of descriptive taxonomy, zooarchacology, 5 Sopa
Y, and marine mammal studies.
y Was a person who epitomized enthusiasm, energy, and
98 Vol, 4, No. |
Ray Gilmore took his A.B. and M.A. in zoology and anthropology at the University
of California, Berkeley. During summers he collected birds and mammals extensively in
California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Alaska. He spent one summer excavating Santa
Cruz Islands shellmounds off Santa Barbara.
After a year as Ranger
Naturalist at Yosemite, Ray
went to Harvard in 1934 for
doctoral studies as a Gibbs
Fellow. At the end of the
following summer he was in-
vited by the Rockefeller Foun-
dation to join a team of 65
scientists for a two and a half
year stint in Brazil studying
yellow fever epidemiology. Ex-
cept for a brief period back in
the States to marry Elizabeth
Cotter of the American Mus-
eum and to complete his Ph.D.
at Cornell University (Ithaca
was his birthplace), Ray was to
. 2 , / iJmort
he built treetop platforms to Photograph courtesy of Mrs. Raymont 2 a
live-trap canopy animals for Ray Gilmore during his epidemeological suds
blood samples and he collected Matto Grosso, Brazil, in the 1930s.
skins and skeletons for United
States museums. Always inquisitive and thorough, he kept volumino
animals he handled, even drawing wing shpes and making color sketch
parts. In the rubber collecting area of northeast Bolivia he built two hosp
missioned medical boats to attend to the needs of the scattered rubber ne bio
Both his master’s and doctoral theses dealt with Bering Sea area a trappeé
geography in relation to glaciation. During the summer of 1981 he Ne ,
with St. Lawrence Island Eskimos. A spin-off of this research was Rays
interest in the peopling of the New World and the dating of Early Man sites. —
In late 1944 Ray went to the Smithsonian Institution as Associate |
mals. One of his jobs was to sort through 20,000 archaeological mamm
published four important papers on zooarchaeology. Two were conce
sites in Pennsylvania and the state of Coahuila, Mexico. Two others,
Antiquity, and the other in the Journal of Mammalogy, discussed the stat
faunal identification. In the latter, Ray wrote, “This type of work Is ‘ y the
identifiers to be an unmitigated drudge. There is also a desire on the par with the res
Ologist to receive his identifications as soon as possible for his ae . as appropri
that the identifier’s own work is interrupted.” Some of his advice 5 J” g th rep
us notes on the
es of their 5
itals and co
continuins
of Mat
, He
: car
one in A™
te of the 2
dered by e :
° ‘ e arm ‘
today as when written in 1949. For instance, he recommended, “In foi? the collect”
; : e og 110
on the collection, mention can be made not only of the species oe of the species "
and the possible significance of their presence and abundance, but
May 1984 99
”
found in the collection and the possible significance of their absence.” He encouraged
the permanent preservation and conspicuous marking of critical bones such as elements
of species no longer found in the region. “This is an important point, because doubts as
to one’s own identifications of questionable and critical species always arise, and the
pertinent bones will be desired in all good conscience for reexamination. They should
be readily available.”
With his many years of experience with South American biota and his background
in zooarchaeology, Ray was a natural candidate to write “The Fauna and Ethnozoology
of South America” for vol. 6 of Julian H. Steward’s Handbook of South American
Indians (1950, Smithsonian Institution).
From 1946 to 1958 Ray worked for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, first
in Washington, later at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. Ray’s
interest in whales, dolphins, and porpoises flowered during this period, an interest that
occupied most of his own teaching and research for the next three and a half decades. In
1958 he became Research Associate in Marine Mammalogy at the San Diego Natural
History Museum. The following year he led the first whale-watching boats to view gray
whales off the San Diego coast. He took smaller tours to observe the Baja California
ons lagoons of the grays in Scammons and San Ignacio Lagoons. Under National
Science Foundation sponsorship in 1969 and again in 1970 he led teams of scientists into
the Southern Hemisphere to survey marine mammals and birds. Each winter he enter-
— in the best sense of the word, over 5,000 people on San Diego whale-watching
ours.
A member of the Phi Sigma, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Xi, Ray was also an honor-
ary foreign member of the prestigious Venezuelan Socieded de Ciencias Naturales La
Salle. He was an active member of the Committee on Polar Research, the National
Research Council, and the National Academy of Science. When in 1982 the San Diego
Museum of Man and the San Diego Natural History Museum co-sponsored the Fifth
Annual Ethnobiology Conference, the local committee dedicated the conference in
Ray Gilmore’s honor.
mri Was no ordinary person, as anyone fortunate enough to know him will attest.
is 1s academic years he was closely associated with some of the great names . this
mies - such as Ales Hrdlicka, Joseph Grinnell, Alex Wetmore, Remmington Kellogg,
Piel oe Andrews, Robert Cushman Murphy, Harry Swarth, the Kroebers, Carl O.
tology = tiimtan and many others in the fields of anthropology, biology, and Agent
semis excellent storyteller, Ray had memorable anecdotes about them all. pon
Py ean great files, Neotoma fashion, on these related subjects and seemed ace i
knew gas by providing references. His humor and vivacity are missed by all w
—Amadeo M. Rea
San Diego Natural History Museum
(For more detailed information, see Environmental Southwest, Spring 1984.)
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 101
NEWS AND COMMENTS
ETHNOBIOLOGY IN THE NEWS:
The Louisiana state Attorney General, William Guste, ruled on 29 November 1983 that alligators
are legally fish. e ruling came in response to a request for a line of credit from the state Market
Commission to eine farmers. The ae statute failed to digs whether alligators fell within
the i of the definition of “livestock,’”’ and thus would eligible for credit at the tax-payers’
nse. “Livestock” mpassed “domesticated fish,” ich turn, in Louisiana state law, in-
he “all fh, crustaceans, ia turtles and other living aquatic resources which have sport or other
urea value.”” Alligators, by Guste’s ruling, are aquatic resources and thus domestic —
e la f
under t w. If this smacks of Linnean revisionism, consider that Mr. Guste in 1974 r cock
day legal, since roosters, having only two legs, are excluded from the purview of the state’s laws
governing cruelty to animals. An animal, he noted, generally means “mammals or four-footed crea-
tures.” (From the University of Washington Daily of 1 December ‘1983,) Is there an employment
opportunity here for a qualified consulting aneridat ts with a specialty in folk classification?
REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION:
Darrell Posey, Director of the Laboratorio de Etnobiologia (a/c, Dept— de Biologia, Universidade
Federal do Maranhao, 65.000 Sao Luis, MA, Brazi il) writes that he has been commissioned to prepare a
on ethnoentomology for the Annual Review a Entomology. If you can help with
reprints, references, or editorial suggestions please contact Mr. y.
Anton Saurwein (c/o Institut fiir Volkerkunde an der Universitat Miinchen, signee tee ee
D-8000 Munchen 40, West Germany), editor of MEXICON: Aktuelle Informationen und Stud
Mesoamerika, bimonthly journal of the Internationale Gesellschaft fiir Mesoamerika- pare e.v.,
solicits reports on current archaeological, ethnohistorical and anthropological research as well as
an :
SOCIETY OF ETHNOBIOLOGY T-SHIRTS:
Trish Flaster (523 N, Grant, Fort Collins, CO 80521) is in charge of the society’s fledgling
Apparel Division, offering for $8.00 US (plus mailing charges) an elegant T-shirt with our journal
logo prominently displayed on a rich clay-toned background. A variety of sizes and styles for men
and women are available. Be the first on your jogging route to sport this unique T-shirt design and
support your society in the bargain.
KAYAPO ETHNOBIOLOGY SYMPOSIUM:
The © Universidade Federal do Maranhao, $40 Luts, Maranhio state, Brazil, hosted a ~~
ha
oe Pic: Importance of Social Insects to the Kay
ase E. Kerr, Head of Biology, Univ. Cet — Maran
- oN Sieepn of insect control used by the Kaya
; de Camargo, Dept— de apo Univ. Fed. do Maranhao
“ ane of stingless bees by the Kay
ala ren, Dept. of Ornithology, iacs Goeldi
a Alea tATenen of the Kayapé
a, UNICAMP (Bio. Dept.) & SIL
Ge Ehime "a topoea in Kayapo Bird Names *
isabetsky, Dept. Pharmacology, Univ. Fed. do Para
De lao: : and Concepts of Disease
Ctrere, Jr., Dept— de Biologia, Univ. Fed. do Maranhao
No- -icthyology and ethnoecology of the Gorotire Kayapo
102 NEWS AND COMMENTS Vol. 4, No. |
Dr. Anthony Anderson, Dept— de Botanica, Museu Gooldi
Management of secondary forests and forest islands
Dr. Darrell A. Posey, Laboratorio de Etnobiologia, UFMa
Ethnobiology as an integrative methodology for inter-disciplinary research
Kayap6 specialists were: Jos€ Ute (ethnobotanist), Kwyra Ka (ethnozoologist), Beptoopoop (shaman)
and Takak Kayapé (10 year old son of Kwyra K3)
EIGHTH ANNUAL ETHNOBIOLOGY CONFERENCE
The program and schedule for the Eighth Annual Ethnobiology Conference is now being develop-
ed. It will be held in the Boston, Massachusetts, area in Spring 1985. Details will be announced later.
Tentative plans include symposia on zooarchaeology and New England ethnobiology, and optional
field trips to the Plymouth Plantation and to laboratories and field stations to view collections.
May 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
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ae
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NOTICE TO AUTHORS
in thisissue. All papers should be typed doubled-spaced with pica or elite type on 8% x 11
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CONTENTS
GEO Ceme A BME SAND we eee ee eee ca bes i
BETWEEN THE GORILLA AND THE CHIMPANZEE:
A HISTORY OF DEBATE CONCERNING THE EXISTENCE
OF THE KOOLOO-KAMBA OR GORILLA-LIKE CHIMPANZEE
INTENTIONAL BURNING OF DUNG AS FUEL:
A MECHANISM FOR THE INCORPORATION OF CHARRED SEEDS
INTO THE ARCHEOLOGICAL RECORD
Naomi F. Miller and Tristine Lee Smart .......... 006s 0sc een e eee 15-28
EVIDENCE OF WOOD-DWELLING TERMITES IN a
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE SOUTHWESTERN :
UNITED STATES
Karen R. Adams
.
+ ie
bef BA Ni hie FP aos i A ane eR ek ee a a ee ae ee tee ae Ye ee Ter ar te a
Brian Morris
oe
oe ee
en ae ee ee a a een ek e a eae ee Cee ee ee
eam
a ey See
2 ee i ae a Oe a Re Be ee
ALTERNATIVES TO TAXONOMIC HIERARCHY:
THE SAHAPTIN CASE ‘
Eugene S, Hunn and David H. Aigo ee ee ‘'_ oe j i i ‘
many possible interpretations and tailor our linguistic description to fit It. . other
instead first describe language in linguistic terms, then consider relationships ‘
types of interpretation, rather than risk jumbling them together from the start.
Considering all the problems with the attempts to posit cover classes
perceived similarities among classes, one might wish to simply ignore we ea in BF
classes in the description of an ethnobiological domain. But for reas +
preceding section we must still try to posit them, though with techniques
those reviewed here. Any class so posited must have at least one distinctiv
makes it acceptable as a semantic class, and which is shared by its subclasses.
CO-HYPONYMY
: was noted above that many of the highest-level terms in Th eT
classification have multiple senses. It is one of the tasks of anyone desct stud}
ceous weed’, and include in our analysis only those senses which occu
investigation. In order to illustrate how the study of polysemous ee evel T
understand the folk classification system, several senses of the three highes i
terms for “plant” (o gota ‘tree’, o gumini ‘vine’, and 0 rurubu ‘herbaceo"
detailed below.5
ess informs
:
testing fot :
by yw |
other the
e feature whit
1k biologie
obeld
weed) . |
Sees ineien anaes econ NA
:
i
sks presenti
hoose one of his
;
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 118
(n, = noun; vb. = verb):
gota 1 n. ‘tree’ (including saplings) contrasts with gumini 1 ‘vine’ and rurubu j
‘herbaceous weed’ (excludes palms, cycads)
gota 2 n. ‘relatively large tree’ (excluding undergrowth of saplings) vs. rurubu 2
‘weeds, unclutivated undergrowth’ and various cultivated plants
gota 3 n. ‘lumber’ (wood from a gota ] ‘tree’ used for manufactures) contrasts with
other materials of manufacture, e.g. katu ‘thatch’, paku ‘nails’, etc.
gota 4 n. ‘firewood’ vs. rage-rage ‘kindling wood’
gota 5 n. ‘woody tissue, wood’ vs. kai ‘bark’, ngomaba ‘throat (i.e. central steam
tissue)’, etc.
(i)-gota vb. ‘to be woody, to have woody tissue’ (from gota 5)
(bo-maa-)-gota-gota vb. ‘to gather firewood’ (from gota 4)
gumini 1 n. ‘vine’ vs. gota 1 ‘tree’ and rurubu 1 ‘herbaceous weed’
gumini 9 n. ‘rope’
rurubu 1 n. ‘herbaceous weed’ vs. gota } ‘tree’ and gumini 1 ‘vine’
rurubu 9 n. ‘weed, uncultivated undergrowth’ (including ‘tree’ saplings, moss at the
bases of small plants, vines growing among undergrowth etc.) vs. gota 2 and
various cultivated plants
rurubu 3 n, ‘thickness, density’ (of hair, leaves, trees, undergrowth, houses, etc.)
‘rurubu 1 vb. ‘to be thick, dense’ (from rurubu 3)
turubu 9 vb. ‘to be full of undergrowth or weeds’ (from rurubu 2)
One can easily find cases in natural Tobelo conversation where the same object may
pe denoted by two or more of these terms. For example, tree-like palm or cycad “trunks
may be called gota 4 ‘firewood’, yet palms and cycads are not in the ‘tree’ (gota 1) class.
ndergrowth’ in the context
ich he is looking for medicinal
bark of that plant he may refer to the same sapling as a gota 1 ecate
acceptable sentences like ma rurubu nenanga o gota ‘this wee d (rurubu 2
‘this is not a herbaceous weed
ed to the task of clearing the
steadfast sapling, menanga ma
undergrowth and f : : f the same
a ae [’ll just cut down this under-
rurubu toparibobi, boti ‘
, botino daba ma gota totoyanga ‘Now :
sowth (rurubu 9, including the sapling), later I’ll cut down the trees (gota 2). pear
‘onsidering the polysemy of these terms and without recognizing that separate con i
Sets are being utilized, one might be puzzled by these superficially contradictory applic
tons of terms.
Such examples of polysemous terms can be sorted out only by isolating the senses
|
114 TAYLOR Vol. 4, No,
of those terms and noting the contrast-sets in which they occur. Where this can be don, _
as in this example of the contrast between gota }, ‘tree’, gumini 1 ‘vine’ and rurubu),
‘herbaceous weed’ it is possible to argue that, in these senses, the three terms are o
hyponyms; that is, that they are terms labeling contrasting subordinate classes which a
included in some superordinate class. Lyons (1977:298) has noted that “lexical gaps” in
English frequently occur in which terms seem to contrast but have no superordinate tem
in a taxonomy.
In cases such as that of ‘tree’, ‘vine’, and ‘herbaceous weed’ in the Tobelo languag,
we must posit a higher-level class, which we may call PLANT or FLORAL FORM, whit
has these senses of each of the Tobelo terms listed above as its subclasses. The method of
co-hyponymy consists essentially of identifying a set of terms which can be shown
directly contrast in at least one of their senses, but which have no superordinate term®
label the entire set. Having posited a FLORAL FORM domain by this method, we stl
have not resolved the problem of the boundaries of the domain, although it must mitt
mally include the full range of the three subordinate terms on whose basis the FLORAL
FORM class was posited. To more directly establish the boundary of the FLORAL
FORM domain, we may turn to the method of “definitional implication.”
parenting
DEFINITIONAL IMPLICATION
The method of “definitional implication”, which is tentatively introduced here #8
method for the determination of certain kinds of lexical domains, is based upo®
assumption that the description of any set of lexemes in a language is only a part of
larger task of describing the entire lexicon of that language. In some cases, tne
tion of certain lexemes requires positing covert classes of objects to which those cae
are presumed to apply. Some of the Tobelo terms discussed below (such ght
‘female’, or ‘fat’) seem to be partly defined by the classes of objects to # opetl
presumed to apply, and cannot be identified by any characteristics of objects Po”
labeled by the terms themselves. sett
The results of making these assumptions about positing unlabeled classes ot |
in Fig. 1. That diagram represents all the basic or “generic” terms witht hast nsistet
BIOTIC FORM domain as if they were on the same basic (or B°) level. pate in fob
with the fact that the distinctiveness of these terms has long been recognize’ fai |
biological nomenclature, and, though evidence for their distinctiveness C4" Tobe
herein (see Taylor 1980b:244-252) it is possible to nomenclaturally distingv @«
a below the basic level (i.e. B— terms) from terms at basic and higher t lexic
B™ terms). Levels below B® are not represented in this diagram. The hin tl led
labeled classes in the FLORAL FORM (or PLANT) domain are only tt
while some FAUNAL FORMS are labeled two levels above the basic term» extend
numbers of named basic classes cannot be included on this diag ; hen |
we the right of most contrast sets of basic terms, and the dots fon
listed, will substitute for the other basic terms not listed (there am
proximately 146 basic classes of ‘fish’, though only two are listed). The
the broken line connecting the ‘human being’ (0 nyawa) class to _
be discussed below. suggest? :
Alinei (1974, cf. Taylor 1977), whose theory of lexical structure se t to gen |
view of a lexical domain (Alinei 1974:69-151), offers a systematic ate a
the underlying structure of lexemes in one domain in terms of sense-c? : |
annot be
wing the
December 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 115
tali ma kiarono ‘( ) sponges’
o hulumiti ‘ross, , bryozoa, smaller algae’
o gauk: shrooms, shelf fungi’
0 pahi *
BIOTIC FORM
SEXUAL BIOTIC FORM
|
fo
Waa
+ ~
= a >
f=)
FAUNAL FORM
o aewanl ;
feck
Hl |
aE:
FIG. 1—Tobelo Classification of BIOTIC FORMS above the Basic (B) Level.
FLORAL FORM
~~
e
g
Z
rE
-— o gumini o bidoho
e ‘vine’ o hurutu
o gota o fahihuku
‘tree’ o
ence ma starfish
o gugull
meer sa
o goeru ‘sea anemone’
‘deer’
ar a ee . sis ae cae
o furu ‘ant’
totaleo eeeee
TE ggg | omeie
o hohonotoko
weeee
brig Nn a
+ + + c
= = =
116 TAYLOR Vol. 4, No,?
definition of other lexemes. I have further restricted the analysis to outlining the hypo.
nymic relations of this posited BIOTIC FORM domain to other labeled and unlabelt
classes within the domain.
It is clear from definitions of lexemes within folk taxonomies that a superording:
class may appear in the definition of subordinately related classes. Thus, for exampk,
“bird” will probably have ‘“‘animal” as a feature in its definition, just as “owl” ai
“robin” will probably have the notion of “bird” in their definitions. More importantly,
“bird” will probably also be found in the definition of at least the primary senses of other
words too. It is the implied class of subjects of verbs like tweet or chirp (compare how!
and its implied subject owl); it is also likely to be found in a definition of beak, |i
perch, or feather. If, in English, we happened to have names for the various types ofbi
(robin, sparrow, etc.) but no word for “bird”, we could still posit a BIRD class becautt
the occurrence of a sense-component BIRD in the definition of so many lexemes®
English would allow us to posit a covert BIRD class implied in the definitions of thos
terms. It is more parsimonious to posit the class and then use it in those terms’ defit
tions than it would be to repeat in each term’s definition a more detailed statement 0!
the class of objects (i.e., birds) to which each of those terms can apply.
Similarly, I have posited biotic classes apparently implied in the definitions of the
rich Tobelo lexicon dealing with animal and plant forms. Ethnobiologists have oftes
noted the wealth of terms applying to animals or plants, but have seldom used these
derive covert classes. In the case of Tobelo terms, I systematically reviewed all entris
in Hueting’s (1908) Tobelo-Dutch dictionary as well as my own data on terms relating
to plants and animals, first with a key informant familiar with my semantic ao
later with other Tobelo at Kampung Pasir Putih (Jailolo District, Halmahera). We sé 4
as potentially productive several hundred terms for plant and animal parts and poe
for cutting, processing, cultivating, or handling plants, animals, or their pr
sounds or actions done by, or for characteristics of, plants or animals: in short, any r
that seemed related to living things and which might possibly contain some sv ee
living things as part of their definition. These were quickly narrowed down to 4 =
fraction of the number originally investigated, because rough attempts to —_ p
ponential definitions of such terms quickly indicated that it was not necessary 0
any covert classes in order to define most of the terms. be get
Ideally, sense-components within definitions in the Tobelo lexicon ee
using Tobelo lexemes for sense-components which are realized in the Tobelo nyed 8
Any metalanguage (including potentially one derived from Tobelo) could be 3 full
those sense-components not directly realized in Tobelo. This goal of a 1970),
“emic dictionary” remains extremely difficult for many practical reasons Fay
although we can still analyze individual domains or portions of domains using
tions that would make up such a dictionary. - mals do nah
pon examination, the great majority of terms relating to plants and ee in thee
when adequately defined, turn out to contain any classes of BIOTIC FO of objee® |
definitions. It is important to emphasize that we should posit covert dane
in the definitions of terms only if alternative definitions cannot suffice ™ "so
term in question. It is insufficient to argue that, because terms like bape?
only to plants or animals, they presume the existence of a PLANT oF do not req
If those structures can be defined by reference to shape or function they
notions of PLANT or ANIMAL in the definition. = non-livis
We may consider in order the four features or sense-components yee which 2
sexual vs. non-sexual, breathing vs. non-breathing, and fatty vs. non-fatty
US to posit covert classes above the B + level, then we will co
classes of FLORAL FORM (or PLANT) implied in the definitions of 0
evidence has been found for positing covert subclasses of FAUNAL FORE
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 117
1. Living vs. Non-living (+L vs. —L)
Organisms which may be said to ‘live’ (-wango 4) or ‘die’ (-bonenge 1) constitute the
class of BIOTIC FORMS, the class of all organisms which are the implied subjects of ‘live’
and ‘die’, a class implied in the definition of these lexemes. Only this primary sense of
the verbs ‘live’ and ‘die’ can be used in the participial form ma ngango ‘living’ or ma
bonenge ‘dead’. However, several other senses of these terms must be distinguished. Thus
a motor or a fire may be said to -wango 9 ‘live’ (‘to run’, ‘to burn’) or ‘die’ (‘stop running’
‘stop burning’), but the participial forms ma ngango ‘living’ and ma bonenge ‘dead’ can
refer only to BIOTIC FORMS and not to these special cases. A disease or recurrent
sickness, as well as any of over a dozen locally-named varieties of o tokata ‘ghost’ may be
said to -wango 3 ‘act up, flare up’ (i.e., be temporarily active), though the form -bonenge
‘die’ is not applied to the apparent disappearance of these entities and they may never
be considered ma ngango ‘living’. There is in addition another sense, -wango 4 ‘to grow
(of its own accord without being planted)’, contrasting with -datomo ‘be planted, culti-
vated’, This is a special sense which again does not form the participial, and cultivated
plants can of course be said to -wango ‘live’, The class of BIOTIC FORMS may be
posited as the highest-level covert class establishing the domain of investigation.
2. Sexual vs. Non-sexual ( +S vs. —S)
A class of SEXUAL BIOTIC FORMS may be posited on the basis of the lexemes
(ma) nauru ‘male’ and (ma) beka ‘female’; that is, the class of SEXUAL BIOTIC FORMS
contains all those BIOTIC FORMS expected to have ‘male’ and ‘female’ subclasses. It
includes both FAUNAL and FLORAL forms, as well as ‘seaweeds’ and “black coral’,
Only © pabi ‘coral’, o gauku ‘mushrooms and shelf fungi’, o /ulumiti ‘moss, mould,
bryozoa, smaller algae’, and o tali ma kiarono ‘(certain) sponges’ are not expected to
Possess this distinction. While the male-female distinction is recognized as one associ-
ated with mating and reproduction at least among aewani ‘animals’ (and, of course,
organism
be ‘male’
8, :
Beathing vs. Non-breathing ( +B vs. —B)
of ocak BREATHERS, including all FLORAL and FAUNAL FORMS, form a subclass
EXUAL BIOTIC FORMS defined by the ability to ‘breathe’ (-womaba). Ability to
—— implies possession of a ‘throat’ (ma ngomaba). Apparently considered the
Organ, the mgomaba ‘throat’ refers to the esophagus and windpipe of verte-
118 TAYLOR Vol. 4, No.2
brates and to the esophagus of other animals, and to the stem cavities or the central
core of stem tissue in vascular plants. It seems to be considered an organ of centri
importance to the survival of plants and animals.
I have tentatively noted (Fig. 1) the posited existence of a class of organisms, the
NON-BREATHERS, which may contrast with BREATHERS as the subclass of all SEX-
UAL BIOTIC FORMS which cannot ‘breathe’ and have no ‘throat’. This class, the most
tentative of all those posited here, is not required by or implied in the definition of any
lexeme. It unites seaweeds, sea grasses, and ‘black coral’. All members of this class at
plant-like organisms living attached in similar ways to the sea floor or to objects on tht
sea floor, and are considered to have ‘male’ and ‘female’ forms but to lack ‘throats.
The Tobelo B *! term o rurubu o gabika ‘seaweed’ is anomalous in that it does not com-
trast with any other B +! term; it is also nomenclaturally anomalous and can be shown!0
be a recent introduction translating the North Moluccan Malay term rumput laut ‘sa
we
4, Fatty vs. Non-fatty (+F vs. —F)
The Tobelo noun baki ‘fat’, and verb -baki ‘to have fat’ are other lexemes that seem
to be defined partly by the class of objects presumed to possess them, and we may cal
that class FAUNAL FORMS. All aewani 1 ‘animals’ and bianga ‘molluscs’ are presunté
to have baki ‘the layer of substance occurring between the outer skin and the flesh o
FAUNAL FORMS’—even those FAUNAL FORMS (such as tiny insects) which are 10°
small for Tobelo to physically determine whether such a layer is present.
The BREATHERS which are not FAUNAL FORMS may be called the cea
FLORAL FORMS (or PLANTS). We have seen that such a class must be posited becai#
of the co-hyponymy of the contrast set ‘tree’-‘vine’-‘herbaceous weed’. Several =
appear to be candidates for having the FLORAL FORM class in their definition,
perhaps the strongest would be the word utu which may be glossed ‘the body of Bi
of a PLANT on which a PLANT part is located’. Thus leaves, roots, flowers, ¢t» er
said to be ma utu-oka ‘on the plant’ (even though they are not on the main es
plant). No “part” of any loose branch, bamboo or wooden vessel, or of any non-FL
FORM such as mushroom or seaweed, or other object may be said to. be mae fun
except parts of FLORAL FORMS, In this sense the term does not label a taxon neo
tion like the noun aewani ‘animal’, but it is often correctly translated ‘plant “we
Thus to distinguish the ‘tobacco plant’ (0 tabako) from the ‘cigarette’ (also 0 .
Tobelorese may add ma utu ‘its entirety of plant’, i.e. “the plant.” +3 Jevel at!
To summarize the discussion of classes tentatively posited at the s able })
above, we may offer componential definitions of the covert classes posited (T whi
The fact that such definitions can be arrived at indicates that these are REATEBR
could be used by the Tobelo themselves. All of these classes except the NON
class were found necessary to posit in order to define lexemes in the ToBs ston of #
The NON-BREATHER class has so many distinctive features, and the 7 sive,
‘seaweed’ from its ‘black coral’ subclasses seems so atypical and probably it cou
the class has been posited here for those reasons. Because no such ae four
sustained for grouping together the asexual biotic forms into one class, grouped
classes having the features +L (living) and —S (non-sexual) have not mee
one posited class, and do not appear in this summary. three oO"
In addition to these classes at level B *9 or higher, there is — a these om”
classes of FLORAL FORM: BAMBOO, GRAIN, and PANDAN. eps" ot Xe
classes has been observed lexicalized in some phrase of the form ‘rather like :
X’ is some particularly focal member of the covert class. t the gt! i
___ It should be noted that the form o bunga ‘decorative flower’, seen er conte
in Figure 1, seems to be a recent intrusive term from Indonesian, jos
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 119
TABLE 1.—Unlabeled Classes of Tobelo BIOTIC FORM Above BY? Level
Level Unlabeled Class Componential Definition
p*6 BIOTIC FORM +L
B*5 SEXUAL BIOTIC FORM +L +§
Bet BREATHER +L +8 +B
B*4 =NON-BREATHER +L +8 —
B*3 ~~ FAUNAL FORM +L +8 +B +F
B*3 FLORAL FORM (=PLANT) +L 48 +B OTF
planting and cultivating flowers around the home for purely decorative purposes is
apparently a recent phenomenon. Although this term bunga is polysemous in Tobelo,
it is apparently used to designate this subclass of FLORAL FORMS; thus it is not neces-
sary to posit a covert, DECORATIVE FLOWER class in this case.
The covert B +1 classes of FLORAL FORM, along with the evidence for positing
them, may now be considered:
1. BAMBOO
The posited BAMBOO class is lexically realized by the form hoka o tiba-oli ‘rather
like a tiba (Schizostachyum sp.) bamboo’, and includes ten basic (B®) classes. Like the
non-lexemic phrases which realize the other covert classes of FLORAL FORM, the
phrase means “rather like” the most culturally important basic class of plants within
the covert class,
The class must be posited because only the young shoots of members of this BAM-
BOO class may be termed o diburu (Dodinga dialect, cf. 0 jiburu in Boeng dialect of
Tobelo). Thus this lexeme must be defined as ‘young shoot of BAMBOO’, and the covert
‘lass is implied in the definition of the lexeme. Hueting’s (1908:22 and 325) Tobelo-
Dutch dictionary lists the terms 0 badiku and o tabadiku, which he notes are of Terna-
tese origin, and which he translates “bamboo, general name” and “bamboo” respec-
‘ly. These words were unfamiliar to my Boeng and Dodinga dialect informants,
however,
a GRAIN
The “basic” class 9 pine ‘rice’ is subdivided into fifteen B-2 subclasses. Though
“ndoubtedly others could be found if all villages were investigated specifically for ‘rice
Varieties, these represent all varieties known at my two field site villages avers, rice is
we aor staple). The only other known subclasses of GRAIN are o boteme Italian
millet’ (Setaria italica Beauv.), and 0 guapo ‘sorghum’ (Sorghum bicolor Moench). The
to be class may be realized by the phrase boka o pine-oli ‘rather ke a . ie mi Bredh
De _n€cessary to posit this class in order to define the term (ma) afa chaff o ——
te we large vocabulary associated with rice and millet cultivation, I found no other
™ requiring GRAIN in its definition.
PANDAN is here posited as a covert class, containing five basic classes of pandana-
120 TAYLOR Vol, 4, No, 2
ceous plants, because it is required in the definition of at least one of the termsusedt
describe the handling of pandanaceous leaves: -hakoto ‘to gather PANDAN leaves’, The
apparent lexical realization of this class is quite commonly used, i.e. ‘rather like a buby
(Pandanus sp.)’ (bubo is the most culturally important form of pandanaceous plant)
The verb -bakoto cannot even be used for the superficially similar action of gathering
boboro (Nipa palm) leaves. As with the lexical realizations of other covert classes posited
here, the phrase ‘rather like an X’ could hardly be considered sufficient evidence for the
class if it were only used to describe other plants; instead, it is used as a noun to designate |
the whole class.
Before concluding, it is necessary to comment on the placement of the o maw
‘human being’ class within this scheme of Tobelo BIOTIC FORMS. Only this clas
stands out as having no basic (“generic”) terms. If one considers (as I do not) that the
purpose of positing higher-level covert classes is only to show the classificatory associ
tions of all the basic terms in the domain, then we need not concern ourselves with tht
position of this class, since it is not labeled by a basic term. Because it seems _
contests to contrast with aewani 1 ‘animal’ we may tentatively place it at level B 0
Fig. 1. In any case, these levels are only important insofar as they indicate relations 0
class inclusion among subclasses of BIOTIC FORM; no claim is made for
characteristics of terms or classes at any level except the basic one, and presumably
those who do make such claims for characteristics of particular levels (e.g. Berlin etal
1973, Brown 1977, 1979) will have means of recognizing the levels to which their gen
alizations apply. Nevertheless, the ‘human being’ class does meet the defining featurts
of the FAUNAL FORM class, and thus of all the superordinate classes, and must be
included in this diagram and in our analysis for that reason. The broken line is used 2
Fig. 1 to indicate that, while included for those reasons, this ‘human being’ class 18
ficiently different from other BIOTIC FORMS to be distinguished in that fa
iagram. With that addition, we may say that Figure 1 summarizes the posit
among labeled and unlabeled classes that form the Tobelo system of class
BIOTIC FORMS above the “basic” (or “generic”’) level.
ed relations
ification of
CONCLUSION
This paper has criticized some methods for positing covert categories cover!
cation, and introduced some others. In particular, the disadvantages of posit
categories on the basis of tests for perceived similarity among organisms sa an
sized. Categories derived from such tests may prove useful in describing local se oe
about animals and plants, but cannot produce classes of the sort that sit
tic description of a semantic domain.
By instead focusing on co-hyponymous contrast sets within folk t
examining a wide range of vocabulary items for classes implied in
axonomies, —
eta : i e
definitional implication used here do produce classes that seem to have som under
logical reality” because they can be shown to underly lexemes used in devices
study. Nevertheless, it is also possible to consider them purely heurist
may be used to describe locally perceived similarities among named ania
forms. «plication
I prefer to consider the methods of co-hyponymy and definitional ie consider
niques for establishing a lexical field (cf. Lehrer 1974:15-45)—in - mg classes®
here, the field of the BIOTIC FORM in Tobelo. The usefulness of the ON eat
posited depends primarily on their ability to assist in the description ©
relationships among labeled classes which divide up that field.
shion on the
in folk classit !
their definite ae |
be possible to avoid some of these difficulties. The methods of co-hypoPYéy ip |
December 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 121
LITERATURE CITED
ALINE], MARIO. 1974. La ene del
‘0
ATRAN, SCOTT. 1983. Ect fragmenta
and the origins of the botanical family.
an (N.S.) 18.1:51-71.
BERLIN, BRENT. 1974. Further notes on
covert categories and folk taxonomies:
a reply to Brown, Amer. Anthropol. 76:
327-331.
BERLIN, = ath DENNIS E, BREEDLOVE
H. RAVEN. 1968. Covert
ain and folk SM Amer.
Anthropol. 70:290-299.
————.. 1973. General principles of
folk biological classification. | Amer.
Anthropol. 75:214-242.
74. Principles of Tzeltal
Plant Classification: An Introduction to
the Botanical Ethnography of a Mayan-
speaking Community in Highland Chia-
pas. Academic Press, New York.
BROWN, CECIL H. 1974. Unique beginners
and covert categories in folk biolo gical
aa Amer. Anthropol. 76:325-
————.. 1977. Folk botanical life-forms:
their universality and growth. Amer,
eo yy eae 79:317-342,
1979. Folk zoological life-
foting:: their universality and growth.
Amer. Anthropol. 81:791-817.
CONKLIN, HAROLD C. 1962. Lexico-
graphical treatment of folk taxonomies.
Internat. fA
28.2: 119-1 141. mae ee cee
D’
RADE, R. G. n.d. [1962?]. wens
gg Tzeltal ethnobotany]. Un-
FITTER’ »€ds.). Academic Press, New Yor
R.S.R. 1953. The Pocket Guide
ra th Bi Birds. Dodd, Mead, New York.
a CLAUDINE. 1970. Analyse
© quelques groupements de véeg¢taux
comme introduction 3 l’tude de la clas-
ove botanique Bunaq. Pp. 1092-
31. Echan anges et Communications:
Mange Offerts 2 Claude Levi-Strauss 2
Ccasion de son 60eme Anniversaire.
U. Pouilion ~ P, Maranda, eds.) Mou-
ton, The Hagu
1979. Socially significant
plat @ species and their taxonomic posi-
in .
Univ. Pub. in Anthropol. No. 46, New
aven.
HAYS, TERENCE E. 1976. An empirical
method for the identification of covert
categories in ethnobiology. Amer.
HUETING, A. 1908. Tobeloreesch-Hol-
dsc denboek met Hollandsche-
Tobeloreesche Inhoudsopgave. Nijhoff,
The Hague.
HUNN, EUGENE. 1976. Toward a percep-
tual model of folk biological classifica-
tion. Amer. Ethnol. 3:508-524.
. 1977. Tzeltal Folk Zoology:
The pale ene: of Discontinuities in
Nat
IKEGAMI, YOSHIHIKO. 1967. Structural
semantics: a survey and problems. Lin-
otal 33:49-67
KAY, PAUL. 1971. Taxonomy and semantic
ntras :
LEHRER, ADRIENNE. 1974. Semantic
i rican
ridge.
MATRAS, J., and M. MARTIN. 1972. Con-
tribution a l’ethno-botanique des Brous
(Cambodge—Province de Ratanakiri).
ica ’Agricultur ure Tropicale et de Botani-
que Appliquée 19:1-49, 93-139.
MILLER, GEORGE A. 1956. The magical
number seven, plus or minus two: some
Kegan Paul. London
PAWLEY, ANDREW. 1970. Are emic dic-
tionaries possible? _Kivung 3.1:8-16.
PERCHONOK, JAMES and OSWALD WER-
R. 1969. Navajo systems of classifi-
some implications for ethno-
122 TAYLOR Vol. 4, No,?
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
tural Semantics: The Siriono Kinship ——___. _ 1980b. Tobelorese Ethnobio
System. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs. logy: The Folk Classification of “Biot:
SIMPSON, GEORGE. 1961. Principles of Forms.” Ph.D, dissert. (Anthrop,) Yak
imal Taxonomy. Columbia Univ. Univ., Univ. Microfilms No. 8109818,
Press, New York. ——___. 1982. Plant and animal nomen —
TAYLOR, PAUL MICHAEL. 1977. Review clature in the Tobelorese language, Pp,
(of) La Struttura del Lessico (by) Mario 41-76, in Halmahera dan Raja Amps
Alinei, Amer. Anthropol. 79:704-5. sebagai Kesatuan yang Majemuk. [£
——_—__—_- 1980a. Preliminary report on Masinambow, ed.). Spec. ed. of Bullets
the ethnobiology of the Tobelorese of LEKNAS 2.1, LEKNAS-LIPI, Jakarta.
Halmahera, North Moluccas. Pp. 215- WALLACE, A. F. C. 1961. On being just
229, in Halmahera dan Raja Ampat: complicated enough. Proc. of the Na.
Konsep dan Strategi Penelitian (E. Masi- Acad. of Sciences 47:458-464.
nambow, ed.) LEKNAS-LIPI, Jakarta.
NOTES
This report is based on fieldwork totaling 33 months, carried out among the Tobelo of Halme
hera Island during two field seasons. The first (October 1977-July 1979) was supported by#
Fellowship for Doctoral Dissertation Research in Southeast Asia from the Social Scien Resear
Council of New York, with an additional Research Grant from the Concilium of International
and Area Studies (Yale University). A second field season (December 1980-November 1981) was
supported by a grant from the National Geographic Society.
—y
.
BAM
i
Posited covert classes will here be distinguished by being written in upper case letters (eB
BOO, BIOTIC FORM).
Ned
: : ; ‘ 77:82
Hunn’s argument against the use of distinctive features in this way is surprising (Hunn 19
and footnote):
: : : ‘ ma efine ta
. .- I reject the alternative approach to taxonomic axiomatization that would d
as sets of features. Such an approach is not consonant with the po se
related to one another by set inclusion . .. [footnote:] If a taxon (t) is (t) mus
features (a, b, c), then a taxon (t-1) which is immediately included in the taxon
be defined as a set of features (a, 6, c, d). Thus t-1 cannot be a subset as it
This argument seems to confuse the distinctive features used to define a class with oa ¥
of that class (or the elements of a set). In defining classes of English = ie (c) Line:
might define parent with features like (a) Kin, (b) First ascending generation, an?
Father would require a fourth feature, (d) Male. Yet father is clearly a subclass of paré B
Ct Pe
that taxonomie
” defined cate
no
oft
>
Pig
g
e
o
eo)
5
5
o™~™
—
oO
ss
n
_—
ire
i)
w
c
a
a
ct
ma
Pp
+
nw
a
a
= .
5
sed
3
°
bo |
oO
i)
2
5
S.
=)
sya
is)
e
gories (the former based on a small number of abstract features, the latter ba tion
bers of naturally occurring shared characteristics). The aim of the semantic —
domain is to describe the meaning of each linguistic form occurring in the donner Je insolt
the sense relationships of those forms to each other. Taxonomic principles are 8°" forts:
as they can be used to structure class-inclusion and contrast relations among noted by i
forms. As for the numbers of features defining “‘categories,” his interesting we
inductively” and “deductively” defined categories does not make it less wie asin
the description of any semantic class should include at least one defining feat ia |
that class from others in the domain, (1982)
n are from Taylor ip
ot
.
This analysis of these polysemous terms and the ensuing discussio mous tem
where the example was used to indicate the importance of distinguishing Lager he metho!
nomenclature; here the example is brought up for a different purpose, eee .
of co-hyponymy in positing covert classes.
J. Ethnobiol. 4(2): 123-139 December 1984
HIERARCHY AND UTILITY IN A FOLK BIOLOGICAL
TAXONOMIC SYSTEM: PATTERNS IN CLASSIFICATION OF
ARTHROPODS BY THE KAYAPO INDIANS OF BRAZIL!
DARRELL ADDISON POSEY
Laboratorio de Etnobiologia
a/c Departamento de Biologia
Universidade Federal do Maranh@o, 65.000 Sao Luis, Maranh@o (Brazil)
an
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Section of Man
5800 Baum Boulevard, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15206 (U.S.A.)
ABSTRACT.—Kayapo Indian classification of insects and related Arthropods is character-
ized by named Basic Object Level (BOL) categories that recognize “natural discontinuities”
in gross morphological form. Organization of BOL groupings is a continuum of overlapping
or contiguous sets called “morphological sequences.” Hierarchical structures emerge when
BOL categories (or sequences) are of utilitarian and/or symbolic significance. Named sub-
ordinate differentiations are indicators of “utility;” named superordinate groupings are
indicators of symbolic significance. Hierarchical structures are, therefore, indicative of
utility, suggesting that current hierarchical and utilitarian models are not contradictory as
assumed but rather complementary.
INTRODUCTION
_ Recent papers by Hayes (1982) and Hunn (1982) have attempted to provide a
utilitarian /adaptionist framework for folk biological classification studies. Hunn (1982:
830) outlines a “fundamental contradiction” between his utilitarian “natural core model”
and the traditional, formal hierarchy model of Berlin (1973, 1976) and Berlin, et al
(1966, 1973). Hunn correctly points out that ethnobiologists have woefully ignored the
Practical, utilitarian aspects of folk classification; he is, however, unnecessarily polemic in
his critique of hierarchical models. oy ioe
This paper presents data to suggest that there is no “fundamental contradiction
between hierarchical and utilitarian models, but rather confusion between process of
Classification and purpose for classification. All societies classify some natural pheno-
mena utilizing processes of culturally influenced categorization (cognitive categories)
organized in logical patterns distinctive to that society (taxonomic structures). These
Seivigcie can be studied as cognitive/perceptual phenomena (eg., Hunn Nat Mah
1977 8 1978) or as classificatory /logical phenomena (eg. Berlin, 1972, 1973, 19763 —.
’, 1979). The latter inevitably demonstrates hierarchical characteristics of ethno
taxonomic rank.
on Description and analysis of classification processes, however, do not explain why in
The ren Society certain natural domains are classified and named while others are not.
. estion is best investigated from the utilitarian/adaptionist approach.
tion (j this paper show a correlation between the degree of subordinate di pei
ee sap differentiation below the Basic Objective Level) and utilitarian i —
(1) Ordinate categories (i.e., groupings above the Basic Object Level) ee Se si .
Named Categories that appear to be indicators of epistemological (symbolic or mytho
log} Pra , “ in-
Bical) significance, and (2) generally unnamed (covert) categories that reflect “chain
fferentia-
124 POSEY Vol. 4, No,?
ing”’ (i.e., loose groupings based on perceived similarities in morphology, behavior or use),
Utilitarian significance is therefore encoded at the subordinate level, while symbolic
importance of a domain is signalled by named superordinate categories. Thus hierarchicd
structures in the Kayap6 taxonomic system are indicative of “‘utility”’, either practical or
symbolic.
BASIC OBJECT LEVEL FORMS AND MORPHOLOGICAL SEQUENCES
Data analyzed in this paper were collected in Gorotire, the largest of the northen
Kayapé villages (7948's, 54°46tw), in the Brazilian State of Para. Consult Posey (1979)
for a detailed description of research design and methods used for folk taxonomic and
ethnoentomological investigations.
For the Kayap® all visible things are divided into four categories: (1) things that
move and grow, i.e., animals; (2) things that grow but do not move, i.e., plants; (3) things
that neither move nor grow, i.e., minerals; and (4) humans—creatures that are akin to
animals, yet unique and more powerful than animals because of their social organization.
It is the first covert (unnamed) category of “animal” with which this paper is pat
cularly concerned. All animals are sub-divided into two named groups: those with
“flesh” (called mry, or flesh), and those with “‘shells” and no flesh (called mry kati orm
flesh) .2 This latter group, animals with shells and no flesh, coincides with the scientific
in the Kayap6 ethnobiolog
ries. BOL categories reflec!
) by classifying
aracteristics—such ®
ously encoded, bu!
general shape or form is the fundamental criterion for BOL discrimination
” are found for
al sequences for te
Keven’ Re ee ries in Table!
yapo system of Arthropod classification (numbers refer to BOL categ' .
The Kayapo system shows four types of BOL categories: ( : pial
men that are always classified in the same BOL category and ate.% ified in m0
that category. (2) Transitional Forms — specimen that are frequently ia ith
than one BOL category, indicating shared morphological characteristl :
BOL groups. These are always members of the same “morphological go:
Aberrant Forms — specimen that are consistently classified in the same ©. The |
but are given special names because of distinctive morphological chat too sm4
form subgroups of the BOL category. (4) Collective Forms — pein :
be classified based on morphological characteristics. Table 1 lists Kayap6 B
by form types and includes their scientific equivalents.
by an unusual (2 |
Morphological Ny
Sequence A B Cc D (nin Tt
| | | | | | | | Be 1 12 is
BOL Level* cone 4p 67 16 8 ee a
only one of which § _ 4
FIG, 1.—Organization of BOL categories i ; sd
xy. gories into 4 morphological sequences,
(Nhy/Ny).*
December 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
125
Named, “undifferentiated utilitarian categories” are also sometimes found that group
animals of the same BOL category into a collective class because of their similar utilitar-
ian significance. Kikre-kam-mara, “house beetles,” is an example in which all house
“pests” that are beetles receive the same name, although morphologically they are said
to be different.
TABLE 1,—Levels of correspondence for insects.
BOL Categories! Common Name _ Correspondence Levels Correlation”
Focal Forms:
(1) mara beetle Order (Coleoptera) Ak
(2) ipoi true bug Order (Hemiptera) 1:1
(3) kapo roach (Family: Blattidae) +
(4) krytkafiet grasshopper, Order (Orthoptera) 1:1
cricket
(5) wewe butterfly, (Various Orders) as
moth
(6) kaflefiet dragonfly Order (Odonata) 1:1
(7) kokot leafhopper, Order (Homoptera) 1:1
cicada
(8) pure fly Order (Diptera) 1:1
(9) kopre
(10) rorot termite Order (Isoptera) 1:1
(11) mrum ant (Family: Formicidae) +
(12) amuh social wasp (Family: Various) ad
(18) mehn bee (Family: Apidae) -
Collective Forms:
(14) ngoire minute (Various) zs
insects
Aberrant Forms:
(15) karere earwig Order (Dermaptera) 1:1
Transitional Forms:
(16) kapoti giant roach, Order (Dictypotera) ”
(17) & mantid
ungont solitary bee (Various)
(18) and wasp n
mehnkamamuh honey wasp (Genus: Brachygastera)
l
B : :
OL (Basic Object Level) Categories ore
Correlations state in (+ indi-
Cates an over.
ji “o r
relation to correspondences at the scientific level of Orde
differentiation; — is under-differentiation).
j
126 POSEY Vol. 4, No.?
SUBORDINATE TAXONOMIC GROUPINGS
Groupings subordinate to BOL categories are subject to distinctive processes of
characterization, Through what Hunn (1976: 512-512) calls “attribute reduction,” cer
tain of the nebulously encoded criteria of Basic Object Level categories are selected outs
distinctive features for sub-groupings. These criteria often predict co-occurring sets
(for example, presence of hard wing covers always co-occurs with the presence of wing; —
the presence of scaly wings always co-occurs with the presence of fuzzy-elongaged abdo-
men, etc.). This type of “feature redundancy” is referred to as “configurational recot
ing” (cf. Hunn 1976:513; Bruner et al 1956:47). These criteria can be expressed ina
limited number of componential features and are more easily expressed verbally by the
Kayap6 than are the BOL characteristics. .
The degree to which a Basic Object Level category is subject to subgroupings ind- .
cates the following: (1) the importance of that particular set of organisms to the cultut —
as a whole, or (2) the particular importance of that set of organisms to cultural “sper
ialists.””
Specialized knowledge is acquired in two ways: (1) from relatives as a part of one's
ne kretx (inheritance), or (2) from another “specialist” through apprenticeship.
In a materialistic sense the Kayap® are egalitarian, but only in a materialistic sens. |
The “secrets” or rights one inherits as part of one’s n@ kretx do much to determine one’s
status. This specialized information usually deals with rights to perform certain songs,
dances, or rituals. But one’s n@ kretx might also include specialized knowledge about
curing or witchcraft,
are many types of shamans for the Kayapo. Some are more powerful that
others, deyetitlag partially upon the degree of specialized knowledge
Shamans are able to “talk to” certain animal spirits (karon). ‘So a |
are considered to be more powerful than others. The more powerful the wee |
more powerful the animal spirit to which he can speak. It is through “talking to” .
spirits (mry karon kaban) that a shaman can cause or cure illnesses, predict the futures '
talk to the spirits of ancestors. Only the most powerful shamans can talk to all soil
This means that knowledge about animals is specialized and as a result, the su
classification system of animals is specialized. classificatio®
Two major problems are evident in eliciting subordinate insect ie ine
systems: (1) to understand the totality of the subordinate groupings would nt eae
igating the knowledge of each shaman, and (2) much of this specialized me
highly secretive in nature. d wome
A third factor must also be considered. There is a large group of men # tse
who also are “curers” (me-kute-mekane-mari). These people specialize in the of plants
of a number of native diseases. Their cures are effected through concoctions
and animal parts; no manipulation of animal spirits is utilized. There ate i
in any village. My partial inventory of such curers in Gorotire alone sag
individual specialists, which was over 25 percent of the population. Thu é e
of subordinate classification that follows reflects my very limited knowl
Kayap6 system of specialized insect classification. either by spec
The categories that do show exceptional internal diticrent a se
ists or the culture as a whole, inevitably represent categories of grea cult ina
to the Kayapo. Category specialization (internal differentiations) ual " eno
useful methodological tool and provides an emic guide to significant Bi
me animal spins
borate
the tote
(Posey 1981, 1983d). — oi
Following are the BOL Categories with a brief outline of the §
nomic groupings that characterize each category. a mbikwa) with 3
Mara: Beetles and Kin, The Kayapé use the term “relative”
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 127
degrees of inclusiveness. All ombikwa are in some degree of relatedness one to the other.
Thus mara (n) ombikwa, relatives of beetles, are grouped together because of general
features of relatedness. Each grouping of ombikwa is thought to have a “father” (bam).
The father is generally distinguishable as the largest specimen of the group; for most BOL
categories no particular organism is consistently labeled as bam. For the category mara,
however, the rhinoceros beetle (Stataegus sp.) is specifically thought of as the father of
all mara and, indeed, of all things with shells and no flesh, The rhinoceros beetle is one
of the bulkiest insects found in the tropics and sometimes reaches over 15 cm in length;
its distinctive large “horns”? make it one of the most morphologically distinctive insects.
The Kayap6 call this beetle the kra-kam-djware, the beetle with teeth on its head,
The kra-kam-djware cannot be considered a separate class of mara, but rather is a
distinctive representative of the subclass mingugu. All Scarabaeidae collected in Gorotire
was classified as mingugu.
The mingugu (also called marati, or “big mara”) are subdivided further into two
groupings: (1) mingugu, and (2) mingugu-ti. The “-ti” affix denotes “largeness;” thus,
the mingugu-ti are the large scarabs (of which the kra-kam-djware is the most notable
example). The mingugu are the smaller scarabs and are sometimes said to be “children”
of the larger mingugu-ti.
The category mara has ten major subdivisions that follow to some extent the sub-
divisions of the scientific Order Coleoptera (Fig. 2).
(1) mingugu are characterized as having shiny, tough black shells and well-defined
wings underneath. The shape of the scarab is distinctive and inevitably the key non-
verbalized basis for this subgrouping. When consultants are asked how the mingugu
differ from other beetles, they emphasized that mingugu are found around dung. The
collection of min ugu made in Gorotire yielded only specimens of the superfamily
Scarabaeoide (families including Passalidae, Lucanidae, Scarabaeidae). Some small
scarabs collected were co-classified with the folk taxon ipoi.
(2) ngoi-kam-mara are beetles characterized as living on, in, or under the water.
The name of this group means “water beetles” and includes the scientific families Dytis-
cidae and Gyrinidae. The fact that these beetles can swim, as well as walk and fly seems
— no problems of anomaly for the Kayap6, who are nonetheless fascinated by such
ities.
(3) pyka-kam-mird are ground dwelling beetles as the name implies (“mara of the
earth”). Beetles in this category are believed to be carnivorous because they are frequent-
ly found near carrion. Specimens from the following scientific families were — -
Part of this folk taxon: Rhysodidae, Carabidae, Tenebrionidae, Cleridae, Cucujoidae,
Cerambycidae, and Chrysomelidae. ;
(4) ngrot are beetles classified as being somewhat elongated and having shiny shells.
The "grot are said to live in tree bark and include all the Buprestidae or wood borers.
\
mara
j : Be kararati
mojngo mingugu ngoi-kam-mara pyka-kam-mara ngrot
mingugu mingugu-ti
FIG, 2—Subdivisions of mara.
128 POSEY Vol. 4, No.2
5) mojngo are weevils. These beetles are said to live on trees and shrubs, Ther
elongated snout serves as the diagnostic feature for this folk subclass, which coincides
with the scientific families Curculionidae and Brenthidae.
SA
(6) kardrati are elongated beetles that coincide with the scientific families Elater |
idae and Lampyridae (click beetles and fire flies). The name means light-colored, tran
lucent, glowing, or shiny-winged beetles
(7) kikre-kam-mara is an “undifferentiated utilitarian category” of beetles that live
in the house and attack stored products. Most of these beetles are Dermestidae, but
various other household insects are also lumped into this category.
) mara-re is yet another undifferentiated category that includes a wide variety of
beetles, including representatives of families Bostrychidae, Lyctidae, and Dermestidae.
(9) kapran-karon are the small, rounded and colorful insects we call “lady beetles.”
The name literally means “turtle image” beetles; this group consists mostly of smal
coccinellids (Coccinellidae), These are principal crop pests and are sorted by female
informants into a variety of covert sub-classes based upon their preferred plant hosts.
(10) mara-puni are the hairy rove and carrion beetles. The name means “ugly”
or “repulsive” beetles, referring to their attraction to dead and decaying animals. Thest
beetles are sometimes co-classified with ipoi (Hemiptera) because of their poorly dev-
eloped wings and elongated bodies. The scientific families of Silphidae and Staphylinidae
are represented in this category. :
Continuous category set overlap occurs mostly with the blister beetles (Meloidae
and Mordellidae), which are co-classified with ipoi (mostly Hemiptera). The reason for
this appears to be the soft-wing covers (ka, or elytra) that more closely resemble wing
of ipoi than the hard “shells” of true beetles.
Except for the kr@-kam-djware (rhinoceros beetle), there is little evidence of any
particular use for beetles, nor any special symbolic or ceremonial significance. The pala
weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) is given a special name, rino-kre ;
larvae of this large beetle is said to have been an important food of the ancient Kaya
and is still eaten by some children and old people. These larvae reach a consid
size (three or four ounces) and have excellent food value. A large green ere
borer (Buprestidae) is also given a special name, mara-Ribumpre. The elytra of this
is commonly used in the tropical lowlands for decorative purposes. describe
A series of descriptive affixes is used in conjunction with the name mara to ‘as
a certain specimen. These refer to color, shape, size, or texture and are used only 4s
descriptive labels. Examples of name combinations are found in Table 2.
TABLE 2.—A list of affixes used in the description of various mara specimens.
sibeiineees ee ke Se
Affix Translation Affix iia
aenneniedinasti tig see eo. eee ss a)
“re” diminuitive “kakratyk” jet black
“-kryre” tiny “kamrek”’ red
“prire” small “ngrangra”’ bluish
“tire” large “tyk” black
eo: child (small) “jaka” white /gray
“kaprire” short shell “jadjen J shiny
Common examples: mara-tyk-ti (large, black beetle)
mara-pri-tire (medium size beetle)
mara-kamrek-ti (big, red beetle)
aaa i i a, ae
aN '
Okam-mara. The
|
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 129
Ipoi: True Bugs and Kin. [poi are seen as having shells (ka) or wing covers that are not so
tough (tytx) as most of the beetles (mara). The ipoi are thought to live and feed on
leaves of plants. The most typical of the ipoi are stink bugs (Pentatomidae) that are said
to cause one’s eyes to burn (me no kang rO) and are called ipoi kumrenx, the “true” ipoi.
There are four subgroupings of ipoi (Fig. 3).
(1) ipoi (kumrenx) are “true” ipoi. The Kayap6 have little to do with these insects
because of the fear of being blinded by them. Shamans utilize ipoi kumrenx in various
concoctions to induce or cure blindness and buming eyes. Informants easily recognized
and grouped Pentatomidae specimens into this grouping on the basis of gross morphology,
insisting that all insects in this group could cause harm to the eyes.
(2) ipoi (ka 2k) are “false” ipoi. These do not cause the eyes to burn, but are said
to inflict painful bites. The ridged thorax of these ipoi is the generalized morphological
feature that characterizes the group. These are the Reduviidae or assassin bugs.
(3) ipoi-tika are the giant water bugs (Belostomatidae). Indians believe the ipoi-tika
can cause paralysis of anyone bitten by it. It is feared and avoided, except by shamans
who utilize it in their crafts.
(4) ipoi-re is an undifferentiated category that includes other Hemiptera as well as a
few Coleoptera (families Meloidae and Mordellidae).
The following descriptive affixes were elicited for ipoi: ““jaka” (white), ““ngrangra”
(light color), “-tyk” (black, “-kamrek” (red), “-kryre”’ (small), “-ti” (large). Only the
giant water beetle (ipoi-tika) is given any specific polylexemic distinction.
mara kapo
\ Se Z
\ ipoi /
N 7
‘\ /
\ *
\ "
os a _ i A XX ee ty, «
ipoire ipoi-kumrenx ipoi-ka ’ak ipoitika
FIG. 3—Subdivisions of ipoi showing some subclass overlap between mara and ipoi, ipoi
and kapo (indicated by dotted lines).
Xapo: Cockroaches and Kin. Cockroaches, mantids, walking sticks, crickets, and grass-
Ave Are generally grouped into the scientific Order Orthoptera, though some authors
Prefer to place cockroaches and mantids into a separate Order Dictoyptera. Regardless of
Moa ea preferred, entomologists agree that these insect groups are closely related.
- Kayapé likewise view these insects as closely related, and utilize three BOL group-
ngs to distribute them: (1) kapo, (2) kapoti, and (3) krytkaitet (mantids, grasshoppers,
and crickets), 7
Kapo and kapoti should perhaps be viewed as two subgroupings of kapo; that is, as
*aP0 (kumrenx) and kapoti as in Figure 4-A. Informants consistently group kapoti ata
is probably best treated asa
(A) kapoti as a subset of kapo (B) kapoti as a BOL category
kapo (kapo)
kapo —(kumrenx) kapoti kapo kapoti krytkanet
ed thanet.
—Two possible models of set relationships between kapo, kap oti, and kry
130 POSEY Vol. 4, No.2
grouping kapo includes all insects of the suborder Blattaria, except for the extremely
large winged forms of family Blattidae.
The karére, earwig (Dermaptera), is seen as a special type (aberrant form) of kapo,
It is shaped like a kapo, but does not have the same type of wings or abdomen. The
karere are associated with dark, damp places and are believed to be an omen of illnes
or death. Karere are associated with spirits of the dead and whenever too many
a
are seen in a house, it is assumed to be a sign of spirits in the house. The Kayap6 trai
tionally abandon and burn a house after several deaths have occurred because of fear of
spirits returning to their old homes.
Kapoti: A Transitional Form. Little can be said about the kapoti, except that theyat —
some of the largest insects encountered in the KayapO area. Large cockroaches of tht ©
scientific suborder Blattodea are grouped with pyranus beetles (Prioninae) in this catt
gory. The bodies of the kapoti are like those of the kapo, except that their impressively
large wings cause them to be considered as relatives of krytkaiet (grasshoppers).
Kapoti are ground into a powder and used by various shamans to cause Or cit
illness and blindness. Specimens of this group are hoarded by shamans to prepare various
concoctions.
Krytkaiiet: Grasshoppers and Kin. Grasshoppers are one of the most numerous forms of
life in the Kayapo area, especially in the grasslands and transitional forest. Eight major
subdivisions can be Geaquibed within the category krytkafiet (Table 3).
(1) moi 0” ja dra are the katydids or long-horned grasshoppers (Tetticomea
An extremely large species occurs in the area and is given the special name a a |
€
kardrati. Its legs are used to treat aching or weak joints. The spiny part 0
legs are removed and scratched over the afflicted joints, sometimes until blood 5m
Contact with the strong legs of the moi oj 0” ja 4rd is believed to impart its strength to the
e name means iT like” krytkafet, referring to its protective co
leaf imitative ¢ wing vein
(2) ¢ Dorb-cbire are sh large grasshoppers of the family
dry season these huge insects appear in great abundance. It is said
days the Kayapo ate these as delicacies, but there is no evidence that they
today. The legs of the chyre-chyre are utilized for curing in the same mann
TABLE 3.—Subgroupings of krytkafet with analagous scientific classificaoN
Krytkaitiet (Orthopteriods)
Subgroupings Common Names __ Scientific [ae
Acrididae. During the
that in the ance
are still eatt®
er as the
(1) moi ’6’ j 0’ ja Ark Katydid Tettigonioidea
(2) chyré-ch)ré Grasshopper Acridoidea
(3) Pat-karon Mantis Mantodea a
(4) w wéjaputchd Walking stick Phasmatoptera (oF Cheloor
(5) ngra-rérémex Mole cricket Gryllotalpoidea
(6) krytkai¥ére Cricket Grylloidae
(7) krytkaffet-ka “Xk Grouse locust Tetrigoidea
(8)
|
|
loration wd
8) krytkafet (kumrenx) “Locust” ———————
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 131
legs of the moi 0” ja ra. The large rib vein of the upper wing is also removed from
the rest of the wing and used in shamanistic ceremonies that are intended to cause or
cure paralysis of victims. The name of this category is derived from the flight sound
made by a focal member of the category.
(3) pat-karon are the mantids (Mantodea), some of which reach six inches or more
in length. The name means “anteater image” and refers to the similarity perceived
between the front legs of the mantis and those of the giant anteater. Indians say the
mantis holds it prey in the same manner as the pat (anteater).
(4) wejaputchd are the walking sticks (Phasmatoptera or Cheleutoptera). The
Kayapo say contact with these can cause blindness and shamans use the ground-up parts
of certain species to inflict blindness. In many ways the walking stick is aberrant mor-
phologically, particularly because of its wings. The body, head, and legs, say the Kayapo,
are those of krytkafet. I do not know the meaning of the name for this class.
(5) ngra-rérémex are the mole crickets (Gryllotalpoidea). Their name means “pretty
paca” and refers to their similarity in shape and coloration to the rodent “paca.” Because
these crickets are heard and seen at night, they are associated with death and ghosts and
are harbingers of disaster.
(6) krytkawére are the true crickets (Grylloidea). These are distinguished by the
Kayapo because of their songs and their distinctive wings. Crickets are common in Indian
fields and are associated with good crops and abundant rains. They are favored fish bait
for Indian boys, who spend hours chasing them for that purpose.
(7) krytkaiet-ka Qk are the grouse locusts (Tettrigoidea). The morphological form
of these is distinctive and easily recognized by the Kayapé as being “false” krytkaiiet.
(8) krytkatet-kumrenx are the true locusts (Acridoidea). There are five unnamed
(covert) subdivisions of this group.
a. those found in the grasslands (kapot)
b. those found in the transitional forest (ba-rarara)
¢. those found in the high forest (ba-tyk)
d. those found near rivers (ng0-k0t)
¢. those found in or on the ground (pyka-kam)
No generic or specific scientific determinations were made for these subgroupings. It is
interesting to note, however, that the Indian recognize certain forms (morphological
‘ypes) as more “typical” of the various ecological zones. There are five ecological zones
recognized by the Kayap6 that correspond to the five groupings of krytkatiet-ky puss
listed above. Informants made minimal grouping “error” in sorting krytkanet-kumrenx
despite the specimens being “out of ecological context.”
The noted acridologist Uvarov (1977:371-444) has attempted to group grasshoppers
and crickets into “life forms” based on generalized morphological adaptations to partl-
_. = ecosystems or “life zones.” Five basic “life zones” recognized by Uvarov og (1)
“erricoles,” those living on the ground and feeding on herbs; (2) “aquacoles,” those
w. ng in or on the water; (3) “arboricoles,” those living on trees and woody shrubs; (4)
herbicoles,” those living in dense thickets of shrubs and herbs; and (5) “grammicoles,
ose living in grasslands. This attempt to account for phylogenetic relationships between
neal adaptation and the functional success of a species associated with ecologi-
zones appears to coincide with the Kayapo system. oe
the The term “life form” as used by esas is confusing for ethnobiologists anes of
current use of ic unit. Perhaps “ecoform
ered as
* collective form. Six orders of insects are subsumed under this one label: Neuroptera,
132 POSEY Vol. 4, No, 2
Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Mecoptera, Trichoptera, and Lepidoptera. The focus of the
entire category is the giant morpho butterfly (Morphinae).
Seven folk subgroupings occur within the basic category so that in the overall scheme
the underspecialized category wewe becomes a focal category differentiated by the deger
of morphological feature recognition. The subdivisions are as follows:
1) wewe (kumrenx) are butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Wing scales are the
distinguishing characteristic, and scales are used by shamans to treat diseases of lethargy.
A covert differentiation within this category is found between night-flying and day-flying
species. Moths and other night-fliers are considered omens of death or illness.
(2) wewe-jaka are the mayflies (Ephemeroptera). The suffix “jaka” (‘whitish”)is
often used loosely as a descriptive affix. In this case, however, wewe-jaka labels a specific
subclass of wewe. Although these appear at night, the Kayap6 do not find them dip
turbing; on the contrary, they are always a sign of abundant fish and good fishing.
3) wewe-ja ‘Ord are the stoneflies (Plecoptera). The suffix “ja sy denotes a trans
lucent quality of the wing. This subclass defines the particular set of Plecoptera.
) wewe-ka Ok are the “false” wewe. This category coincides with the scientific
Order Mecoptera, scorpionflies.
(5) ngoi-kam-wewe are the caddisflies (Trichoptera). The name refers to the affinity
of this set of organisms for the water and areas surrounding lakes and rivers.
(6) pingOkra are the fish flies and dobson flies (Corydalidae). The name literally
means “‘worm head’? and refers to the sometimes elongated thorax and head of the
family.
(7) pi 0 ja Dra are the lacewings and kin (all Neuroptera, except Corydalidae). ™
name literally means “leaf wings” and is descriptive of the delicate, transparent
wings for which the Order is named. of
Though generally oblivious to insect life cycles, the Kayap6 are aware of the ~
metamorphosis of Lepidoptera. The eggs they call “ng ” the larvae “ping .
cocoon or chrysalis “kraka”’ (‘child cover’).
The stinging larvae of various unidentified Lepidoptera are incorporate
rituals prescribed for warriors and are smashed on the bare chests of the yee
The intense pain is believed to impart strength and remove fear. Often the ordeal lea
scars on the chest that are sported proudly as though they were battle scars.
d into the
of
Kokot: Cicadas and Kin. There are only two basic subdivision of kokot. Rash
the entire category is the large annual cicada (Cicadidae). The two ub ty a
(1) kokot (kumrenx) are the “true” kokot. This category coincides pé
the scientific Family Cicadidae. The principal vein of the cicada’s front wing 1s 4
amans in sorcery. (Men
(2) kokot-kryre are the “tiny” kokot. This category includes the echo
bracidae), froghoppers (Cercopidae), leafhoppers (Cicadellidae), and the plan
(Fulgoridae). I know of no special use or significance of this subgroup. be pert
The usual variety of non-fixed descriptive suffixes are evident; for rag . adh
perp prire (small), -tire (large, -kamrek (red), ngrangr@ (light colored),
and so on.
Ngoire, Pure and Kopre: Flies and Kin. The third sequence has three co
Basic Object Level Categories: ngoire, pure, and kopre. The category ” y “noiogialy
one containing a myriad of small insects too small to be distinguished morP : { can ofl
the ae eye. I did not make a collection of the insects in this category ae:
guess at the vastness of its inclusiveness. : i
The category kopre is likewise a very nebulous category. vies see to
flies (Diptera), except those contained in the category pure. All forms
only two wings. There are no further subgroupings.
gre a
hast
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 133
The category pure is subdivided into three groups, all of which are blood-sucking
and biting species:
(1) pure (kumrenx) are small blood-sucking flies. This includes the punkies (Cera-
topogonidae), midges (Chironomidae), and black flies (Simuliidae), The Kayap6 dis-
tinguish four types of pure kumrenx: (a) putykre (black ones, (b) putire (big ones),
(c) pukra@kroti (spotted-headed ones), and (d) pukrakamrek (red-headed ones). Dis-
tinctions among the four are not only morphological, but also biological, i.e., where they
are found and the viciousness of the bites.
(2) pute are the mosquitoes (Culicidae). There are four sub-divisions of pute: (a)
pute-jaka (whitish ones with very painful bites), (b) putepryjaka (greyish ones found in
the forest along trails), (c) putekamrek (reddish ones found in open areas), and (d)
putetykre (black ones found in the forest).
(3) pumnuti are the deer and horseflies (Tabanidae). There are no further sub-
divisions of this category.
: The overall relationship between kopre and pure is represented by line diagrams in
ig. 5,
The pumnuti (Tabanidae) are seen as being morphologically more similar to kopre
than pure. Their fierce biting habits, however, cause Indians to place them in the cate-
gory with other blood-sucking and biting species. There are more detailed subclassifica-
tions of mosquitoes and pium, but collections and analyses are yet to be made.
(kopre)
Oire pure kopre
“
“
anes! pute pumnuti
FIG, 5.—Category relationships within flies and kin (kopre)
Rorot: Termites and Kin. Termites (Isoptera) are abundant in the Kayapo area, although
— pay relatively little attention to them. Four major subdivision or rorot are
(1) rorot-tykre are termites that build nests in trees. These are the “black” termites
are associated with the origins of black people on the earth. :
h (2) rorot-kra-kamrek-ti are termites that nest in the wood of houses. These. red-
a termites are associated with the origins of other Indians (non-KayapO) in the
(3) rorot-jakare are termites that nest in the ground. These are the “white” termites
are associated with the origins of Europeans in the world.
= (4) rorotire are termites that build large, greyish mounds. Termite mounds are
a crOUS, especially on the campos, and all non-Kayapo (kuben kakrit) emerged from the
underworld to the earth through these mounds. ane
the nanan the Kayapé have a fascination and even admiration for other social 28 :
da are thought of as useless and helpless. They are weak and i Pha i ES
ore no more “true” fy (social insects) than kubén kakrit (non-Indians) are “
ee people (the Kayap6) originated above in the sky; not from below in the
ound as did non-Indians.
an a mens are used in house construction, since thei én
With —— insulation. Nests of Nasutitermes are also used as fertilizers,
“rganic mulch to create fertile planting zones in savanna areas. On numerous oc
r comb construction serves as
or mixed
134 POSEY Vol, 4, No.2
casions I observed the Kayap6 eating the textured nest of ground-dwelling termites and
ants. No explanation was offered other than in the ancient days the Kayap6 say they
ate this in place of farinha (toasted manioc flour), Geophagy is not commonly reported
in indigenous cultures, but was certainly common with the Kayapé and is evident today
to some extent.
Mrum: Ants and Kin. Ants (Formicidae) are a source of great interest to the Kayap)
(Posey 1981). Their social nature is thought to be similar to that of the Kayap6 and,
consequently, their ethology is important in classification. The major basis for sub-
groupings of ants is the type and location of their nests (ariikwa). The following cover
(unnamed) groupings were found:
(1) ants with nests in the ground
(2) ants with nests above ground (mound building)
(3) ants with nests inside tree trunks
(4) ants with nests outside tree trunks (have visible nests attached to the tree trunk)
(5) ants with nests inside tree limbs
(6) ants with nests attached to tree limbs or leaves
(7) ants that live with termites
(8) ants that live with bees
(9) ants that live alone (solitary forms).
The last grouping of solitary ants is often co-classified with wasps (amub). Thee ®
called “velvet ants” (Mutillidae), which are in fact wasps of the superfamily So
A large ant with conspicuous winged males is likewise co-classified with rorot (sopte)
These two examples represent the set overlap between contiguous categories (rove
mrum, and amub), ie
Ants are often spoken of in terms of their “power,” or ability to inflict gg .
more potent the sting, the more powerful the ant. Some shamans specialize ae is |
to” powerful ant species and claim to manipulate their spirits to cause hat ; to |
mans have a special classification of ants based on the power of ant spirits (karo), ©
date 64 different ant folk species have been collected and described. ae |
The abdomen of the “sativa” (mrum-tuti; Atta sexdens L.) is the only a
Its fat and juicy abdomen is mixed with manioc flour and baked, or whole ants
roasted in banana leaves. unded into®
Stinging ants are often collected by the Kayapo men. Ant bodies are fe to
paste with red urucu (Bixa orellana) and painted on hunting dogs.
cause the dogs to keep their noses to the ground and to hunt with
ants do. dens L.)
Azteca sp. ants are thought to have a smell that repels sauva (Am i ective WE
their nests are actively distributed near fields and gardens to produce 4 ae yields
against sauva. Their nests are also planted with yams and taro to increase tu
bees are grouped et
of nest ‘ |
eater cmimimn a i
This is SUP ihe
determination *
Amub: Wasps and Kin. Non-honey-producing wasps and stinging
the category amub. Subgroupings of amub seem to be based on the Kee was
wa). Variation in identification of wasps “out of environmental 8 eee 120 wif
be very high. Consultants were later brought to the Museu Goeldi tO to be exe
nests. Identification of wasp nests “out of context,” however, was pe emst
consistent with identifications and observations made in the field. 1 ‘ie morphol
that the Kayap6 pay more attention to wasp nest construction than f° :
of the wasps themselves, amub 3
e principal dichotomy within the Basic Object Level ae el subst?
(1) social species, and (2) solitary species (those that do not live in :
ings of each of these are outlined in Table 4.
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 135
TABLE 4.—Subgroupings of amub.
Subgrouping Common Names Scientific Correlate
(1) Solitary amub
(a) ambu-poi-ti “ichneuman fly” Ichneumonidae
(b) prytumre “spider wasp” Pompilidae
(c) myt-te “sand wasp” Sphecidae: Larrinae
(d) ‘apiey-ti “mud daubers” Sphecidae: Nyssoninae
(e) ajabamity “thread-waisted wasps” Sphecidae: Sphecinae
(f) pyka-O-ity “potter wasps” Vespidae: Eumeninae
(g) amubre an undifferentiated category of various families,
including, Symphyta
(h)vop-krOve-karOn “velvet ant” Scoliidae, Mutillidae
(i)? kungont “solitary bees” Xylocapinae
(2) Social amub
(a) mingugu “social bees” Apidae: Apinae
(b) mebnkamamub “honey wasps” Brachygastra sp.
(c) amub (kumrenx) “social wasps” Vespidae
1
rop-krove-karon is co-grouped with mrum
as a : Pip
Rungont is a transitional class between mebn and amub; mebnkamamuh is a transitional
class between honey-producing bees and wasps.
BR soe ort One aR Oe ee
Most social wasps are used in some form of hunting magic. Most commonly, wasp
Parts are mixed with urucu (Bixa orellana) and painted on the warrior. Certain res
sss are even used to rub over the noses of hunting dogs to make them brave (akre).
To date 85 folk species of wasps have been identified and described.
Mebn: Honey-Producing Bees and Kin. Thus far 56 folk species of stingless bees (Meli-
Poninae) have been discovered for the Kayap6o corresponding to 66 scientific species
ee 1983a). Of this number, 11 species are considered to be semi-domesticated
Posey 1983p).
for deta TOUPEd into 15 “families” in addition to the 56 folk species.
€termining these differentiations are complex and include the following:
a . thological characteristics: (a) flight patterns (how the bees fly when ores
“ nest), (b) aggressive behavior when the nest is disturbed (aggressive or docile); (c)
sound produced by bees in flight or by nocturnal behavior inside nest; (d) places bees
pe including types of flowers, dead animals, feces, sand banks, dirt, etc. cae
sini Nest structure and ecological niche: (a) substrate preferred (eg., tree ho saat
erie. termite mounds, inside earth, large trees, etc. the case of trees, extern
orm and position of the entrance structure is also important); (b) ecological zone
Preferred (flood forest, humid forest, savanna, etc.); (c) form, texture, color and smell of
Criteria
136 POSEY Vol. 4, No.2
the entrance structure (eg., earth, resin, cerumen, vegetable fibers, etc.); and (e) form and
texture of the batumen.
Morphological and biochemical characters: (a) shape of the bee’s body; (b)
colors of the bee; (c) designs or markings on body; (d) size and color of wings; (e) sizeof
the bee; (f) smell of the bee (either its natural smell or when the bee is crushed); (g) secre
tions produced for defense.
Economic factors: (1) quality of honey; (b) quantity of honey; (c) quality of
resins; (d) quality of wax and cerumen; (e) suitability of pollen for food; (f) suitability of
larvae /pupae for food.
As this list of taxonomic characters indicates, the Kayap® also have a detailed know:
ledge of Meliponinae morphology, nest architecture, ontogeny, and behavior. Technolo
gies and strategies for raiding nests and rearing bees are also well-developed (see Posey ami
Camargo 1984). The Kayap6 use bee waxes, batumen, resin, pupae, and larvae fors
variety of purposes (Posey 1983c).
SUPERORDINATE GROUPINGS
Of the 18 BOL categories found in the Kayapo system of Arthropod classification, —
only three show extensive differentiation at subordinate levels (amub, wasps, with 85 foll
species; mrum, ants, with 64 folk species; and mehbn, bees, with 56 folk species). Follow:
ing the hypothesis that such differentiation is indicative of emically significant culturd
phenomena (cf. Posey 1983d), one would predict bees, wasps, and ants to be of particulat
importance to the Kayapé.
An additional indicator of the importance of these BOL categories is the named
superordinate grouping of all social Hymenoptera, mby (iy), which includes all amu,
mrum and mebn.5 Nby (fy) is the only named, superordinate category ™ the enti
domain of mry-kati (animals with shells and no flesh). ee
This phenomenon is explained by the epistomological importance of social inst
to the Kayap6 belief system. The Indians say that their social organization was conc :
by an ancient shaman who specialized in the study of social Hymenoptera. a on
organize his defenseless, dispersed people against attacks from the wild ho fie cast
mies, the shaman had the idea to organize the Kayapo like mhy (iy). The
while observing a hive of wasps (amub-dja-kein) successfully defending th
an eagle (bak) hundreds of times larger. in socal
This Kayapo belief indicates that the Indians have long been ne ol B
insects as a “natural model”, There are still specialists who study mby ss rama
importance of social insects is manifested, symbolically in art, music and, mos
cally, ritual (cf. Posey 1983b). The named category mby (iy), therelne?
tomological significance in the Kayap® culture and is an indicator of symbo
significance, merous Joos
In addition to the named, superordinate category of nby (ay), » BOL cated
nebulous groupings can be found. These “cross-cut” (cf. Gardner 1976) als (Fis: 6)
recognize a variety of other characteristics held in common with ° . , an
Any given organism might be grouped with other bbagiibie phibious. A
A frog might be grouped with a water beetle because both are @ all three have 00%
an armadillo, and a lady bettle might be grouped together because te Jong #
because both i hawk is migrato”y” .
oth appear at the same time of the year (the haw fed wilt a tapir beca®
emselves agai
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 137
/ i.
Superordinate Levels Named (Covert)
BOL Level CD
Subordinate Levels: Genus
Species
Sub-species
FIG. 6.—Idealized hierarchical model showing superordinate and subordinate levels.
The list can go on and on. In observations of superordinate groupings, I have ob-
served four types of “cross-cutting” mechanisms. Animals are grouped on the basis of:
1. similar function (eg., edibility, medicinal value, ceremonial importance, etc.)
2. behavioral characteristics (e.g., nocturnal animals, crepuscular animals, swim-
mers, etc.)
3. habitat (eg., water animals, forest animals, ground-dwellers, etc.)
4. special cultural concerns. The latter type of grouping deserves some further
explanation. eo
One of the major ways the Kayap6 group animals is by the “power” of their “spirits
(kar6n). This is an extremely difficult typology to analyze and describe, for the con-
2
Superficially certain groupings seem nonsensical. For example, the Kayapo —
certain lizards, some snakes, grubs, and small rodents into one category. This ~~
“Ppeared to defy reason until tribal elders were heard telling of the ancient ah ne we
oe Kayapé had corn and manioc. The list of animals eaten in ancient times saree
th this grouping and is best glossed as “animals of potential use” oe * re
up” or emergency system that is encoded in the classification system and passed =
— to generation. Mythological principles of today can become etucnas seit
Orrow,
CONCLUDING REMARKS
_ Classification of mry-kati (Arthropods) by the Gorotire Kayap6 offers ody . aaL.
“sting insights into the overall patterns of folk biological classification. oa tg
». 80ties grouped in morphological sequences show very little hierarchical differe :
“on except for the social insects (amub, mrum, and mebn), which are the only represen
‘atives to receive a named, superordinate grouping mby (iy)
; BOL categories, especially krytkanet (Orth :
ve based upon perceived phylogenetic relationships between anim amie
cea its ecological adaptation or niche. These “ecoforms” merit study an
‘Ologists additional intergrative paradigms for research. ,
Pecialization of Kayapo ‘aioe seats to the difficulty of an overall evaluation
138 POSEY Vol. 4, No, 2
of any complete biological /natural taxonomic system. This problem is accentuated whe
trying to determine the “utilitarian” value of any given domain.
The Kayap6 data suggest that elaboration or differentiation of named subordinas
(lower in hierarchical rank than BOL categories) categories, whether in the gener
knowledge system or only known by a few “specialists,” is an accurate indicator of —
“utility” and cultural significance. No attempt has been made to determine if degree
of difference is in direct proportion to significance or utility, but such a hypothesis seems
feasible and deserves testing. Highly differentiated categories recognized by the society
as a whole should be the strongest indicator of cultural utility or significance.
“Utility” is difficult to assess since it does not always include the obvious qualities
of food, shelter, or medicine. In the case of nhy (my), social insects, for example, only
bees have the obvious utilitarian value of producing food, medicine and useful raw
materials. Ants are utilitarian in the sense that they have qualities that are desirable
impart to hunting dogs via medicinal mixtures painted on the dogs. Wasps are important
in a more abstract way as “natural models” for Kayap6 society, although certainly avoit
ance of stinging species may be considered utilitarian and influence classification. Sud
avoidance, however, is not the sole reason for wasp classification since only a small pe
centage are aggressive.
The Kayapo data also suggest that categories of great symbolic or epistomologic#
significance are not only differentiated and named at the subordinate level (usually only
by “specialists”), but are also labeled in superordinate (groupings of greater set inclusior
than BOL categories) groupings. One can hypothesize therefore that the named supe
ordinate groupings are indicator of symbolically significant domains.
Kayapé classification of insects and related Arthropods is characterized by classft
cation of “natural discontinuities” in nature that produce morphologically de
Basic Object Level (BOL) categories. Organization of BOL categories is seen as a co
tinuum of overlapping or contiguous sets called “morphological sequences.” Hi
structures emerge when any BOL category (or sequence) is of utilitarian and/or symbol
significance. Named subordinate differentiation is an indicator of “utility;” named 1
ordinate groupings are indicators of symbolic significance. ie
us parts of the folk taxonomic system that exhibit greater hierarchical qualitis
reflect recognition of “utility” in its broadest sense (practical and symbolic). ”
resolves the apparent “contradiction” between utilitarian and hierarchical nin’
pointing out the difference between process (essentially hierarchical) and purpose (
tially utilitarian) in folk taxonomy. Both are at work in any folk classification sys
and neither excludes the other in importance nor explanatory potential.
LITERATURE CITED
BERLIN, BRENT. 1972. Speculations on fication >nd Nomenclature in Folk Bills?
the Growth of Ethnobotanical Nomencla- Amer. Anthrop. 75:214-242- sual
ture. J. Lang. and Soc. 1:63-98. BROWN, CECIL H. 1977. Fo cg
1973. Folk Systematics in Rela- Life-Forms: Their Universality
tion to Biological Classification and Nomen- Amer, Athrop. 79:317-342. vite Forts
clature. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 4:259-271. cesimmisgn SO, Zoologica Ames
———.- 1976. The Concept of Rank in Their Universality and Gr0
Ethnobiological Classification: Some Evi- Anthrop. 81:791-817. ow. and 6.4
dence from Aguaruna Folk Botany. Amer. BRUNER, J. S., J- J. GOODN f Think
Ethnol. 3:381-399, AUSTIN. 1956. A Study ©
BERLIN, BRENT, DENNIS E. BREEDLOVE Wiley, New York. Birds, Wo
and PETER H. RAVEN. 1966. Folk Tax- GARDNER, PETER M, 1976. fof
©nomies and Biological Classification. Sec- and a Requium for
ence 154:273-275, ,
———. 1973. General Principles of Classi- HAYES, TERENCE E.
December 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 139
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
Adaptationist Explanations of Folk Biologi-
cation: Some Cautionary Notes.
J. Ethnobiol. 2(1):89-94.
HUNN, EUGENE, 1975. A Measure of the
Degree of Correspondence of Folk Biological
Classification. Amer. Ethnologist 2:309-327.
——__. 1976. Toward a Perceptual Model of
Folk Biological Classification. Amer.
Ethnol. 3(3):508-524.
——- 1977. Tzeltal Folk Zoology: The
Classification of Discontinuities in Nature.
Academic Press, New York.
—— 1982. The Utilitarian Factor in
Folk Biological Classification. Amer.
Anthrop. 84(4):830-847.
KAY, PAUL, 1971. Taxonomy and Seman-
tic Contrast. 47:866-887.
POSEY, DARRELL A. 1979. Ethnoentomo-
logy of the Gorotire Kayapo of Central
Brazil. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissert. Anthr., Univ.
1981, Ethnoentomology of the
Kayapo Indians of Central Brazil: Wasps,
Warriors and Fearless Men. J. Ethnobiol.
1(1):165-174.
——.1983a. Folk Apiculture of the
Kayapo Indians of Brazil. Biotropica 15(2):
154-158,
1983b. Keeping of Stingless Bees
by the Kayapo Indians of Brazil. J. Ethno-
biol. 3(1):63-78
. 1983c. The importance of Bees to
an an Tribe of Amazonia. Florida En-
tomologist 65(4):452-458.
1983d. O Conhecimento Kayapo:
Siveersaieladl e Sistema Cultural. Anua-
rio Antropologico 81:109-124.
POSEY, DARRELL and JOAO M.F. de
CAMARGO, 1984. Additional Notes on
the Classification and Knowledge of Sting-
less Bees (Meliponinae, Apidae) by the
Kayapo Indians of Gorotire, Para, Brazil.
Annals of the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh,
PA. In press.
ROSCH, ELEANOR. 1978. Principles of
Categorization. Jn: Cognition and tegori-
zation. E. Rosch and B. Lloyd, Eds. pp. 27-
48. Erlbaun, Hillsdale, New Jersey.
UVAROV, BORIS. 1978. Grasshoppers and
Locuts: A Handbook of General Acridology.
Vol. 2. Centre for Overseas Pest Research,
London.
ee
Funding for this research came from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.
My kati (“false flesh,” or “no meat”) is an animal type of maja (“unimportant things,” or, in
slang, “stuff”). Mry
kati could also be considered a type of mry kaigo ha
empty meat”).
In a previous publication ner’ I employed the term Maja without its additional modifiers.
My thanks to Ce
Le ee any Kayapo
6 village today had this power. The
cil Brown, Terence Hayes, and Eugene Hunn for pointing out this fault.
last shaman, a woman,
had died in Gorotire i in 1972. The most powerful shamans that exist today are those who speak to
the water eel (mry-kaak).
“‘Yeaniees (rorot) are also included in the superordinate
1983p, erentiated at the subordinate level as are other members of the group is ¢x
198
category of nhy (ny). The fact that they are
plained in Posey,
on
140 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 4, No, 2
Book Reviews and Abstracts
In our last issue, Volume 4 Number 1, Gary Paul Nabhan did not receive full recogni-
tion for his review of Medicinal Plants of the Bible (p. 14). I apologize for this oversight.
I have adopted the convention of using initials for reviews written by the Journal staff
and spelling out the names and addresses of outside contributors.
Charles H. Miksicek
Book Review Editor
Book Review
Ethnobotany in the Neotropics. Edited by G. T. Prance and J. A. Kallunki. Bronx: The
New York Botanical Garden, 1984. 156 pp. paper, index, illustrated, $29.75 US.
Orders, $30.75 non-U.S. Orders.
Ethnobotany in the Neotropics contains the proceedings of a symposium, by the
same name, presented at the 1983 Society for Economic Botany meetings. It is the
inaugural issue in the Advances in Economic Botany series to be published by the Inst:
tute of Economic Botany at The New York Botanical Garden. Although the title suggests
all of the New World tropics, the geographical focus of most of the papers in the volume
is Amazonian South America. ,
This collection contains a mixture of both short topical studies and longer treatists
The longest paper in the volume, by Plowman, is a fascinating, detailed study of the
history, taxonomy, cultivation, phytochemistry, and ethnobotany of two species and
four varieties of coca, Erythroxylum coca and E. novogranatense. Other contributions
that focus on the ethnobotany of various taxonomic groups include palms (Balic)
Ayala Flores presents?
_ Lewis and
Jivaro
ult
ecology of the Kayapo examines the continuum between
plants and suggests that there is no clear-cut demarcation between “natur
aged” forest in much of Amazonia. Van den Berg’s contribution includes an
“flora” of plants found in the open-air market in Belem, Brazil.
All too often, ethnoscientists are strangers to the area they
Flores, Posey, and van den Berg are residents of the Neotropics.
value of training local informants to gather ethnobiological specimens ‘
collaborative approach can provide a wealth of information and new insl
standing a traditional culture’s view of the natural world. +. Botart):
The overall layout of the volume is identical to its parent journal, E cont an
The only reservation I have about this publication is that $29.75 :
for a journal as opposed to a book format. Nevertheless all researchers ™
economic botany will look forward to the next issue of Advances.
and data.
ght into unde
seems a little eP
th
coll
OE i ee Se sissies
J. Ethnobiol. 4(2): 141-169 December 1984
CHUMASH ETHNOBOTANY: A PRELIMINARY REPORT
JAN TIMBROOK
Department of Anthropology
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
2559 Puesta del Sol Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
ABSTRACT.—The Chumash, a hunting, gathering, fishing and seafaring people of coastal
southern California, were greatly affected by Spanish missionization beginning in the 1770s.
Mexican settlement and later Americanization exerted their own influences, and by the early
20th century the Chumash had been pushed nearly to the brink of extinction. Although
the people survived physically, most of their culture perished. Recently, much has been
learned about the early Chumash way of life through ethnographic and linguistic data which
were collected while Chumash culture still lived in memory, combined with historic, archae-
ological, and museum resources. This paper summarizes what has thus far been recon-
structed of Chumash knowledge and uses of plants in late prehistoric times and after Euro-
pean contact. Chumash ethnobotany has broader implications for theoretical issues in the
nature of hunting-gathering societies, interpretation of the archaeological record, human
ecology, acculturation, and folk taxonomic studies.
INTRODUCTION
At the time of the first Spanish voyages of discovery along the southern California
Coast, beginning with Cabrillo in 1542, the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, mainland
Coast, and adjacent interior mountains and valleys were occupied by about 15,000
People who later became known as the Chumash. Although never politically unified
much beyond groups of villages, and that only in certain areas, they were culturally and
linguistically similar enough to be considered by anthropologists as a single, albeit some-
What variable, cultural entity.
The climate of Chumash territory is of Mediterranean type, with warm dry summers
and cool moist winters. Coastal temperatures (°F) average in the 40s in January, upper
60s in July. Diurnal and seasonal fluctuations in temperature are greater in the inland
“eas than along the coast. The rainy season, with average rainfall of about 43 cm at
Santa Barbara, lasts from November to April. Virtually no precipitation occurs the rest
= 7 © year. Early summer fogs give way to late summer heat and drought, with oc-
“sional wildfires fanned by winds from interior deserts (Smith 1976:3-6).
_ Tous stream channels of both seasonal and permanent watercourses, lined with
— vegetation, dissected the coastal plain. Stream channels often wares
mar ds.
Stands of coniferous trees tei the higher mountains. Within a relatively short distance
many settlement there were a variety of different plant communities, each with a
relig; - Valuable resources which contributed to the subsistence, material culture an
'glOus behavior of the Chumash people.
142 TIMBROOK Vol. 4, No,?
The Chumash were hunter-gatherers, with particular emphasis on ocean fishing by
coastal groups. The marine and terrestrial environments were both rich in species diver-
sity and extraordinarily productive, permitting a sedentary settlement pattern anda
degree of population density greater than that of most agricultural peoples in aboriginal
North America (Brown 1967), Ethnohistoric researth has revealed much about the com-
plexity of Chumash society (e.g. Blackburn 1975, 1976; Harrington n.d.; King 1971),
which was stratified into classes based on wealth; membership in these was inherited but
some opportunities for mobility also existed. Positions of political and religious leader-
ship were inherited. Craft specialization seems to have been controlled by guildiike
organizations. Shell bead money functioned as a medium of exchange in a far-reaching
network of trade. The Chumash, in short, were a prime example of what have been
called “affluent foragers” (Koyama and Thomas 1981) and were not at all typical of the
more familiar modern, nomadic hunter-gatherers who have been pushed into marginal
environments.
Technologically sophisticated though they were, the Chumash proved no match for
the powerful ecclesiastical and military force of the Spanish Empire, nor for the array of
contagious diseases which devastated their population and their morale. Although the
Mission system, which lasted from 1770 to 1834, was apparently less completely destruc
tive to Chumash culture than was once thought, it so drastically reduced their numbers
and altered their outlook that it was impossible to revive the functioning cultural entity
after secularization. The Mexican rancho era (1834-1850) and subsequent period of
American settlement further contributed to the numerical and cultural decline of the
Chumash. Although there are over a thousand people of Chumash ancestry currently
residing in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties—the approximatt
extent of their former territory—Chumash culture may be regarded as virtually extinct.
SOURCES AND METHODS
a task
cause some confusion since it is qualitatively different from b
musicology,” and the like. It has been characterized as the history of non
and fundamentally involves incorporation of a diverse variety of sources \*
For this specific research project there are three major sources: historica tic fil
early travelers and missionaries; unpublished notes from ethnographic and ine cluding
work which was conducted early in this century; and archaeological ini
collections now housed in museums. In addition, a general familiarity w} pave
terns and plant usages throughout the entire central and southern Californian a
is incorporated, in order to provide a basis for comparison and a context ae
tion of the findings from the other major sources. foe tact betwee?
The brief logs of the 1542 Cabrillo voyage, which marked the initial con ver the
Chumash and Europeans, provide very little detail; and subsequent cone ‘or histot
two centuries were few and sporadic (Bolton 1925; Wagner 1929). = vne diate d
sources which provide information about Chumash plant uses begin a ts by Cres
the Portola and De Anza expeditions of 1769-1770, particularly the pee +4 mud
(Bolton 1927; Brown n.d., 1965) and Fages (Priestley 1937). These accyy ae
attention to natural resources, with an eye toward establishing itt Jes and
therefore contain information about the relationship between nae ee os Matt
Further such information is offered by later naturalist-explorer Jom La
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 148
in 1792 (Simpson 1961) and by Archibald Menzies on the Vancouver expedition a year
later (Menzies 1924). By that time Franciscan missions had already been established,
certain species of new plants introduced, and traditional Chumash plant-use practices
subjected to Spanish-Mexican influence. Writings by the missionaries provide ethnobo-
tanical data, particularly on food and medicine; they are noticeably sparse on material
culture and religion, things the padres sought to change rather than understand (Geiger
and Meighan 1976). After mission secularization in 1834 there are few historical docu-
ments of much use for ethnobotanical reconstruction. Exceptions are two manuscripts
on Chumash medicine, one compiled in the late 19th century by a physician (Bard 1894),
the other slightly later by a pharmacist (Birabent n.d.),
The bulk of the data available on Chumash ethnobotany comes from field work con-
ducted by the Bureau of American Ethnology anthropologist and linguist, John P. Har-
rington. He worked sporadically with at least three generations of Chumash consultants
from about 1912 into the 1950s, although he collected most of the information in the
1910s and 20s.! Plant usages and names in five Chumashan languages as well as Spanish
and English are scattered throughout Harrington’s tens of thousands of pages of field
notes. In addition, several hundred plant specimens were collected by some of his con-
sultants and tagged with Barbarefio Chumash and Spanish common names.” Because
plant remains and, until recently, poor techniques for their recovery. This research pro-
ject has to date directed little attention toward investigation of archaeological plant
‘emains; a large body of site reports awaits perusal. It seems likely that interpretation of
archaeological findings will gain in significance when ethnobotanical data from other
Sources have been compiled and species taxonomically determined. Museum collections
o contain both archaeological and ethnographic artifacts and raw materials which are
Proving useful in supplementing and clarifying data from other sources; examples include
Wooden bowls, canoe planks, basketry, and caches of medicinal plants.
The ideal method for reconstructing late prehistoric and early historic period Chu-
Mash ethnobotany would be to start with the earliest information available and describe
- anges that Occurred in chronological order. This may in fact turn out to be the best
ag Presenting the information. Unfortunately, the data from early einen a0 om
aft mely scanty. The most complete source is the “memory ethnography iain
sa 1910, which reaches only slightly further back than the mission era with any cer-
ra § Accordingly, the constraints of the source materials available a.
— “direct historic approach” pioneered by Strong (1940) in Plains ethnol is-
» among other authors (e.g. Steward 1942); it consists of working backward in time
m the known to the unknown.
— Possible drawback of the direct historic approach in Chumash etheeabotanica
._'S @ propensity to what might be called “reconstruction by subtraction.” It 1s
Meng merely to eliminate species which are known to have been icp aR GRA
But — Region in order to arrive at what was presumably the seine pmee
Which Fesults in two serious problems: first, it overlooks the more sub e .
and — have been exerted on plant usages beyond simple introduction of species;
mpand, it implicitly assumes that aboriginal tradition was static, extending unaltered
144 TIMBROOK Vol. 4, No.2
into the indefinite distant past. To the contrary, contacts between groups as well as out-
right population movements existed prehistorically, not just after European arrival;
particular consideration must be given to the date of any piece of information in order to
attempt to fit it into this dynamic process of culture change. It is likely, though, that
there would have been a relatively stable core of plant usages and related practices that
were maintained fairly consistently over the period of a few centuries intended to be
covered in this study. It should be possible to determine these by comparing source
materials which date from different time periods.
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS
Plants which I have thus far determined to have been used by the Chumash are listed
in the Appendix at the end of this article.? Their uses are assigned to standardized,
general categories and subcategories to facilitate summarizing a large body of informe
tion. More complete descriptions of specific usages, plant parts used, methods of prepara-
tion, season of gathering, and other such important topics will be included in a compre
hensive monograph which will be published in the future. Vernacular names in the five
major Chumashan languages and in the local Spanish dialect are likewise too cumbersome
to include in the present format.
Plants for which uses are listed number 156 species, of which 16 are non-native. Of
the many plants which were introduced to California from elsewhere and adopted by the
Chumash, only those which have become naturalized are included here. Because it is not
always clear exactly which of the species in a particular genus were used or not used, the
figures are only approximations, but the data presented in the Appendix are roughly
summarized in Table 1. Since many plants have more than one use—several have six
seven, oaks and willows have ten or 11—the subcategory figures total higher than the
number shown for each major heading.
One difficulty with this scheme for summarizing a very large body of data is that '
is hard to see which species were really the most important, in terms of quantities which
TABLE 1. Summary of Chumash plant usages.
Category Native spp. Introd. spp. Told!
Food 55 10 65
Medicine gs 9 .
curing 86 9 .
hygiene 10 0 10
Material Culture 60 3 63
clothing 16 1 fe
construction 19 2 21
crafts 46 2 a:
tools 27 2 29
Ceremonial 36 1 "
religious oF 0 2
magical ie 0 "
amusements 18 1 y
Miscellaneous 29 3 .
re eels cl acietiace
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 145
may have been used or key roles which they may have played despite small volume ob-
tained. To help balance the tendency toward numerical interpretation of data, which, if
carried to excess, may be seriously misleading, I insert here a brief commentary on what
I subjectively consider to have been the 20 most important plants in Chumash culture.
They are listed taxonomically rather than in order of importance.
1. Pines, particularly pinion (Pinus monophylla) but also P. ponderosa and P. jef-
freyi, provided nuts which were a major storable food, pitch as an adhesive and caulking
material, and wood for construction and bowmaking.
2. Giant wild rye (Elymus condensatus) and carrizo grass (Phragmites australis)
were most valued for arrowmaking, but also had several other uses. Honeydew deposited
on carrizo was a particular delicacy.
3. Bulrush (Scirpus spp.) stems were the principal material for mats and house
thatching; the rhizomes were also eaten.
4. Juncus rush (four species) was virtually the only plant used in basketmaking.
Chumash baskets served in numerous vital roles in daily life, as well as being a highly
developed art form.
5. Soaproot (Chlorogalum pomeridianum) bulbs were used as fish poison, and
possibly as human food; the outer husk fibers were made into utilitarian brushes.
. Brodiaea (Dichelostemma pulchellum) bulbs were formerly much more com-
mon than they are today and were apparently a major food.
7. Yucca whipplei was important as a fiber, food, and fuel plant. Early Spanish
explorers were offered roasted yucca “‘cabbages” and found them quite delicious.
- Willows, probably several species, constituted the most important material for
fuel and for all kinds of construction; e.g., willow poles were lashed with willow bark to
form the house framework. They also had a number of medicinal uses.
9. Oaks, particularly Quercus agrifolia and Q. lobata, yielded acorns which were
nquestionably the most important staple food of the Chumash. Their value was due
oth to abundance and to storability. Oaks had many other uses as well—some 11 are
listed in the Appendix—including importance as firewood and coals for toasting seeds.
10. Red maids (Calandrinia ) seeds were very important as offerings on religious
occasions, Large quantities of these small, black seeds have been found as burial accom-
paniments throughout Chumash territory.
11. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) provided hard wood used for arrow foreshafts
and many other kinds of tools.
12. Wild cherry (Prunus ilicifolia) pits were another abundant, storable staple food.
13. Ceanothus and probably also mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides)
"ood was made into digging sticks, essential tools for harvesting many edible plants.
Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia spp.) had among the most diverse uses of any plant:
magical plant
i raha or toloache (Datura meteloides)
religious plant. It induced visions enabling contact wit
Was also extensively used in curing.
oo 19. Native tobacco (Nicotiana spp.) was used for ceremonial purposes,
8 smoked or eaten for enjoyment and health.
h the supernatural,
as well as
146 TIMBROOK Vol. 4, No, 2
20. Artemisia californica and A, douglasiana both had several uses, the former prin-
cipally for ritual and ceremony, the latter as medicine.
It will be noted that there are few medicinal plants named in the above list, This is
not because I doubt the efficacy of native health care practices, but because it is difficult
to assess their importance when little information is available about how frequently
Chumash people resorted to herbal medicine.
DISCUSSION
Following the brief overview just presented of the range of plant usages by the Chu-
mash, in this section I will address three related topics which have emerged in the course
of this research. First, how did contact with Europeans and the species they introduced
affect Chumash plant use practices? Second, how did the Chumash think about plants
and categorize them? What if any correlation exists between Chumash folk taxonomy
and the Linnaean system? Third, what other kinds of plant-human interactions can be
suggested? That is, in connection with being gatherers of plants, how did the Chumash as
hunter-gatherers affect the ecological system in which they lived?
s might be expected, the highest proportion of introduced plants is seen in the food
and medicine categories. The large total number of medicinal plants (97 spp.) may be
related to the many uses that were introduced to the Chumash in the mission era for
plants which were native over a wide area from Mexico to southern California. Studies
in recent decades (e.g. Gardner 1965, Weyrauch 1982) indicate that the Chumash, like
most peoples, have probably always been willing to try new remedies, especially for
colds and for the dermatitis induced by poison oak. It seems very likely that even though
medicinal plants may have a wide distribution, their uses may have been discovered by
peoples in some parts of the range but not in others. Hispanic folk medicine undoubtedly
had a significant influence on Chumash practices from very early historic times.
New dietary items introduced with the agricultural mission economy had a profound
effect on the inventory of Chumash food plants which is scarcely reflected in the num
bers presented here, owing to the elimination of cultivars from the list. Leaving those
plants aside and focusing only on naturalized species, which behave like native plants m
“just growing wild,” it is clear that the Chumash readily adopted those which were most
like plants they were already using. These included small seeds of annual grasses, ap
and mustard; fresh greens of mustard, watercress and mallow; and the larger, less pay
pier and pads of Opuntia ficus-indica, a species which hybridized with the native prickly
grasses in construction, arrowmaking and other crafts. The large introduce
cactus Joined its native counterparts in being used for paint, sealant and other
well as for food and medicine. Finally, mallow was found to be suitable for stringm@®"™
although it was considered inferior to Indian hemp, milkweed and nettle.
for cigarette-like tubes to hold smoking tobacco.
: Pes number of native species in the list should be expanded somewhat
study of the source materials and comparison with known plant use patterns ©
after furth¢?
f neighbor
|
i
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 147
ing groups in the wider culture area. It now seems as though several species which the
Chumash would be expected to have used are not mentioned, particularly numerous
species of native bunch grasses and seed-bearing composites. These gaps can probably
be attributed principally to the small sample of consultants interviewed by Harrington,
the late date of his study after many traditional usages had been forgotten, and the fact
that his salvage ethnography was quite wide-ranging rather than focused on ethnobotany.
The degree of correlation between Chumash folk botanical taxa and Western scienti-
fic genera and species must be addressed in any study such as this. Chumashan languages
are no longer spoken and there are no knowledgeable consultants who can aid in folk
taxonomic inquiries. It has therefore been a matter of real concern that a researcher
trained to think in terms of Linnaean taxonomy could completely misinterpret or at least
seriously misunderstand the categories of organisms represented by Harrington’s recorded
Chumash names.
Careful analysis of plant descriptions included in Harrington’s field notes and of the
labeled, pressed specimens collected by his consultants has relieved much of my anxiety
on that score. As Berlin and his colleagues (Berlin 1973; Berlin et al. 1973, 1974) have
found with other peoples, the Chumash seem to have fairly consistently placed plants
into categories that bear a remarkable similarity to our own, and to have based them on
morphological features in most cases. To give three examples: they distinguished*
tween spiny gooseberries (sté#méy, Ribes amarum; stiméy iws, R. speciosum) and non-
spiny currants (sga’yi’nu, characterized as “smooth,” attributed to R. malvaceum),
reflecting a division made by some authors, Ribes and Grossularia spp.; between white-
flowered (seq, Ceanothus megacarpus) and blue-flowered (wasbiko, C. oliganthus, C.
spinosus) groups of Ceanothus; and between the evergreen coast liveoak (ku ’w, Quercus
agrifolia) and deciduous valley oak (ta’, which includes both Q. lobata and the deciduous,
lobed-leaved Q. dumosa var. kinselae).
__ Other factors are sometimes seen in Chumash plant categorization. Usage is reflected
in the fact that separate names were given to taxa used for coiled basketry foundations
(Venturefio tash), for sewing strands (mexme’y), and for twined basketry (‘esmu); how-
ever, even in this case the divisions also seem to coincide with Western species (attributed
to Juncus balticus, J. textilis, and J. acutus, respectively, from descriptions by Harring-
ton’s consultants). Habitat may sometimes be invoked in distinguishing between 2% cng
Plants. For example, Equisetum telmateia var. braunti and Ephedra viridis, superficially
similar in having jointed stems, were both called wosbko loy in Barbareno Chumash, but
the latter was distinguished with a suffix indicating the interior mountain range where it
"as found: woshko loy “bi cimajimol” [sic] = i tsiwaya (?) [tsiwaya, San Emigdio Moun-
‘ain (Applegate 1975 :44)]_.
ultural ecology deals with the interrelationships between people and plants. The
above discussion has already addressed some of the effects of plants on the Chumash
People in terms of their usage and classification. The effects that people have on. plants
can be either deliberate or unintentional. Gathering plants for human use isa deliberate
od; to date no evi-
‘nce has been found that the Chumash “overexploited” any plant species. Long-term
many other loc ti t importance in Chumash religion
ation. Both these plants were of great mp ee ae cinta,
heir preference
148 TIMBROOK Vol. 4, No.2
It has recently been found that the Chumash may have performed significant en.
vironmental alterations through the practice of regular burning of grasslands to encourage
growth of certain plants which provided human food (Timbrook et al. 1982). By doing
this, they affected not only the abundance and vigor of the particular species they sought,
but probably had significant effects on the distribution of whole communities or types
of vegetation as well. Archaeologists should attempt to recover plant remains and any
other data which can yield information about the antiquity of this practice, and also
about whether the Chumash may have acted as a selective influence on the morphology
as well as on the distribution of the plants they used. Agricultural peoples have modified
the plants they use, even those which are not really domesticated (see, e.g., Bye 1981;
Nabhan et al. 1981). It is possible that some hunter-gatherers may have had similar
effects on their botanical environment.
CONCLUSION
The Chumash are of interest for cultural ecological studies, for at least two reasons:
their high population density was supported exclusively by an economic base of hunting,
fishing, and gathering wild plants; and they actively manipulated their environment 1
increase their base of support. Greater knowledge of Chumash ethnobotany, along the
lines suggested here, can contribute to a better general understanding of the interdepen-
more group of people tended to classify plants according to the same morphologi
criteria which have formed the basis for Western “scientific” taxonomy, fitting into the
general pattern noted by Berlin, Raven and others (Berlin 1973; Berlin et al. 1973, 1974
Raven et al. 1971). For the Chumash, this remains only a suggestion since the o
data are incomplete, and prehispanic language and folk categories are unknown among
today’s descendants. :
Study of any people’s plant knowledge and uses are also of great potential impor
tance for understanding the processes of culture contact and change, and how ey
affect the mechanics of everyday life. The Chumash case offers excellent oppor
rash oni research, and offers a model for the use of archival sources in ethnobotatl
investigation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
; , for their ability to recognize plant species from 60
This research has been funded in part nei annten ce sei Sesihenilies Institution and the :
—— Santa Barbara, with continuing support by the Santa Barbara Museum of N in Seattle
abbreviated version of this Paper was presented at the Seventh Ethnobiology Conference rg wer
April 1984, subsequent comments by the editor of this journal and two a
most helpful in adapting it for publication,
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reg Annotated Bibliography of the on file, Santa Barbara Museum ©
mn and their Predecessors, Ballena History Library. dex of Chi
ss Anthropological Papers No. 11 _ 1975a. An I sot
Socorro, New Mexico, mash Placenames. Pp. 19-46, County
APPLEGATE, RICHARD. n.d. Inesefio Chu- he Chumash. seo ae om
December 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 149
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Among the Phemiash. : es of Califor-
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BARD, CEPHAS L. 1894. a cna to
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BELL, K.M. 1931. pean the Censer.
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BERLIN, BRENT. 1973. ep eeieit
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and PETER H. RAVEN. 1973. General
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——_______.. 1974. sco of Tzel-
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BINGHAM, MRS. R.F. 1890. Medicinal
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BIRABENT, FRANK. n.d. Wild Herbs Used
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1934. Rescuing the Early
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6, in Explorations and Field Work of the
Smithsonian Institution in 1933. Smith-
sonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
42. Culture Element
Distributions: XIX. Central California
Coast clay of California Archae-
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1944, Indian Words in
Southwest Spanish, oe of Proper
Nouns. Plateau 18(2):27-4
HEIZER, ROBERT F. (ed.) hae, Califor-
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970. More J. P. Harring-
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1
Though Harrington managed to publish only one major work on the Chumash (a culture trait list,
8ton 1942), his unpublished field notes have proved to be a gold mine of information on all
® Partial list, see Anderson 197 8). The field notes, related documents and plant specimens from
th Indian peoples all over
North America are housed at the National Anthro-
Pological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Microfilm copies of much of this
material are being made available.
2
Although the specimens were generally in poor condition, I was able to identify most of them by
sight or with the aid of s
tandard reference floras
(Munz 1959; Jepson 1925; Smith 1976). These
Santa Bon te Confirmed, and additional identifications made, by botanists visiting from the
ces, ince
bY a single Barb
lable in
to travel inlan
Shes determi
*Pecimens; des
; uch more expert than I in dealing with dried material.
of the U.S. National Herbarium were also used for species comparison in some in-
all but a few of Harrington’s Chumash plant specimens were collected in the 1920s
arefio consultant, they only represent her knowledge and those species which were
@ small part of coastal Chumash territory. In earlier times it was common for people
4 to collect many other very important species not available near the coast.
nations were made using various combinations of the following: actual labeled plant
ctiptions in Harrington’s notes or other sources; common names in Chumashan angu-
or local Spanish dialects; study of artifacts made from plants. The attributions are
Y Very conservative, and many more species were probably used than are shown here.
152 TIMBROOK Vol. 4, No, 2
4unless otherwise noted in the text, the terms given are from the Barbareho Chumash language, and
the identifications are from specimens. The orthography follows the practical system designed by
Applegate (1975a), with the substitution of x for underlined h to minimize typesetting difficulties,
APPENDIX
Plants Used by the Chumash
A few introductory comments are necessary to explain what is included in this
appendix, what is omitted, and what sources were consulted.
The list includes only those identified species for which Chumash usages were met: |
tioned in one or more of the 50 references which are enumerated below. Most of the
information was obtained through firsthand study of John P. Harrington’s notes and
plant specimens; that which came from research by other authors based on the Harring
ton material was carefully evaluated—and some identifications changed—before being
included. Many other ethnographic, botanical and historical sources were also consulted
and similarly evaluated. :
Certainly many more species were likely to have been used than the information
available at this late date would indicate, and some of the plants in the list may have had
additional uses which were not mentioned in the sources I have examined. Naturalized
species are included, but cultivars are not. The list omits the many plants which wert
only named, described, or collected and preserved as specimens, if no use was recorded
for them. And plants which have not been botanically identified are also omitted, even
though uses were mentioned. The plants are listed by family, genus and species, de!
ing the arrangement given in Smith’s (1976) flora of the Chumash area.
SOURCES CITED IN THE APPENDIX
1. Author’s analysis of material objects 26. Harrington 1944
2. Applegate n.d. 27. Heizer 1955
3. Applegate 1975a 28. Heizer 1970
4. Applegate 1975b 29. Henshaw 1885
5. Bard 1894 30. Hudson 1977 1988
6. Bell 1931 31. Hudson & Blackburnn.d., 1982,
7. Bingham 1890 32. Hudson et al. 1977 1978
8. Birabent n.d. 33. Hudson, Timbrook & Rempe
9. Blackburn 1963 34. Jepson 1925
10. Blackburn 1975 35. Jepson 1936
11. Bolton 1925 36. Jepson 1943
12. Bolton 1927 37. Kroeber 1908
13. Caballeria y Collell 1892 38. Menzies 1924
14. Centeno, Juanita: pers. comm. 1978 39. Munz 1959
15. Craig 1966 40. Priestley 1937
16. Craig 1967 41. Rothrock 1876, 1878
17. Dawson and Deetz 1965 42. Simpson 1961
18. Gardner 1965 43. Smith 1976
19. Geiger and Meighan 1976 44. Timbrook 1982 1982
20. Grant 1964 45. Timbrook, Johnson & Earle
21. Greenwood 1972 46. Wagner 1929
22. Harrington n.d. 47, Walker & Hudson in pres
23. Harrington 1998 48. Webb 1952
24. Harrington 1934 49. Weyrauch 1982
25. Harrington 1949 50. Yarrow 1879
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153
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
December 1984
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TIMBROOK
154
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Vol. 4, No.2
TIMBROOK
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JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 159
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Vol. 4, No.2
TIMBROOK
162
Co. ets: "a
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163
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
December 1984
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Vol. 4, No.2
TIMBROOK
164
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JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
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Vol. 4, No.2
TIMBROOK
166
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167
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
December 1984
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170 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 4, No.2
Book Review
AP Us de los Helechos en Suramerica con Especial Referencia a Colombia (Uses of ferns in
South America with special reference to Colombia). Maria Teresa Murillo.Bogota:
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 1983. 156 pp., illustrated, (no price listed).
This book isa compendium of the ethnobotany of South American (primarily Colom-
bian) ferns, written at the suggestion of Dr. Richard E. Schultes and published in connec-
tion with the bicentennial of the Royal Botanical Expedition of 1783. It representsa
remarkably thorough review of the relevant literature, and an extensive survey of the
National Herbarium in Bogota, where the author is located.
The book is divided into two primary sections. The first includes a key to the orden
and families of Colombian ferns, accompanied by formal botanical descriptions of each
family and line drawings of representative taxa. The second part lists nearly 130 species
of ferns, horsetails, and lycopods utilized by the peoples of South America, along with
botanical description of each, their vernacular names in various regions, the approximate
distribution of each within Colombia, and a series of quotations describing in detail how
each plant is used. This section is accompanied by 12 full-page, color plates illustrating
several of the species.
Unfortunately, the two sections of the book are not very well coordinated. Despite
the presence of the familial keys, there is no key to species, nor even any indication of
which species is in which family, making it nearly impossible to use the book as a field
guide. Nevertheless, there ismuch information of interest not only to students of South
American ethnobotany but also to ethnopteridologists of other continents as Wet.
The entire book is in Spanish.
Joseph E. Laferriere
Department of Ecology &
Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
J. Ethnobiol. 4(2):171-176 December 1984
CONTRIBUTIONS OF FRANK G. SPECK (1881-1950)
TO ETHNOBIOLOGY
RALPH W, DEXTER
Department of Biological Sciences
Kent State University
Kent, Ohio 44242
ABSTRACT.—F.G. Speck, a naturalist-ethnographer, was a specialist on the Indians of
Eastern North America. Forty eight studies (about 1/5 of his publications, including three
books) were devoted to ethnobiology exclusively or as a primary concern and many other
papers included such information incidentally. Major studies involved the Beothuk and
Micmac of Eastern Canada, the Naskapi of Labrador, and the Penobscot of Maine. He
studied material culture, resource utilization and preservation, methods of hunting, trap-
Ping, fishing, etc., family hunting territories, food, medicinal uses, and animal folklore
among such Indian groups as the Algonkian, Huron, Six Nations, Wampanoag, Dclaware,
Rappahannock, Catawba, Houma, etc. and the Eskimo of southern Labrador. His major
contribution was the detailed study of family hunting territories and their ecological impor-
tance in the economy of these native peoples. Originally he believed such a system was pre-
Columbian, but later was convinced that the practice probably developed after contact with
Europeans and their demands for the fur trade coupled with game cycles and periodic
game scarcity.
INTRODUCTION
In his essay on the history and scope of ethnobiology, Castetter (1944) pointed out
that the science of ethnobiology is more than the study of utilization of renewable
sources and is equally concerned with the total biological environment and interactions
between man and plant and animals, Frank G. Speck (1881-1950), trained by Franz
Boas, was an American ethnologist who gave much attention to studies in ethnobiology.
Biographical accounts of Speck have been published by Wallace (1949), Mason (1950),
haturalist-ethnographer,” since in addition to his works on ethnology he pub-
5 articles on natural history (1898-1946). These were mostly on herptiles and
T which he had a life-long interest. Originally he had planned to become a natura-
" Asa young man he worked with and become a protege of the famous herpetologist
Raymond L, Ditmars, and vertebrates played a prominant part in his later studies on
“thnobiology, Wallace (1951) gave a good review of Speck and his field methods.
birds fo
MAJOR ETHNOGRAPHICAL WORKS
on no ed three books of comprehensive scope which contain aoe ir
ae ies tology. The first was Beothuk and Micmac (1922). He included sone
hicks ‘erritories in Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, and Prince Edward A core one
devot ¥ the Micmac-Montagnais of Newfoundland. His second and third boo vs a
ed to the Naskapi hunters of Labrador (1935a) and Penobscot Man of Main
(19 .
na tn These, too, were much concerned with methods of hunting and utilization of
MATERIAL CULTURE AND UTILIZATION STUDIES
cerned utilization of
One of S ’ ° :
Peck’s earliest and istent investigations con
Plan : and most persis
's and animals. (Dates without names refer to Speck.) Birch-bark (1910, 1928a,
172 DEXTER Vol. 4, No.2
1931) for many uses such as canoes, house coverings, cooking vessels, dishes, and baskets
was naturally included, but he pointed out that contrary to common belief it was not
used to shape pottery. Other utilizations included feathers and moose hair for decorating
clothing and moccasins, and deer, moose, and caribou skin for making moccasins and
coats. Utensils of many types and wampum belts were made from plants and animals by
the Huron of Quebec (1911la, 1911b). He published special reports on the use of wam-
pum for ornamentation, as a medium of exchange, and eventually for ceremonial pu-
poses by the Eastern Algonkians (1916, 1919). Two very special wampum belts given
William Penn by the Delawares and the Six Nations during negotiations for land wer
described by Speck and Orchard (1925). He reported on, with artistic explanation, the
feather art and hair ornaments of the Sioux in South Dakota (1928b). Sealskin prepare
tion in Labrador was included among other topics for studies on Eskimos and Indiansin
southern Labrador (1935-1936). He described the use of ivory and bone for art, ome
ments, and implements for the Eskimo of northern Labrador and Newfoundland (19273,
1940b) and in eastern Pennsylvania (1930).
Speck made a special study of gourds and their utilization by Southeastern Indians of
the United States (194la, 1941b, 1948-49). These inventive peoples found uses for
gourds as rattles, drums, musical instruments, containers, lamp stands, candle holders,
emblems, implements, dippers, cups, toys, games, and medicines. He listed 35 traits and
functions served by gourds for 13 different tribes of the Southeast.
STUDIES ON FOOD
some of the food organisms. They included uses of marine mollusks by
Indians of Louisiana, utilization of marine life by the Wampanoag Indians © ee
Massachusetts, and of biological resources by the Micmac and the Malecite Indians (
called Etchemins) of New Brunswick, Canada. In addition to food, some P 5g
animals were important to these peoples as bait, ornaments, beads (wampum) ing
ments, utensils, games and medicines.
RESOURCE PRESERVATION AND HUNTING TERRITORIES;
HUNTING ACTIVITIES
As a naturalist, as well as an ethnographer, Speck was much interested ai
preservation, hunting territories, and conservation measures in general. oo
were devoted to these topics, and they became his major contribution to sae:
Some early papers were devoted to general matters of conservation. He pomnte vse
Indians were the “best protectors of the game” and that “. . - the increase —o
sumed” (1913). Although this has not proved to be universal, it has been ee Indiat’
than not. In a paper published for students of birds (1938a), he pointed out
“understanding of the need of sustaining the balance of nature,” and consé al
humerous regulations developed for taking plants and animals. Vecsey + indians
(1980) have pointed out that “as much as anyone, Speck fostered the idea ©
lovers and conservers of nature.” a studit!
Many of Speck’s papers were devoted to family hunting territory- a Micma®
detailed the hunting systems of many bands of the Algonkian groups such as - hand
Timiskaming, Dumoine River, and Kipawa (1915a, 1915b), also, t
Ojibwa in northern Ontario, and the Mistassini of Labrador (1923a). Late eighbor™
Involved with the Wabanaki, Malecite, the Lake St. John Montagnais, @ “
bands of New Brunswick, the Hurons of Lorette in Quebec, and the bee Spe
chusett, and Nauset Indians of Massachusetts (1926, 1927b, 1927c, 192 — 1942):
Hadlock, 1946) and the Labrador Eskimo and Indians (1936, Speck and Eis
|
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 173
In a review paper by Speck and Eiseley (1939), the authors defended the system of
family hunting territories as being pre-Columbian, but, after a thorough study of the
matter, Leacock (1954) concluded that family hunting territory came after settlement by
Europeans. Hickerson (1967:313-314) pointed out that “Speck concluded that family
or individual rights to land characterized aboriginal, even ancient property relations.
... Speck’s hypothesis proved to be the cornerstone of a general theory of the particu-
larity, or ‘atomism’ of Algonkian collectors.’”’ But Hickerson continued, “In opposition
to the idea that the family hunting territory system was aboriginal among northern
Algonkians, Jenness asserted in 1932 that the Athabascam Sekani had developed their
family property system in historical times, following the practice of the White trappers.”
Hickerson agreed with Jenness. Wallace also reviewed Speck’s theory and concluded that,
“Speck—simply assumed that such a system of ownership and planned exploitation was
reasonable, considering the nature of the game and the physical contact with European
traders. He was challenged on this assumption very frequently” (Wallace 1968:22).
These writers, however, were unaware that Speck had already changed his mind. In a
letter Speck wrote to Julian H. Steward, dated 22 January 1940, he admitted that family
hunting territories were not “archaic” nor “pre-Columbian”, but probably developed as
an ecological consequence after contact with Hudson Bay Co. fur buyers, and experience
with game cycles and the scarcity of game.! While Speck’s theory on the origin of family
hunting territories was incorrect, his detailed studies of the practice in historic times are
amajor contribution to ethnobiolo vs
Several studies were devoted to methods of taking game and fish. He described the
use of dogs by the Montagnais and Naskapi (1925), and their methods of skindressing
for the major mammal and bird skins taken in Labrador compared with the Eskimo of
coastal Labrador (1937a). The use of blow guns by the Catawba in the southeastern
US. is given as well as method of hunting and fishing with a seasonal chart (1938b,
1946a). Hunting and trapping techniques for mammals, and fishing methods for seafoods
7 the Houma Indians of Lousiana (1943), and for the Rappahannock of Virginia (Speck,
— and Carpenter, 1946) are described in detail. Rabbit drives by the Nanticoke of
Claware, Catawba of South Carolina, Pamunkey, Powhatan, and Rappahannock of
Virginia are also described (1946b, Speck and Schaeffer, 1950). Eel pots and their con-
Sttuction by the Nanticokes were studied in detail (1949).
NATIVE MEDICINE: HERBALS
Medicinal uses have been one of the major concerns of ethnobiologists. While Speck
Was more ¢ their acquisition, and
sed for cures, as well as a few animal parts, especially f :
44). Merrell (1983) has recently given an excellent appraisal of Speck’s
ey and unpublished, among the Catawba. He wrote, “Speck aie zi
Woinad tems that could cope with everything from backache and bo a dee ale
plants, q and concluded that the “Catawbas derived most of these remedies “world”
lls €monstrating once again that ancient, intimate knowledge of the natur
‘rel 1983-959), mere
ast a study of the Houma Indians of Louisiana he compiled an cea scige ea
hann °* Plants and their medicinal uses (1941c), and did much the same tor ae
ock of Virginia (Speck, Hassrick and Carpenter, 1942). His last penety eee
174 DEXTER Vol. 4, No.?
tion concerned an Indian Medicine-man named Joe Pye in eastern Massachusetts who
cured fever with an herb now commonly called Joe Pye Weed (Speck and Dodge, 1945a),
ETHNOHERBETOLOGY: ETHNOORNITHOLOGY
Reptiles and birds, as noted earlier, held a special fascination for Dr. Speck, and he
combined this interest in natural history with his studies in ethnography. A special
paper on bird-lore was devoted to such studies among the Penobscot, Malecite, Micmar,
and the Abenaki. He learned that about one-third of the names of birds were derived
from their utterances, while the remainder were derived from descriptions of the bind
(1921). A similar study on reptile-lore among these northern Indians, and including
the Naskapi, was published two years later (1923c) and a general paper on the know:
ledge of amphibians and reptiles by the Cayuga of Ontario was published by Speck and
Dodge (1945b). He gave special attention to the native and colloquial English names for
snakes, turtles, lizards, frogs, and toads, and fables concerning them, in the culture of
the Catawba and Cherokee of Piedmont, North Carolina (1946c). For the Delawaresin
Ontario he gave the names of birds in both native language and colloquial English equiv
lent (along with official Latin and English names), and gave the Indian’s interpretation of |
the calls and songs of those birds (1946d). In his final paper on this topic he described
the Indian’s interpretation of metamorphosis of geese into beavers, of snakes into rae
coons, of deer into whales, etc. (Speck and Wittoft, 1947).
CONCLUSIONS
Frank G. Speck, naturalist-ethnographer, made numerous contributions to the etine
biology of American Indians of eastern North America. He worked with many -
groups over many years reporting on their preservation and utilization of natural
sources for clothing, decoration, utensils, foods, and medicines, and their metho
employed in obtaining those resources. Also, he studied and reported on thems
animal life in their folklore. first
He gave much attention to the family hunting territory system which he ee
believed to be pre-Columbian in origin, but later was convinced that the system d :
ed after contact with Europeans and their demand for furs. In spite of his initial &
sion, his studies explain the operation of the system in historic time for several
groups. ior if mot
In some 48 publications, including three books, ethnobiology was 4 nage
exclusive focus, and it was incidentally included in many other works.
LITERATURE CITED
.
CASTETTER, EDWARD F. 1944. The domain Canada. Bull. 65, Anthrop- me
of ethnobiology, Amer. Nat. 78:158-170. Nat. Mus. Canada. Ottawa, Canatl wat
DEXTER, RALPH W. 1954. On field trips LEACOCK, ELEANOR B. ssa fur walt
eg Sak ene American ethnologist. nais “hunting a rer a
€ Biologist 36:13-17, er. Anthrop. 56(9,P& 4"
HALLOWELL, A. IRVING. 1951. Frank Bayon tye st 1950. Frank Goulds
on Speck, 1881-1950. Amer. 1881-1950. Bull. Paiste hs
nthrop. 53:67-87, c. 3:3-4. i
HICKERSON, HAROLD. 1967. Some impli- uiiRRELE: JAMES H. 1988. Bee 8
cations of the theory of the particularity, or almost erased page * fe :
“atomism”, of Northern Algonkians. Cur- Frank G. Speck’s Cataw 48-262
rent Anthrop. 8:313-343, Amer. Philos. Soc- yee
G. ig
JENNESS, DIAMOND, 1958, The Indians of SPECK, FRANK
Pe 1927c¢.
December 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 175
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
bark by our Eastern Indians. Mus. Jour.,
Univ. Pennsylvania 1: 33-36.
——____.. 19lla. Notes of the material
culture of the Huron. Amer. Anthrop. 13
208-228,
——____.. 1911b. Huron moose hair em-
broidery. p aaa Anthrop. 13:1-14.
1913. The Indians and game
aateitvetion, The Red Man 6:21-25.
The family hunting
band as the basis of Algonkian local organi-
zation. Amer, Anthrop. 17:289-305.
15b. Family hunting terri:
bands of the Ottawa Valley. Canada Dept.
Mines, Geol. Survey Mem. No. 70 (Anthrop.
Series No. 8),
————.- 1916. Wampum in Indian tradi-
tion and currency. Proceed. Numismatic
and Antiquarian Soc. of Philadelphia 27:
121-130,
ee: 1917. Medicine practices of the
‘ortheastern Algonquians. Proceed. 19th
Internat. Cong. Americanists, pp. 303-321.
1919. The functions of wam-
pum among the Eastern Algonkian. Mem.
Amer, Anthrop. Assoc. 6:3-71.
Ss l 21. Bird lore of the Northern
nélans. Univ. Pennsylvania Faculty Public
Lectures 7:349-380.
gr ras 1922. Beothuk and Micmac.
— Notes and Monographs (Mus. Amer.
Indian, Heye Founda.) Series 2, no. 22.
- 1932a. Mistassini hunting terri-
ories in the Labrador Peninsula. Amer.
Anthrop. 25:459-4 471,
a Reptile lore of the
em lan ‘ ‘ :
273-980, s. J. Amer. Folk-lore 36:
a 8 1923. Snake-folklore:the snake
2 h
86:30. €r young. J. Amer. Folklore
ots,” 1925. Dogs of the Labrador
Indians. Nat. Hist. 25:58-64
926. Culture bl i
x problems in
Northeastem North America. Proceed.
€r. Philos. Soc, 65: 272-311.
- 1927a. Eski ivori
fr skimo carved ivories
es ‘alga Labrado Indian Notes
er. Indian, Heye Founda.) 4:309-
1927b. Family hunting terri-
Lake St. John M Montagnais and
ands. Anthropos 22:387-403.
Huron hunting terri-
ao x
tories of the
neighboring b
and Indian skin-dressing methods in
Bird-lore 40: 258-261.
al?
history of a forest trib
Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
a
676-678.
culiaaiaieai
tories in Quebec. Indian Notes (Mus. Amer.
Indian, Heye Founda.) 4:1-12.
928a. Mohegan beadwork on
an nh dle Sate Rg
birch bark. Indian Notes on us. Amer.
Indian, Heye Founda.) 5:295-
1928b. Notes of < fecclieal
basis of jececaion and the feather techni-
que of the Oglala Sioux. Indian py (Mus.
Amer. Indian, Heye Founda.) 5:
8c. Territorial oe
and Ee of the Wampanoag, Massa
chusett, and Nauset Indians. Indian Notes
and Monographs (Mus. Amer. Indian, Heye
Bae 44, er pp.
930. An ethnologist’s impres-
of the bone piace from Safe
Hachin Bull. Soc, Pennsylvania Arch. 1:
4-6.
1931. Birch-bark in the ances-
A of Sots forms. Anthropos 26:407-
1935. Naskapi—the savage
hunters of the Labrador Peninsula. Univ
Oklahoma Press, Norman.
1935-36. Eskimo and Indian
baieero ile in Southern Labrador
Mag. and Hist. Chronicle (Univ. Pennsyl-
vania) 38:1-17; 143-163.
1936. Inland Eskimo bands of
Labrador. . 317-322. in: Lowie, R.H.
(ed.). Essays in meakeopolony presented
to A. L. Kroeber. Univ. California Press,
1937a. Analysis of Eskimo
dor. Ethnos FP a 353.
. Pp. 179-197. Cataw-
ba mere a ae practices. Phila-
delphia Anthrop. Soc. (25th Anniver. Vol.).
. 1938a. Aboriginal conservators.
88b. The cane blowgun in
Catawba Southeastern Ethnology.
Amer. fe Balle 40:198-204.
. 1940a. Penobscot man, the life
Eskimo jacket orna-
ments of ivory sugee
pendants found in
foundland. Amer. Antiquity 5:225-228.
1941a. The gourd lamp among
the Virginia Indians. Amer. Anthrop. 43:
1941b. Gourds of the South-
176
DEXTER
Vol. 4, No.2
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
eastern Indians. New England Gourd Soc.,
oston
___—*1941c. A list of plant curatives
obtained from the Houma Indians of
Louisiana. Primitive Man 14:49-73
1943. A social reconnaissance
of the Creole Houma Indian trappers of the
Louisiana Bayous. Amer. Indigena 3:134-
146; 210-220.
Sram b. . & pe caiaiereey cura-
tive practices. J. Amer 7:37-50.
. 1946a, Catawba hunting, sc
ping and fishing. Joint Publ., Mus. Uni
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.
Soc. No. 2.
——_______.. 1946b. Cudgelling rabbits and
old Nanticoke hunting tradition and its
significance. Bull. Arch. Soc. Delaware
4:9-12,
Rabies:
a> 1946c. Ethnoherpetology of
the Catawba and Cherokee Indians. J.
Washington Acad. Sci. 36:355-360.
1 Bird nomenclature and
song interpretation of the Canadian Dela-
ware: an essay in ethno-ornithology.
Washington Acad. Sci. 36:249-258.
. 1948-49. Addendum to gourds
of the Southeastern Indians. Gourd Seed
9:15; 10:3-6, 8, 11-12, 16.
1949. e™
FIG. 1—Left, peeled tree in Lilley Park, Gila Wilderness New Mexico. Right, many peeling scars
show axe marks along the top and/or bottom of the wound.
Thus, the above sentence suggests that it was a seasonal or regularly used food. Howes
the second entry by Meriwether Lewis, on May 8, 1806, was in the context of a discus
sion of famine conditions during the previous winter when the Indians, possiby the Sho
shoni, were reduced to boiling and eating the moss growing on pine trees. Although we
bark utilization was mentioned in the same paragraph as the famine discussion, walt
specifically referred to as food resorted to only during times of famine
ther early references to inner bark utilization clearly indicate t
gency food. For example, Sturtevant (1919:436) cites a paper presen
the Edinburgh Botanical Society in 1868:
hat it was an eme
inner bark] ‘
Mountains,
dof
In times of scarcity, says R. Brown, the Indians will eat the liber [
Along both sides of the trail in the passes of the Galton and Rocky M0
many of the young trees of this species [Pinus contorta Dougl.] are stripp®
their bark for a height of six or seven feet.
: And John Strong Newberry, a distinguished physician and naturalist ee
University, based the following description on observations while traveling W?
ment survey expeditions in the far west in about 1859 (Newberry 1887:46):
to
One article of subsistence sometimes employed by the Indians is only pee" F
when they are driven to great straits by hunger. Around many of te
places in the pine forests of Oregon and California the trees 0
may be seen stripped of their bark for a space of three or four
of the trunk. This has been accomplished by cutting with a
around the tree as high us as one could conveniently reach, am in strips
down, so that the bark, severed above and below, could be remores
At certain seasons of the year a mucilaginous film (the liburnum) rf ac?
bark from the wood of the trunk. Part of this film adheres to each §
AR ee
December 1984
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
179
TABLE 1.—Characteristics of various types of scars observed on tree trunks.
Scar Type (cause)
Approximate Location
Distinguishing Features
Trail Blaze
(human)
Survey or
Witness Tree
(human)
Lightning
Animal Gnawing
‘lides, etc.)
Bottom of scar usually
up to 3 meters above
ground,
Breast height or slightly
higher. (1.4 meters
above ground).
Breast height. (1.4
meters above ground),
Ground level up to any
height.
Anywhere on bole, some-
times extending from
top of tree to bottom.
Usually on branches or
tems of smaller trees,
or near tops of larger
trees.
Anywhere on tree.
Oval or rectangular shape, or sometimes
pointed at top. Axe marks occasionally
visible at bottom or top. Occur in
groups, often near campsites with water.
Small stripe, spot or both. Usually on
both sides of tree. Occur on trails or
other travel routes.
Round or rectangular shape with
numbers or other information carved,
stamped or posted. Usually a single
tree.
Triangular shape or elongated strip,
widest at bottom. Charred wood, and
sometimes concave at bottom. Often
occur on uphill side of tree on slopes.
Usually a narrow strip, sometimes
spirals around tree, Occur randomly.
Irregular shapes, teeth marks some-
times visible.
Irregular shapes. Occur randomly.
may be scraped off. The resulting mixture of mucilage cells and half-formed
Wood is nutritious and not unpalatable, so that, as a last resort, it may be used as
* defense against starvation. The frequency with which signs of its having been
ented to are met with is a striking indication of the uncertainties and irregu-
larities of the supply department among savages.
oo specific Southwestern references for use of pine inner bark by the per 8
hua A: 35:42; Cushing 1920:223; Standley 1912:448) and the Mescalero and ( -att
“ao (Castetter and Opler 1936:43; Opler 1941:358) indicate usage nt oe
Hrdlick Want, or especially when other foods were not abundant. On the . ite
hen - (1908:22) observed that the Mescalero and Jicarilla Apache ate nc ean Hae
inner as i great want”. Each of the above cited references indicate that the s ni :
Cush: = Were eaten fresh or made into a flour and baked as cakes. An pat gt
bark i o account, which is a detailed description of — —e ior
heated rocks, ith meat by boiling them in water in “closely-plaited bas
rement,
© most detailed description of inner bark utilization and methods of aie)
based : ; ’
on direct information from native informants, is a paper by Thain White
180 SWETNAM Vol. 4, No,?
Scarred Trees in Western Montana. White’s main informant was Babtiste Mathias, a
Kutenai born in 1879, who recalled collecting inner bark in the spring as a child.
Mathias produced two tools for White that he said were used for debarking and
scraping. One was a wooden pole, sharpened on one end, that Mathias said was nor-
mally about 3 meters long, and was used for prying large slabs of bark off the trunk.
The other tool was a hand held implement, approximately 11 centimeters long and?
centimeters wide, that was used to scrape the inner bark from the bark slab or the tree
trunk. Mathias made the scraping implement out of a flattened tin can, but White stated
that earlier tools may have been made of mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis) horn,
White’s paper is a wealth of information on inner bark utilization in westem Mon
tana, and a number of particularly interesting points are brought to light. For example,
White’s informants indicate that the peeling was primarily a strong woman’s task,
that children helped their elders as they could. The peeling was carried out in the spring,
usually in May and coinciding with the bitterroot season, because the sap in the trees was
running at this time and they were easy to peel. The peeling was generally done near
campsites, probably because it was carried out by women and children, The trees wert
first sampled by peeling a small test strip to determine if the trees were “good”. The
scraping of the inner bark was done at the site of the trees because the large bark slabs
were too heavy to carry back to camp. The strips of inner bark were rolled into balls and
stored in green leaves to prevent drying, or they were tied into knots so that they could
be eaten more easily. White’s informants state that inner bark was sweet and tasted good,
and the overall impression is that it was a delicacy that was looked forward to and ex
ploited every year. No mention is made of inner bark as an emergency food.
White indicates that the peeling of trees was discouraged by authorities at the time of
white settlement because of damage to the trees. He suggests that the practice may also
have been abandoned at this time because the availability of processed sugar TP
inner bark as a sweet in the Kutenai diet.
White (1954:7-9) also reported that peeled trees could be found along ne
valley in western Montana and northern Idaho, and that this area seemed to be the center
of inner bark utilization in the west. If the inner bark of pine trees was utilized in mi
lar fashion, year after year, it seems reasonable to expect that peeled trees would not :
rare within an area used by people that followed this practice. Although peeled tres eS
the Southwest cannot be said to be very rare, they do not seem to be nearly as comm
as in Montana.
A major problem of studying peeled trees is the fact that loggi
bances have probably significantly altered the distribution and abun
m many areas. Therefore, inventories of numbers and distributions 0 In som
well as tree-ring sampling for estimating peeling dates, may reflect this bias. ae
cases it may b i «setae in an area to dete
ee y be possible to research past timber cutting activities n federd
if this may be a factor. Large protected areas that have never been logged, such se P
Wilderness Areas and Parks, may provide the best opportunity for avoiding 4
bias in studies of peeled trees, in Montal,
In any case, considering the reported abundance of surviving peeled trees inner batt
ive the first-hand reports of White’s Kutenai informants, it is probable gas
utilization in this area was on a regular seasonal basis. Indeed, for some
during some periods, it may have been true that annual use and emerge rtain seasons:
bark were the same thing, because food was very scarce every year during ps whites ™
This type of situation, however, seems to be different than that described by ess of
formants, who imply that inner bark was a treat, and would have been cm ;
whether food was unusually scarce or not. k utilization ®
Eidlitz (1969:54-59) presents a wide ranging discussion of inner bar yian countries
circumpolar areas, including numerous references to its use in Scandana
arly every
ng and other distur
dance of these tes
f peeled trees; "
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 181
Russia, Canada and Alaska. Even though some of these citations indicate an annual
utilization pattern, in the majority of cases the predominant pattern of use seems to have
involved times of food scarcity. It may be that in circumpolar areas, where food avail-
ability is more limiting during certain seasons than in temperate regions, inner bark pro-
vided much needed nourishment. In other words, the high frequency of inner bark utili-
zation among circumpolar peoples may have reflected a situation where annual use of
inner bark was a necessity. Whether or not this was the case for other Native Americans,
such as the Kutenai, is questionable.
There is also the question of just how “good” inner bark is. Of course taste is a sub-
jective matter, but the fact that White’s informants stated that the trees were “tested”
before peeling is some indication that not all trees tasted “good”. Quantities of sugars
and other chemical constituents of inner bark tissues, such as tannins and monoterpenes,
vary between species and individual trees and may affect the sense of taste. Gaertner
(1970:69-70) experimented with flours made from inner bark of pine (Pinus strobus L.)
and balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), and cited a Forest Service study that listed the
Percentage of reducing sugars in oven-dry-weight of pine bark as varying between 22 and
43%, However, she expressed her opinion that pine inner bark had a “‘disagreeable and
strong flavour” because of the tannin-filled cells of the secondary phloem and resin canals
tare encountered if more than the innermost layers of bark are included.
e living inner bark tissue, composed of phloem, cambium and perhaps some cur-
Fent years xylem cells, is likely to be a more valuable food source than the non-living
Suter bark or xylem cells because the living cells contain a variety of chemical consti-
tuents that may be of some nutritional value, especially the relatively high concentrations
of sugars in the sieve tubes of the phloem (Noggle and Fritz 1983:331-332).
Both Cushing (1920:223) and Standley (1912:448) observed that pine inner bark
Was difficult to digest. Dimbleby (1967:30-31) stated that inner bark is rich in proteins
and carbohydrates in the spring when the active growth period of the tree is beginning.
However, when commenting on its possible medicinal properties he said: “... ~ from
being a palliative for digestive troubles, is liable to cause them if exclusively used.’
In addition to considerations of taste, nutrition, and digestability, the time and
effort Tequired to procure and prepare inner bark as a food may also have had a bearing
on the value that people ascribed to it, Gaertner (1970:71) stated that the process of
Procuring and Preparing inner bark as a flour, which according to many of the cited
*thnographic sources was a commonly used form, was a time consuming and laborious
‘ask and could be recommended only in times of wheat flour shortage.
DENDROCHRONOLOGICAL DATING OF PEELING SCARS
Necessary Sampling and Dating Techniques. Peeled trees are unique among the many
‘Yes of artifacts created by people in their search for food, in that it is possible, by
dendrochronology, to date their utilization to the year. Sampling peeled trees with
a Cores, however, requires an intensive and careful technique. In order on es
ate estimates of peeling dates using increment core samples, I have found . -
— to obtain cores from the curled healing portion of the wound mee - )
The obj manic of the peeling, and from the opposite, uninjured side of weccatee ne :
very J€ctive is to obtain an increment core that intersects the scar created by the pee aa
or Sei to the original boundary because when the bark was stripped off - ecg
Weather ag may also have been removed from the wood of the trunk. Er
It ig — may also have removed wood. ccae of tee te
ing with sti very difficult to penetrate the resinous, dried exposed ag ae conn this
aea are jy cment borer (Fig. 2, point D). The dried outer rings on ac ff from the
“ually destroyed by the cutting tip of the bit, or they often break o
incr
el-
182 SWETNAM Vol. 4, No.2
SF
—S—
——
J ——
ee "
ee
—
a = as
WS—
=—S
~
*
NAN
XY N ee
NW i x Se
S\N el
oe e a acegs
AA yb
MA |
, NA AA Se
FIG. 2—Increment core sampling is recommended at positions A and B. White (1954) ome |
ment cores from the sides of the peeling scar — A, and he also notched some ot a jncreme |
and then counted the annual rings from the bark in to the scar. Martorano (1981) obtamn _B. |
cores from the exposed surface of the peeling — D, and from the uninjured side of he eT |
: e expos
rest of the core and are lost. Therefore, increment cores taken directly eee dat
surface of the peeling generally provide a date that is earlier than ss sie ee e batk F
Dating the peeling event by counting on crossdating the TIngs : often
ause the rings ar
2 . not appeyn
distorted along the curved portion of wood, and one to several — an the sides 0 ¥
ce can be ° ‘al |
ing, is 4 meth s
ries 0
any obser
ears.
ling date.
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 183
- ee e828 eee my
_ eR EXPOSED
wooD
bd bbvt dba yd
-rann @ wo
J
2-+ gee TS Si
sat
< PITH BARK
12 34567 8 9101 (2 13 16
mp A
b ey -4 :
v8?
12 3 4567 8 91011 12 1314
TIERGEEIREEE::
; EE 4444 55 Bee
ft
BREAK
12. 3.4 5670413 2. 13,36
7, ta,
the An mcrement core taken along radius A would not intersect the original wound boundary and
core would
features such a
Close to the o
I ee :
increment be nN to the difficulties of intersecting the original wound pcregre Pele
insect itis €r, scarred trees are frequently very resinous, and many have es age
of core a . thus the increment borer often becomes jammed with broken *
resin. Because of these problems, it is very difficult to obtain the exact da
184 SWETNAM Vol. 4, No.2
of any type of event that scars a tree using only increment cores, Cross-sections are pr.
ferable to cores because the entire scarred area is visible and the exact ring where the
wound enters can usually be determined. Unfortunately, taking a cross-section obvioutly
destroys living trees.
Interpretation of Peeling Dates. The distribution of peeling dates, arrived at by careful
sampling and crossdating, can potentially provide a test of utilization patterns, fo —
example, if the trees in a particular area were peeled on a regular, or annual basis, then
many different peeling dates spread out over long periods of time may be expected. On
the other hand, if the trees were peeled on an irregular, or emergency basis, then the
peeling dates should cluster around one or a few years, or a certain period.
White (1954) attempted to estimate the peeling dates of 47 trees from the locality
of Flathead Lake, Montana. He used two techniques for dating the peelings. One tec
nique involved notching the sides of the wound with a handaxe and counting the annual
rings from the bark in to the scar. The other technique involved taking increment com
through the bark along the sides of the wound, and presumably counting the rings from
the bark in to the appearance of a break caused by the original peeling (Fig. 2). The pe
ing dates White arrived at varied from an early date of 1739 to 1928. Only afews!
White’s peeled trees have the same estimated peeling date, although most of the dates
appear to cluster during the period 1880 to 1910. There is some uncertainty, howeve!,
about the accuracy of White’s estimates because he counted only the annual rings from
the bark into the wound and did not crossdate the ring width patterns.
A recent study in Colorado involved an extensive survey of three groups of trees o
were probably peeled by Ute Indians (Martorano 1981). Martorano measured and ait
lyzed numerous physical features of the peeling scars on 84 trees, and also attempted ®
estimate peeling dates. She cored through the exposed surface of the wound, and th i
the bark somewhere along the uninjured side of the tree (Fig. 2). The paired increm -
cores from the exposed face of the peeling and from the uninjured side of 39 Ta
compared and crossdated to estimate the peeling dates. The estimated — re
trees varied from 1793 in one group to 1959 in another, although she indicated tha
later date was questionable, because the scar did not appear to be that recent. — dimet
__ For two groups of trees located in south-central Colorado Martorano obtain .
different peeling dates spread out over relatively long periods of time, althoug she
were also clusters of dates from about 1820 to 1830, and gaps without any ee mi
hypothesized that these trees were peeled by the Ute on an annual or semiant moat
¢ other group of trees from north-central Colorado had peeling dates that were
clustered in the 1850 to 1860 period, and she hypothesized that these
been peeled on an emergency basis (Martorano 1981:110-113). sion net?
It can be argued, however, that Martorano’s peeling dates lacked the pee
sary to answer the question of utilization pattern. The Colorado samp ee corts
dated, which would avoid inaccuracies due to false or missing rings, but
Were taken through the exposed surface of the scar, instead of near the OF om js due ®
of the wound, it is possible that some of the observed variability in peeling yee
the sampling technique. If the dating were more precise it is possible that ™
rted thet
on
trees may hae
dates would cluster around certain years or periods.
___Itis also worth noting on this point that Indian Agent Michael Steck Or op Git
in 1853 about 40 Ute families (mostly women and small children) were pais
bra and Costilla Creeks and were said to be starving, and eating
trees for subsistence (Schroeder 1965:65-66). These drainages are
south of the two groups of trees that Martorano hypothesized were P
an annual or semi-annual basis. Thus, it is apparent that inner bark was *
ally used by Ute for an emergency food.
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 185
An additional aspect of sampling peeled trees for dendrochronogical dating, and
interpretation of estimated peeling dates, is the problem of distribution of these trees.
For example, if only one group of dated trees were peeled on the same year, while many
other undated groups were scattered throughout the area, it may not be possible to con-
clude that the dated group was peeled on an emergency basis, because collectively all of
the other trees may have been peeled during many different years over a long period of
time. In some areas, it may not be possible to determine whether other peeled trees
existed because of past logging activities or other disturbances.
NEW MEXICO PEELED TREES
Locations: The largest group of peeled trees that were sampled is along the bottom of
Chimayo Canyon, which is a small drainage approximately 24 km north of Santa Fe.
A smaller group of peeled trees is in Escondido Canyon approximately 16 km southwest
of Tres Piedras, and the third group of trees is in Lilley Park, near the center of the Gila
Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico. Table 2 lists locations (latitude and longitude),
the number of trees that were sampled, and approximate total number of peeled trees
in each area,
The three locations are all within ponderosa pine forests, although the Chimayo
Canyon group is the lowest in elevation (2134 m) and some pifion (Pinus edulis Engelm.)
and one-seed juniper ( Juniperus monosperma (Engelm.) Sarg.) are growing near the
peeled trees. A perennial stream flows in the bottom of Chimayo Canyon. The Lilley
Park and Escondido Canyon groups are higher in elevation (both sites are at 2438 m),
have grassy understories, and are near large meadows. A stream flows near the Escondido
Canyon trees, and there is a spring near the peeled trees in Lilley Park. All three of the
soups of trees are near areas that would likely be attractive campsites.
Sampling and Dating. The New Mexico peeled trees were sampled by taking increment
‘ores from the curled healing portion of the wound alongside the exposed surface of the
Peeling, and from the opposite, uninjured side of the tree (Figs. 2 and 3). The peeling
scars were dated by crossdating the inner portion of the cores taken from the wound
“ea with a master tree-ring chronology established for the area (Stokes and Smiley
1968). The cores from the uninjured side of the tree were also crossdated and used for
‘omparison with the cores from the wounded side. The tree-ring chronologies used were
sau bPet Rio Grande chronology (Schulman 1956) for the Chimayo Canyon and Escon-
cong Canyon trees, and the McKenna Park, Gila Wilderness chronology (Swetnam 1983)
or the Lilley Park trees,
T .
ABLE 2.—Locations and numbers of New Mexico peeled trees.
i No. of Trees
Location ‘
Long. Elevation Sampled Total
so 108°28! 33°19! 2438 m 6 12
om9 Canyon 105952! 35°55! 2134m 12 70
nee
condido Canyon 106°13! 36935! 9438 | 9 20
Total on
mber of trees at each site is an estimate.
186 SWETNAM Vol. 4, No.2
Peeling Dates. Table 3 lists the number of trees sampled, the estimated peeling dates of
trees that were successfully crossdated and comments and notes on the dating. The
Chimayo Canyon trees were very difficult to core because nearly every tree was infested
with ants and most of the peeled trees had rot behind the scars. As a result, very few
usable cores were obtained and the peelings on only five trees could be dated out of the
12 trees that were sampled. The trees at this site were also climatically stressed, and:
number of rings were absent from the cores during years that were probably dry (eg,
1801, 1818, 1819, and 1822). As it turned out, a number of the usable cores showel -
peeling scars sometime during the 1818 to 1822 period, and so it was difficult to crow
date these trees with absolute confidence.
Only two trees were sampled from Escondido Canyon. The cores from these trees
were free of rot and crossdated well with the Upper Rio Grande chronology. The dates
are listed in Table 2,
The Lilley Park trees were also free of rot and they crossdated satisfactorily with he
McKenna Park chronology. Only one of the six trees that was sampled was not dated.
The undated tree had a very complacent ring series (low variation in ring-widths), and
crossdating was not apparent. The Lilley Park sampling is the most complete of the three
groups of trees since cores from nearly half of the estimated total number of peeled
TABLE 3.—Estimated peeling dates of sampled trees.
aa
Estimated
pst stinen ss TS ID Peeling Date Comment
ae : 1865 possibly 18661
. 1865 possibly 18664
: 1865 most reliable date?
4 1865 last visible ring before scar 1864
. 1865 last visible ring before scat 1864
Chimayo Canyon 1 1818 possibly 18192
2 1832 dating uncertain
: 1831 dating uncertain
. 1857 possibly 1858!
sie 1815 dating uncertain
Escondido Canyon j 1872 possibly 1873! “
2 1872 last visible ring before s¢™” 18
Peeling d sample may ™
; c'ing Gate may be one year later than estimated date because the core
ave been very near the original wound boundary.
Most reliable date for this site because a core included the original
showing the scar entering 1865 ring
ound boundi!
3rh l ne ‘ 4: cated date, but ee
© ‘ast visible ring before the break on the cores was the indicate ; eeling date W#
Parent that the cores were not very near the original boundary, 80 t a
estimated to be one or several years later )
4 Dati i | — is
ng uncertain because absent rings were common in these
years near the peeling scars.
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 187
trees at this site were dated. Some of the cores from the trees in Lilley Park had a break
in the 1864 ring and some had a break in the 1865 ring, but there were indications that
these cores were still some distance from the original wound boundary, and so the 1865
or 1866 ring may have been missing. Cores from one tree clearly showed the original
wound boundary, with the scar entering the 1865 ring. It is most probable that all of
these trees were peeled in 1865 or one year later in 1866.
Historical Evidence. The dating of the Lilley Park trees posed an obvious question. Who
were the people that peeled these trees and was their motivation unusual hunger or were
they merely exploiting a food resource that they utilized every year or every few years?
The first part of this question was easy to answer since the Gila Wilderness was the home-
land of the Gila Apache, at least during historic times. The Gila Apache were composed
of at least two local groups of Chiricahua Apache, the Mogollon and the Mimbreno, who
were linked by intermarriage and other habits (Opler 1941:1; Thrapp 1974:63-64). The
second part of the question is somewhat more difficult to answer, but I believe the evi-
dence strongly suggests that the Lilley Park trees were peeled by the Gila Apache when
they were unusually hungry.
€ primary evidence is historical. Under the leadership of Mangus Coloradas, the
a “am peace. Carleton sent an emissary in May of 186 gpl aS
want pea, and he later quoted Victorio as saying (Thrapp 1974:91): an jb ke
to peace—we are tired of war—we are poor and we have little for ourselves ~ a
fat or wear—it is very cold—we want to make peace, a lasting peace - - - * wit
of Vj Carleton was intransigent, and lasting peace did not come until after the .
Ctorio and most of his warriors in 1880 in a battle with the Mexican Genera
—o quite clear that the Gila Apache were experiencing a
compellj ae Although the historic evidence is circumstantial, 1
Apache Pheri for the emergency food utilization pattern,
It Sie peeled trees in Lilley Park.
ness anf vd also be noted that the Gila Wilderness and a
imber CLA nag hl are quite large (approximately 300,0
that there Ing activities have taken place within these boundaries.
48 the Lil] are other peeled trees within these areas, they are certamly ®
°y Park trees are the only ones that I have observed on extensive
nusual hunger during
t appears to bea very
at least for the Gila
djacent Aldo Leopold Wilder-
00 ha), and no commercial
Although it is likely
ly not very common,
travels through
188 SWETNAM Vol. 4, No.2
the Gila area. Therefore, the Lilley Park trees probably do not represent a sampling bias
because they are only one of many groups of peeled trees in the area, or because of past
timber cutting.
Further testing of the hypothesis that any particular group of trees were peeled ona
emergency basis, or otherwise, could utilize similar historic evidence, but consideration
should be given to the sampling problems, Historic evidence that may explain the peeling
of trees at Escondido Canyon or Chimayo Canyon has not yet been pursued to any great
length because the sample sizes from these two groups are too small, or the dating too u-
certain, to determine whether the majority of trees at these sites were peeled durin
specific dates or periods. A more intensive sampling of these trees is planned, so that the
emergency food hypothesis can be further tested.
SUMMARY
The published references suggest that there were different patterns of cultural utilize
tion of inner bark. Some cultural groups may have peeled pine trees and eaten the inner
bark every year because it was valued as a sweet or delicacy. Other groups may have ual
inner bark only as an emergency food on relatively rare occasions. And yet others maj
have eaten inner bark every year, or every few years, because of a combination of neces
sity, cultural tradition, and taste. Inner bark may not have very high nutritive vali
digestion of this fibrous material is difficult, and the taste may or may not be appeal
It seems probable that inner bark was not a very important food for Southwestem 3!
tural groups that used it, but it was more likely a minor or peripheral item m oe pe
€conomy that was more or less exploited depending on the abundance of other foods
customs of the people.
It is my contention that the Gila Apache of southwestern New Mexic si
bark as an emergency food. The dendrochronological dating of one group of py
in the Gila Wildermess, and the historical circumstances of the Gila Apache hes
the trees were peeled, supports this view. I suspect that other groups of peele ok
eet and elsewhere in the western United States were also peeled by peo
uring years when they were very hungry. i
Additional research is hed Pig eats utilization patterns for any bag"
people or group of trees. Inventories of the numbers and geographical <—
surviving peeled trees is needed, If the problem of changes in distribution and help
of peeled trees in historic times can be avoided, or accounted for, inventories ion
determine the importance of inner bark in the food economy of different ona
The distribution of these trees may also help determine the location of seasonal ¢
and movements of nomadic peoples. £ peeled He
Dendrochronology can provide a tool for determining whether groups ™ aoe wert
were exploited seasonally, or during times of unusual food scarcity. ae expe
pera on an emergency basis can provide evidence that a group of pee ther ciru®
lencing hardship, possibly due to famine brought on by warfare, climate or ot
stances, tain usid™
___ would emphasize that intensive and careful sampling is necessary f° pee cout
increment core samples for dating purposes. Crossdating, rather than sia
ing, 1s also ne€cessary to arrive at accurate dates because missing 4
macommon in trees, especially trees that have suffered large WOU
Cross-sections or wedge-sections from peeled trees would greatly ”
peeling events. Destructive sampling of living trees may not be acc ed logs
ahle that cross-sections could be taken from standing dead trees . oe
peeling scars. With cross-sections, it may also be possible to deter” nen
were peeled during the dormant season (fall, winter and early spring) O°
o utilized inne
ai
cilitate the
eptable, but It aie
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY —
ing season (late spring and summer) by noting the relative position of the peeling scar
within the annual rings.
Finally, it should be recognized that there is some urgency in the task of identifying
peeled trees and preserving them where it is possible to do so. No doubt many of these
trees have been cut down for lumber over the years, without any recognition of their
cultural or historical significance. Timber cutting activities have increased in recent
years within the few remaining virgin, old growth stands of ponderosa pine. These are
the areas where peeled trees are most commonly found.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank Thomas P. Harlan, James R. Swetnam, John H, Dieterich and Elaine Kennedy Sutherland
for their help in collecting the increment core samples. Thomas P. Harlan of the Laboratory of Tree-
Ring Research also helped crossdate the Lilley Park and Escondido Canyon cores, Fred R. Swetnam
identified the locations of the Chimayo and Escondido Canyon trees, and Jack Stellar kindly permit-
ted us to core the Chimayo Canyon trees on the Frank Rand Boy Scout Ranch. I also thank Karen
R. Adams, Marilyn A. Martorano, Bryant Bannister, Jeffrey S. Dean, William J. Robinson and an
aa reviewer for their comments and suggestions. Figs. 2 and 3 were drawn by Susanmarie
LITERATURE CITED
CASTETTER, EDWARD F. 1935. Unculti- ponderosa pine trees reflecting cultural
vated native plants used as sources of food. utilization of bark. Master of Arts Thesis,
niv. of New Mexico Bull. No. 266, Biol. "of Anthro., Colorado State Univ.,
Ser. Vol. 4, No. 1, Ethnobiological Studies Fort Collins.
pm fesetican Southwest, No. 1 NEWBERRY, JOHN S. 1887. Food and fiber
plants of the North American Indians.
Pop. Sci. Monthly $2:31-46.
NOGGLE, G. RAY and GEORGE J. FRITZ.
Introductory plant hy siology
Mescalero Apache. Univ. of New Mexico :
p :
Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New
Bull. No. 297, Biol. Ser., Vol. 4, No. 5,
Ethnobiological Studies in the American
Southwest, No. 3
; Jersey.
CUSHING, FRANK H. 1920. Zuni breadstuff. OPLER, MORRIS E. al. An Apache life-
Indian Notes and Monographs, Vol. 8, New way: The economic, so and religious
be ork Museum of the American Indian. institutions of the Chiricahua Indians. The
SLEBY, G. W. 1967. Plants and archae- Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
128. Unwin Brothers Limited, Pall Mall, SCHROEDER, ALBERT H. 1965. A brief
rm thwestern
oe ANDREW E. 1941. Crossdating in
EID ochronology. J. For. 39(10):825-831.
» KERSTIN. 1969. Food and emer-
8ency food in the circulpolar area. Studia
§2.
history of the southern Utes. Sou
Lore 30(4):53-78. .
SCHULMAN, EDMUND. 1956.
i in semi-arid America. Univ.
of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Alm- STANDLEY, P.C. 1912. Some useful —_
plants of New Mexico. Smithsn. Inst. Ann.
Rept. 1911:447-462.
STOKES, MARVIN A. and TERAH L. SMILEY.
1968. An introduction to tree-Ting dating.
Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago-
STURTEVANT, E. L. 1919. geben s
notes on edible plants. (U.P. esige 7
New York State Dept. : . Rept.
n,
a yy peg E. 1970. Breadstuff
Ir tes bals 5
Mit eats alsamea). Econ. Bot.
LICKA, ALES. 1908. Physiological and
Tvations among the Indians of
th
< m United States and Nor-
hist Mexico. Smithsn. Inst., Bur. of
Nican Ethnol. Bull. No. 34
(1918-19), No. 97, Vol. 2(2).
AS
ae » WILLIAM A, 1952, Turmoil in SWETNAM, THOM Y asunt Master
Mexico: ila Wi _
Santa peo: 1846-1868. The Rydal Press, of the Gila Wildernes f Ren. Nat. Res., Univ.
ta Fe, New Mexi
MAR’ : exico,
TORANO, MARILYN A, 1981, Scarred
of Sci. Thesis, Sch. 0
of Arizona, Tucson.
190 SWETNAM Vol. 4, No.2
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
THRAPP, DAN L. 1974. Victorio and the tion, 1804-1806. Vol. 3 and 5., Dodd,
Mimbres Apaches. Univ. of Oklahoma Mead and Company, New York.
Press, Norman. WHITE, THAIN. 1954. Scarred trees in
THWAITES, R.G. (ed). 1905. Original Western Montana. Montana State Univ.
journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- Anthro. and Sociol. Pap. No. 17.
Book Review
Ralamuli Nutugala Go’ame (Comida de Los Tarahumaras). Albino Mares Trias. Publisheé
privately by: Don Burgess McGuire, 911 12th Street, Safford, Arizona 85546. 1982.
502 pp. $10.00.
Most ethnobiological works are written by outsiders who come from very different
cultures, and who have to struggle to understand the ways of the people they are study:
ing. This book, however, the fourth written by Mares, a Tarahumara of a
Chihuahua, Mexico, discusses over 100 edible plants, fungi, and caterpillars, weer”
j t
and domesticated, consumed by the natives of the author’s home area. It 1s walls
the native Tarahumara language with a parallel text in Spanish, and contains descriptio®
of the different varieties of each species, and the manner in which each is utilized, plus
photographs of most of the species. Most of the photographs are excellent, although #
few did not reproduce very well. The book also includes an introduction by Don ge
McGuire of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and an appendix by Dr. Robert Bye’
the University of Colorado, listing the scientific binomials of most of the species
cussed
Iksy in spots,”
dix is difficult ®
arily because 0!
Written by a nonprofessional, the book does tend to be a bit fo
though it appears rather thorough in what it attempts to do. The appem
use, with no apparent order to the listings. The book is interesting primary
its novelty, and because if its inherently emic point of view, which is un usual in
logical literature.
Joseph E. Laferriere
Department of Ecology &
Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
]. Ethnobiol. 4(2):191-200 December 1984
UTAH JUNIPER (JUNIPERUS OSTEOSPERMA)
CONES AND SEEDS FROM SALMON RUIN, NEW MEXICO
DAVID L. LENTZ
Scanning Electron Microscopy Laboratory
School of Dentistry
University of Mississippi
Jackson, MS 39216
ABSTRACT.—Morphometric comparisons with modern species reveal that ancient juniper
seeds and cones discovered at Salmon Ruin, New Mexico, are Juniperus osteosperma (Utah
juniper), Ethnographic sources for Southwestern Native Americans indicate that juniper
cones are used for food, medicine, and other purposes. Evidence is presented for a similar
utilization pattem of juniper cones by the prehistoric Anasazi inhabitants of the ruin.
Cones and seeds have been found in a variety of archaeological contexts, including strati-
graphic units from the Tower Kiva, burials, storage or processing areas, and trash deposits.
INTRODUCTION
During extensive archaeological excavations at Salmon Ruin, New Mexico, more than
sth juniper cones and seeds were unearthed. These abundant plant remains provide
lg concerning the use of juniper cones by the prehistoric inhabitants of Salmon
Ruin. A greater understanding of this archaeobotanical evidence is brought into focus
through the integration of information on juniper taxonomy, regional topography, plant
scology, and ethnographic accounts of traditional Southwestern Native American plant-
use practices,
Salmon Ruin is a prehistoric Puebloan site located 16 km east of Farmington in the
aweee corner of New Mexico. The site is on the eastern side of the Colorado Plateau
and is just north of the San Juan River flood plain. Elevations in the area range from
mine he the river to 2200 m on the higher escarpments above the site.
fir 2 ~~ elling, a multicomponent site, was built in the late 11th century A.D. and was
st inhabited (primary occupation) by Anasazi groups associated with the Chaco —
ten, manifestation (Irwin-Williams 1977). The E-shaped, pueblo-style edifice (F = )
ek mhabited in the 13th century and partially modified by another —
sty] onde Anasazi (secondary occupation). The occupations were identified by pottery
€S associated with early and late stratigraphic levels.
PLANT ECOLOGY
Above the flood plaj f the San Juan River Valley are
od plain to the north and south o stward flowing river.
a igmy
Principal plant community of the terraces has been variously ae
fore
*t (Woodbury 1947), pinyon-juniper woodland (Howell 1941; Randle
19 Sm i :
sch and juniper-pinyon savanna (Daubenmire 1943). Visual praece) an
; é . elm.
Juniperus as some of the names suggest, pinyon (Pinus edulis hng (Torr.) Little,
15 km $
192 LENTZ Vol. 4, No,?
4.
0 Meters 20
$8 Kivas UE
FIG. 1.—Floor plan of Salmon Ruin showing selected rooms containing juniper see |
macrofossils. Room numbers are referred to in the text. |
juniper (J. scopulorum Sarg.) were not observed despite intensive botanical sune)*
Within 10 km of Salmon Ruin there are approximately 156 km (50% of the land "
covered with pinyon-juniper woodland, or what might more accurately be called Ute
juniper woodland with a few small stands of pinyon mixed in.
JUNIPER SEED IDENTIFICATION
Reference seeds from modem junipers were collected to compare with the a
seeds from Salmon Ruin. Since almost all the Salmon Ruin seeds were round a
section, alligator and Rocky Mountain junipers were excluded as possible pane
origin. Each of these species usually has two or more seeds per cone (Kearney
Peebles 1951; Little 1950), resulting in distinctive flattened areas, or facets, 0"
seeds. Utah and one-seed junipers usually have one seed per cone and are 180 ne
Morphologically, the latter two species have seeds that are quite similar, althoug?
Juniper seeds tend to be larger than one-seed juniper seeds. ; easut
To determine the species of the Salmon seeds, maximum length and width ®
= for modern one-seed and Utah junipers were compared to those 0
ancient seeds. Seed length and width were multiplied together, formm ar pit
accentuate the size differences and simplify the data (Table 1). A ukey
wise comparison (Sokal and Rohlf 1969) of the three populations li
highly significant differences (P<0.01) among all three groups. Nevertheless,
— Ruin must be from at least one of the species represented in the compa
mspection of the frequency polygons of the three seed populations (
similarities between the Utah juniper curve and the Salmon juniper s¢¢
at the lower ends. If there were a number of one-seed juniper seeds in the
collection, the curve of the latter would take on a bimodal configuratio”, size OF
would be increased, and seeds would appear in the strictly one-seed jumpet
However, this was not the case. oder ue
is Although, the Salmon seed-size index mean is larger than the mean ae d dur
Juniper seeds, this disparity can be explained. The modern seeds wer! és
a dry year, 1977, with 33.8 mm lower than average rainfall (U.S. pepe
1s08: *
d curve, ¢
th salmon
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 193
TABLE 1.—Size index (length in mm x width in mm) calculations for sample populations
of juniper seeds.
Juniperus J. osteosperma Juniper seeds
monosperma modern from
(modern collection) collection) Salmon Ruin
Mean 14.75 35.50 38.65
Standard Deviation 2.98 9.74 8.12
Variance 8.96 94.77 65.91
Median 14.28 36.00 38.55
Minimum Value 6.21 10.40 13.69
Maximum Value 95.37 63.00 66.00
Number of
Seeds Counted 210 283 1180
St ee ee aa hie nonionic
330 5
Be 4 MODERN J. MONOSPERMA
7m -
© MODERN J. OSTEOSPERMS
0 SALMON JUNIPER SEEDS
Q
Hw |
w .
1°)
&
Lj te.
08) >
40 Ke
FIG SEED SIZE INDEX
inde oTaPh showing frequency polygons for three juniper seed PoP
ulations. Seed
— length in mm x width in mm.
194 LENTZ Vol. 4, No.2?
merce 1977). The preceding year was even drier, with an 81.3 mm rainfall deficit (US.
Department of Commerce 1976). In this arid region, even a small drop in rainfall ha
substantial ramifications as preciptation averages only 264 mm per year. Probably the
seed size of the juniper crop was adversely affected. The modern juniper seeds wer
collected during a dry year and were smaller than average whereas the juniper seeds from
Salmon were collected over many years and undoubtedly reflected a closer approxime
tion to the true population mean.
ETHNOGRAPHIC SOURCES AND ARCHAEOBOTANICAL INTERPRETATION
Most traditional Southwestern Native Americans use juniper cones for food, meti
cine, or ornamentation. The extensive ethnographic literature relating to juniper cont
use is outlined in Table 2. Assuming that plant use practices of present day Native
Americans are similar to those of the past, ethnographic information can aid in the
interpretation of archaeobotanical data.
TABLE 2.—Use of juniper cones and seeds by Southwestern Native Americans.
Native Species of Use, method of preparation References
American Juniperus or storage technique
group
pee Oe ———
Hopi J. osteosperma cones baked with piki bread, seeds Whiting 1939
used as beads for necklaces
Tanoan Pueblo J. scopulorum cones eaten fresh or stewed Cook 1930
(Jemez)
Tanoan Pueblo J. communis, cones eaten fresh Ford 1968
San Juan) J. monosperma
$1;
Tanoan Pueblo J. deppeana cones boiled then eaten Jones 19 ee
(Isleta) Castetter
: ins et al
Tanoan Pueblo /. monosperma cones eaten fresh or heated in an pees
(Santa Clara) open pan over a fire, decoction in 19
water used as remedy for internal
chills and as a diuretic
1931
Tanoan Pueblo J. monosperma cones eaten fresh Hough
(Santa Clara)
pins et
Tanoan Pueblo J. monosperma cones eaten fresh (?) pr
(San Ildefonso) 19
te 1949
neg Pueblo J. monosperma, cones eaten fresh or cooked Whi
(Sia) J. scopulorum
Castetter 198
ie Pueblo J. monosperma cones eaten fresh or baked, tea
(Cochiti) used as a cold remedy and as 4
tonic after childbirth
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 195
TABLE 2.—Use of juniper cones and seeds by Southwestern Native Americans.
(Continued)
Native Species of Use, method of preparation References
American Juniperus or storage technique
group
Keres Pueblo J. monosperma cones eaten fresh or mixed with Swank 1932;
(Acoma, chopped meat and roasted Castetter 1935
Western Apache Juniperus sp. cones an important wild food
cones eaten fresh, stored in sealed
askets
Westem Apache J. osteosperma
cones eaten fresh, seeds spat out,
beverage derived from dried cones
mixed with water, cones sun dried
and stored for winter
Westem Apache /. monosperma
sae Mountain J. monosperma, cones boiled before eating
Apache J. osteosperma,
J. occidentalis
San Carlos
hits Juniperus spp. cones boiled before eating
North ;
So ¢m and Juniperus spp. cones eaten fresh
uthern Tonto
Navaj
" J. monosperma, cones eaten fresh, boiled juice
J. osteosperma used as a cure for influenza, as a
source of green dye; seeds used
as beads for necklaces
Ramah .
Navajo J. monosperma, cones eaten fresh, boiled, roasted
J. deppeana and also stored for winter use
Gosiute
J. osteosperma cones eaten after boiling
South
ern
Paiute J. osteosperma trees sampled for sweetest cones;
cones crushed on a metate, seeded,
Goodwin 1942
Basso 1969
Gallagher
1977
Reagan 1929
Hrdlicka 1908
Gifford 1940
Elmore 1944
Vestal 1952
Chamberlin
1911
Kelly 1964
Tab]
kinds aks
of actiyj
fact
ors have been minimized
’
ontains data i tigraphic units
ata from several Salmon Ruin stratigrap d by the ethno-
Faphic lite ties with which juniper cones were associated as suggest
rature. The units were selected on the basis of their stratigraphi
ting ‘str. Servation qualities, and absence of rodent disturbance im
ata according to these criteria, the modifying effects of post
illustrating the
‘ integrity,
dications. By
-depositional
Anayseq ‘eisar synpe smut
$$2Aaw2] DI9N, ‘sprees siynv21qG70 DI
-222uaqy ‘Sp228 pur spuys v7:qan2n7 asn peruow Auapoe oe. _
tspod snjoaspyg ‘8qoo skow vaz “2129 ‘pooy Azepuodas peuing sO°lH yol sot qv?
surewias jueld sao ‘spacs pur
suiais “dds myundg ‘simay wnyzuny
‘S2AR2] pur sp2as p22n4 ‘syd
snunsg ‘SILOS QING wena py teys21
Nps thug ‘SpUuLs pur spaas o7g suTeuLas pooj Arepuo 226
“AMIN ‘$]2UsLdy PUR $qQod rhpw 027 papseosrp pure Areunad yreny TIet Cp oe? 89 gh BL 29
aipung jer]
x DIINA SUIS fap wsesy 4 Opaes pur
A suai “dds myunde ‘paas emopop245
< {PUL 971G4NIN) “pars fiswRyna ony woos 21078
“Oasoyd ‘S2Us2y pure sQod shou 927 poo} paso AZEPUO d28 peuing gt-la yor o¢
ieys moe
Saiwsosyg pur mog ‘syons saAead
‘S2A82] UOPa|AIO.oUOW jo ysnig Bulsajjzo anew Aseurud feng CUT at es
(17a aya
0] 1X2U Spas
S2A82] DIINA Butiajjo aavss Azepuooss = sadrunf) peng 80-11 a4 e8l
uoneieidiaquy 1x2]uU09 irun sureuras saquinu
S[ssojoiseu parefsossy asn sadrunf reuoppedinaag Teowojosrysiy =» st ydeaBeng aodrunf “on wooy
©
a
1
‘$2U09 pun spaas sadiun{ Suruwiu0r wny uowpog worl vyn4ys P7999]9S—"§ TIAVL
197
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
December 1984
peypene syed auo> yuM $p29S, Sp22g, pezuoqiey, vary 12MOL, yous way,
Surjew fourm)
*“S2AR2] ‘JIBIY UI91S DION, tynd
Ajuaaa ‘sutays sseai ‘(prnb) saavay
uope]AjO20Uu0U! ‘png miyundD
‘pees wnipodousy) ‘inay wanny3
“MDY ‘SpuULI puke sp2es Dzigunon7
{paas siavdjna snjoasvyg ‘sysny WOOl 21038
Pen pure ‘sqod ‘sjaulsy show vaz poo} Arepuodas peuing 80-14 yo! 621
asepi02 v22N4 :paes vuo70j24y tpnq
niyundy¢ ‘pres xajdiaj py ‘apunped dojjooi pauing
pue pul DjIgunon7 ‘pres stapdyna ‘vare 2381038
snjoosoyd ‘sonea| pe3}0uy ‘spunped 10 Zurssa201d
*[98se} ‘sjaussy ‘sqoo sXom vaz poos Arepuosas s00pino €0-IN yol oor
selieu uonmeieidia} quauoduroo 32x91U09 aun sureuror um
ee oe port [euonedns29 ealisibaber orydes8n erg aodrunf “ONT gee
(penunuod) sauo2 puv spaas uadiunl STUIMIDJUOD UINY UOWpPVE wO0sL DIDS P32II2{/IS—"E AIAWL
198 LENTZ Vol. 4, No.
Modern Southwestern Native Americans often cook juniper cones by boiling
roasting them. The prehistoric Salmon Ruin inhabitants seem to have done the sam
Over 200 of the juniper cones and seeds found at the site were carbonized (Fig. 3)
Several trash strata in Room 62 contained carbonized and uncarbonized juniper seeds
as well as other plant macrofossils, embedded in matrices of ash. These units represent
redeposited hearth refuse. Since juniper seeds are regarded as waste products according
to ethnographic sources, it should not seem surprising to find the seeds in prehistore —
midden deposits. Room 62 contained 53 trash strata and 43 of these included juniper
seeds, suggesting the early inhabitants also discarded them. The fact that many of tht
juniper seeds found at Salmon Ruin are uncarbonized indicates fresh consumption 0
the cones by the prehistoric inhabitants similar to patterns revealed in the ethnograplit
literature. The durable nature of the seeds combined with the xeric conditions of th
region can account for the preservation of these plant artifacts.
|
1cm
FIG, 3—Utah Juniper cones and seeds. From left to right: modern cone,
carbonized cones from Salmon Ruin, seed from Salmon Ruin.
modern set
d (Gallaght!
m 100) #
indicating the early inhabitants may have desired a reserve of the food item. a 64)
J uniper seeds were found on an activity surface in the Tower Kiva be kivas
gesting that they may have been used for ceremonial purposes. Tradition@ y; fad
oftentimes #
at the site. All of be
strata wer
ce for 4 ga
as left of the #
ere often P
crete units. For example, stratum L1-11.5 of Room 33 sho
offering with two cones found adjacent to the body inside of what W
rounding matting of the inhumation. In the Southwest, food offerings
m Proximity to the deceased (Bohrer and Adams 1977), providing n° Ruin co
long journey after death (Parsons 1939). The five inhumations at Salmon
ing Juniper remains suggest the plant’s use as a funerary item.
DISCUSSION is
seal ¢
Because of the numerous juniper remains found in a variety of “a
‘exts at Salmon Ruin, it seems apparent that the cones were 4 pate t juniper
subsistence pattern of those early inhabitants. Although it seems likely tha 4 ould not ©
were not a staple for the Salmon Ruin Anasazi, their supplementary ee andar
disregarded. Studies comparing plant remains from the primary a
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 199
tions indicate an increased reliance on wild foods, such as juniper, by the latter occupa-
tion (Doebley 1981; Lentz 1979).
Utah juniper cones have been shown to contain 7.5% reducing sugar (Yanovsky and
Kingsbury 1938) and a comparable amount, 10.66%, has been shown for the bread of
J. occidentalis Hook, with 5.69% protein and 17.87% starch (Palmer 1871). Heat of com-
bustion tests on Utah juniper cones from the Salmon Ruin area reveal the presence of
5.3 keal/gr in strobilus material (minus the seeds) or 6.5 kcal/cone. Combine this with
the estimate of 488 mill cones produced within a 10 km radius of Salmon Ruin (Lentz
1979) during the relatively dry year of 1977, and a substantial, reliable resource appears
to have been readily available.
addition to its nutrient contents, juniper cones contain volatile oils, resins, and
other chemicals with irritant properties (Claus et al. 1970). Cooking ameliorates the taste
of juniper cones by driving off many of the unpleasant compounds. Another cultural
adaptation for reducing the effects of irritants has been recorded for the Southern Paiute
(Kelly 1964) who sample different trees until they find ones with the sweetest taste, i.e.,
with lower irritant contents. Similar methads would have allowed the prehistoric inhabi-
tants of Salmon Ruin to have exploited the juniper cone crop with fewer ill-effects.
The agricultural subsistence base of the prehistoric inhabitants of Salmon Ruin
probably was precarious. However, the drought-resistant juniper crop was always avail-
able, even during lean years. In addition to the ceremonial uses of juniper cones and
seeds, the prehistoric inhabitants of Salmon Ruin could rely on nutrients in abundance
from the surrounding juniper woodland.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper is based on a master’s thesis completed at Easter New Mexico University,
Dr. Vorsila L. Bohrer as chairperson. I wish to thank her, as well as Ms. Karen R. Adams, Dr. Robert
R, Haynes, Dr. C, Earle Smith, Jr., and Ms. Vicki L. Young for their editorial comments. Also, I
would like to thank Dr. Cynthia Irwin-Williams for providing funds; Ms. Jo Smith, San Juan County
aaatolosical Research Center, Salmon Ruin, for lending juniper macrofossils; and Dr. Mercedes »-
ns, New Mexico State University, who determined the caloric values for Salmon Ruin area jun
Per strobiles,
LITERATURE CITED
BASSO, HK 1969. Western Apache witch- CHAMBERLIN, R.V. 1911. The a
mores: Univ Arizona Press, Tucson. of the Gosiute Indians of U em.
R, V.L 1980. Part 7: Salmon Ruin Amer. Anthropol. Assoc. 2(5). kai
"aa report. Pp. 163-535, in CLAUS, E.P., V.E. TYLER, and L.R. ig =
os at the Salmon site; the 1970. Pharmacognosy, 6th ed. Lea
Tu 5 : : i hia.
acoan society in the Febiger, Philadelp
i Southwest. Final report of COOK, S.L. 1930. The ethnobotany min
P 7 agencies, (C. Irwin-Williams and Jemez Indians. publ. M.A. :
Gok Shelley, eds.). Unpubl. Ms. on file, Univ. New Mexico, Albuquerque. ea
olden Library, Eastern New Mexico DAUBENMIRE, R.F. 4 vou
niv., Portales, zonation in the Rocky Mountains.
—» and K. ADAMS, 1977. Eth- Rev. 9(6):325-393 j
— techniques and. approaches DOEBLEY, J.F. 1981. Plant remains pow
Ne rea Ruin, New Mexico. Eastern ed by flotation from trash 46(8):1 69-
8(1) "today Univ. Contr. Anthropol. Ruin, New Mexico. The Kiva ;
’ Ortales
CASTE : , of the
a si BE 1935. Ethnobiological ELMORE, F.H. 1944. ee
meni nthe American Southwest: Navajo. Univ. New Mexico
py ap Native plants used as sources Ser. 1:1-136. ; logical analysis
» Univ, : : n eco
Bio. Ser, ‘ahaa Mexico Bull. No. 266, FORD, R.I. 1968 a
involving the population ©
200 LENTZ
Vol. 4, No. 2
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AOWELL, rn ". 1941. Pinon and juniper
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IRWIN-WILLIAMS, C. 1977. Investigations at
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JONES, v. 1931. The ethnobotany of the
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KEARNEY, T.H. and RH. "PEEBLES, 1951.
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KELLY, 1.T. 1964. Southern Paiute ethno-
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PALMER, E. 1871. Food products of the
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December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 201
RECENT DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS OF INTEREST
TO ETHNOBIOLOGISTS
JOSEPH E, LAFERRIERE
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
This bibliography will update and expand a listing published in this journal a year
ago (Hays 1983). That compilation gave anthropological dissertations from series A of
Dissertation Abstracts (D.A.) volume 41 (1981) through volume 43 (June 1983). The
present listing covers volume 44, number 1 (July 1983) through volume 45, number 3
(September 1984), selected dissertations from series B (Science and Engineering) volume
41, number 7 (January 1981), through volume 45, number 3 (September 1984), and
series C (European dissertations) volume 41, number 1 (Autumn 1980) through volume
45, number 3 (Fall 1984).
As with the earlier work, this compilation was made by scanning the titles and
abstracts published in D.A. and making a subjective decision as to those which might be
of interest to ethnobiologists. In certain cases, dissertations appeared to be of only
peripheral interest, or only part of the dissertation seemed relevant to ethnobiology; an
attempt was made to be as inclusive as possible thus allowing the reader to decide for
him- or herself. Since only those dissertations categorized under “Anthropology” in
series A and C, and those listed under “ethnobiology,” ‘‘ethnobotany,” etc., in the
indices of series B were considered, other relevant dissertations in other sections probably
were overlooked. The compiler would be grateful for comments. :
The dissertations are listed below alphabetically by author, along with the author's
mame, year of acceptance, title, institution, length, number of the page on which the
abstract may be found, University Microfilms order number, and the ISBN number,
when given,
_ Dissertations accepted at institutions in the United States may be obtained from
University Microfilm International (UMI), P.O. Box 1764, An Arbor, MI 48106, either
1 microfilm or published by microfilm xerography. Quality of printed material is
er aly excellent, but that of photographs and tables varies depending on the quality
o the original. Current pricing information may be obtained by calling 313-761-4700 or
800-521-3049 (in Canada, 800-268-6090).
: Canadian and European dissertations are not now available through UMI, although
me may change in the future. Relatively few European universities participate in &
“A. abstracting service; hence those listed represent a small percentage of the gee é
Abstracts of all the dissertations listed below are, however, published in English in Dis
tation Abstracts.
archeological examination of an Afro-Jamaican settlement.
Fe nttley 449 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(5):1499-A, order no. DA8321953. ete
: E WILLIAM LOCKERT (1984) The persistence of Ka’apor culture. Colu
ie 302 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45 (3):877-A, order no. DA8412964. patie
S. (1981) Reindeer-herd management in transition: the case
sei 42 pp. Diss. Abstr.
b ia 78
*Dy in northern Sweden. Uppsala Universitet, Sweden atis Uppsaliensis,
in
llc, ISBN 91-554-1105-3. Published in Acta Universit
ultural Anthropology, .
202 Vol. 4, No.2
BEHRENS, CLIFFORD ALLEN (1984) Shipibo ecology and economy: a mathematical
approach to understanding human adaptation. University of California at Lo
Angeles, 460 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45(2):564-A, order no. DA8411842.
BENDER, SUSAN JEAN (1983) Hunter-gatherer subsistence and settlement in a mou:
tainous environment: the prehistory of the northern Tetons. State University of
New York at Albany, 249 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(12):3731-A, order no. DA8403856.
BIRGE, DARICE ELIZABETH (1982) Sacred groves in the ancient Greek world.
University of California at Berkeley, 645 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(1):205-A, order no,
DA8312758.
BRETTING, PETER KONRAD (1981) A systematic and ethnobotanical survey of
Proboscidea and allied genera of the Martyniaceae. Indiana University, 339 pp.
Diss. Abstr. 42(5):1731-B, no. 8119042.
BROWN, ROY BERNARD (1984) The paleoecology of the northern frontier of Meso
america. University of Arizona, 204 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45(2):562-A, order no. DA
58.
BRUSSEL, DAVID ERIC (1981) The ethnobotany of Montserrat, British West Indies.
Southem Illinois University, 181 pp. Diss. Abstr. 43(7):2093-B, order no. DA
8229243, .
BUCKLEY, JOHN STUART (1983) The feeding behavior, social behavior, and ecology
of the white-faced monkey, Cebus capucinus, at Trujillo, northern Honduras.
versity of Texas at Austin, 233 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(4):1143-A, orderno. DA8319566.
BUNN, HENRY THOMAS III (1982) Meat-eating and human evolution: studies on t
diet and subsistence patterns of Plio-Pleistocene hominids in East Africa. 44(1):206
A, order no. DA8312768. ‘
BURNS, BARNEY TILLMAN (1983) Simulated Anasazi storage behavior using (0?
yields reconstructed-from tree rings: A.D. 652-1968. University of Arizona, ba
Diss. Abstr. 44(1):206-A, order no. DA8311405. Lael
CHASE, PHILIP GRATON (1983) The use of animal resources in the Mowe
Combe Grenal, France. University of Arizona, 335 pp. Diss. Abstr. “ae
order no, DA8315277. j
CHATTERS, JAMES CARL (1982) Evolutionary human paleoecology: climatic
and human adaptation in the Pahsimeroi Valley, Idaho, 2500 B.P. to ee wnt
University of Washington, 478 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(1):206-A, order no. DA830
CRIDLEBAUGH, PATRICIA A. (1984) American Indian and Euro-American imp
upon Holocene vegetation in the Lower Little Tennessee River Valley, 41 1085-
see. University of Tennessee, 238 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45 (2):562-A, order no. se ulation
DAHAL, DILLI RAM (1983) Poverty or plenty: innovative responses to pop Diss
bes a , 2 castern Nepalese hill community. University of Hawa, he
str. 44(6):1850-A, order no. DA8319822.
es mAnT A.T. (1981) Fauna, ecology, and socio-economic conditions in et
: Nile environment. Universitet j Bergen, Norway. Diss. Abstr. 44(3):478- -ethnolof
ARRIS, GLEN JOSEPH (1982) Aboriginal use of pine nuts in ola of -
lambertiana Dougl. and Pinus sabiniana Dougl. by the Indians of northern order 9°
oe seem of California at Davis, 177 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(1):206-A,
enti
FLOWERS, NANCY MAY (1983) ase eee “ete ee
eet University of New York, 403 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(1):211-%
44, jon
‘ yction
SANJANAPAN, ANAN (1984) ‘The partial commereialization of ail bee 44(l2)
Byaa nm Thailand (1900-1981). Cornell University, 569 pp- Diss:
32-A, order no. DA8407412
Forager-farmers: the Xav
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 203
GERBER, P. (1975) Die Peyote-Religion nordamerikanisher Indianer. (The Peyote
religion of North American Indians). Universitat Ziirich, Switzerland, 281 pp.
Diss. Abstr. 41(4):701-C.
GILL, STEVEN JEFFREY (1983) Ethnobotany of the Makah and Ozette people,
Olympic Peninsula, Washington (USA). Washington State University, 454 pp.
Diss. Abstr. 44(11):3286-B, order no. DA8404587.
GITTINS, GAYLE O. (1984) Radiocarbon chronometry and archeological thought.
University of California at Los Angeles, 295 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45(2):563-A, order
no. DA8411867.
GUTIERREZ, CHARLOTTE PAIGE (1983) Foodways and Cajun identity. University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 354 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(4):1140-A, order no.
DA8326612.
HALL, MATTHEW CLYDE (1983) Late Holocene hunter-gatherers and volcanism in
the Long Valley-Mono Basin region: prehistoric culture change in the eastern Sierra
Nevada. University of California at Riverside, 268 pp. Diss. 44(7):2182-A, order
no. DA8324903.
HAM, LEONARD CHARLES (1983) Seasonality, shell midden layers, and Coast Salish
subsistence activities at the Crescent Beach site, DgRr1. University of British Colum-
bia, Canada. Diss. Abstr. 44(5):1501-A.
HASELWANDER, C. (n.d.) Die heilpflanzen und ihre verwendung in der volksmedizin des
oberen feistritztales (sic.) (Medicinal herbs and their use in popular medicine of the
upper Feistritz Valley.) Universitat Graz, Austria, 176 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45 (2):326-C.
HASTORF, CHRISTINE ANN (1983) Prehistoric agricultural intensification and politi-
cal development in the Juaja region of central Peru. University of California at Los
Angeles, 395 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(2):523-A, order no. 8314655.
HEDLUND, ANN LANE (1983) Contemporary Navajo weaving: an ethnography of a
native craft. University of Colorado at Boulder, 386 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(8):2815-A,
order no. DA8400903.
HEWITT, JOHN §, (1983) Optimal foraging models for the Lower Illinois River Valley.
Northwestern University, 531 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(3):801-A, order no. DA8315936.
HILL, KIM RONALD (1983) Adult male subsistence strategies among Ache ee
gatherers of eastern Paraguay. University of Utah, 251 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(10):
3106-A, order no. DA8402163. Pe
HITCHCOCK, ROBERT KARL (1982) The ethnoarchaeology of sedentism: mobility
Strategies and site structure among foraging and food producing populations in the
fastern Kalahari Desert, Botswana. University of New Mexico, 423 pp. Diss. Abstr.
a oo order no. DA8313995. aa
S, CHARLES EDGAR (1984) The prehistory of the Lake Minc
aaa aaay analysis. Washington State University, 352 pp- Diss.
“A, order no. DA841 ; :
HOUSTON, MARGARET aes (1983) The paleoethnobotany of pete SIN
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 296 pp. Diss. Abstr. a4(4): :
order no. DA8316617.
ELSBECK, DAVID RICHARD (1983) Mammals and fi
of Ozette. Washington State University, 183 pp. Diss.
— DA8325471,
ETSKI, JOEL CLIFFORD (1983) The Western Ute of U
44(10) og of lakeside adaptation. University of Utah, 132 pp-
‘3103-A, order no. DA8401791. fics:
“APLAN, HILLARD (1983) The evolution of food sharing among adult agree
“esearch with the Ache hunter-gatherers of eastern Paraguay. University :
'66 pp. Diss, Abstr. 44(10):3106-A, order no. DA8403986.
umina region:
Abstr. 45(3):
HU
sh in the subsistence economy
Abstr. 44(7):2183-A, order
tah Valley: an ethnohis-
Diss. Abstr.
204 Vol. 4, No.2
KATZ, SUSANNA ROTHSTEIN (1983) Late prehistoric period environment and
economy of the southern Guadalupe Mountains, Texas. University of Kansas, 267
pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(4):1137-A, order no. DA8317894,
KENOYER, JONATHAN MARK (1983) Shell working industries of the Indus civilize
tion: an archaeological and ethnographic perspective. University of California at
Berkeley, 478 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45(3):876-A, order no. DA8413450.
KVAMME, KENNETH LEROY (1983) New methods for investigating the environ-
mental basis of prehistoric site locations. University of California at Santa Barbam,
194 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(10):3104-A, order no. DA8401747.
LITZINGER, WILLIAM JOSEPH (1983) The ethnobiology of alcoholic beverage pro
duction by the Lacandon, Tarahumara, and other aboriginal Mesoamerican peoples.
University of Colorado at Boulder, 193 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45(1):39-B, order no.
DA8408053.
McCORKLE, CONSTANCE MARIE (1983) Meat and potatoes: animal managemeni
and the agropastoral dialectic in an indigenous Andean community with implications
for development. Stanford University. Diss. Abstr. 44(5):1506-A, order no. DA
8320743.
McKEAN, MARGARET BERNARD (1983) The palynology of Balakot, a pre-Harapp#
and Harappan Age site in Las Bela, Pakistan. Southern Methodist University, 508 pp:
Diss. Abstr. 45(1):226-A, order no. DA8408244.
McMANAMON, FRANCIS PATRICK (1984) Prehistoric cultural adaptations on Cape
te University of
New York at Binghampton, 401 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45 (1):226-A, order no. DA8408391.
MERREY, DOUGLAS JAMES (1983) Irrigation, poverty, and social change in a vila
of Pakistani Punjab: an historical and cultural ecological analysis.
Pennsylvania, 896 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(3):803-A, order no. DA83 16063. ‘a
MINOR, RICK (1983) Aboriginal settlement and subsistence at the mouth of
Columbia River. University of Oregon, 253 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(7):2183-A, °
no. DA8325288. ,
MUNRO, M.A.R. (1982) Pollen analysis and prehistoric land use in Denmark. Quest
University of Belfast, U.K., 133 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(3):478-C. -altutl
NABHAN, GARY PAUL (1983) Papago fields: arid lands ethnobotany and agr eo
epg - University of Arizona, 246 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(10):2984-B, © Z
1271.
NESPOR, ROBERT PASCHAL (1984) The evolution of the agricultural a
pattern of the Southern Cheyenne Indians in western Oklahoma, 1876-1930.
sity of Oklahoma, 470 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45(3):881-A, order no. DA841398%. “a
NIENU, VIKUOSA (1983) The prehistoric archaeology and human we A
land. University of California at Berkeley, 396 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45(3):870™
no. DA8413537, aot
PENNANEN, J.MS. (1979) Muikkaupajilla: Puruveden ammattimainen (2
alastus 1900-uvun alusta 1970-luvun puolivaliin (Professional winter er ». Dis
re from 1900 to the 1970's). Helsingin Yliopisto, Finland, °F
str. :24-C, ISBN 951-9056-35-1. : ¢ reco
ap drain RITA (1983) The application of phytolith anys
6. Tenn : . subsistence and environments in prehistoric pire a pass2isi
PRECOURT cei reiting 475 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(6):1847-A, orde jeer pat tems a
ntnliicas ENCE SANDRA (1983) Settlements, systMi™ | sata, put
sie i systems analysis of settlement systems near Ano® 3 45 (1):22°
xICcO. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 674 pp.- Diss. Abstr- :
order no, DA8409363 he suet
‘ zodlogishe
PRUMM
EL, W. (1980) Vroegmiddeleeuws Dorestad, een archaeo
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 205
(Early Midaeval Dorestad, an archaeozoological study). Rijksuniversiteit te Gronin-
gen, Netherlands, 600 pp. Published in English, 1982. Diss. Abstr. 43(2):213-C.
RUSSELL, SCOTT CHRISTIAN (1983) Factors affecting agricultural production in a
western Navajo community. Arizona State University, 542 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(3):
804-A, order no. 8315823.
SALEEBY, BECKY MARGARET (1983) Prehistoric settlement patterns in the Portland
Basin of the Lower Columbia River: ethnohistoric, archaeological, and biogeo-
graphic perspectives. University of Oregon, 301 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(3):801-A,
order no. DA8315753.
SANFORD, PATRICIA RUTH (1983) An analysis of megascopic plant remains and
pollen from Dirty Shame Rockshelter, southeastern Oregon. University of Oregon,
288 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(7):2184-A, order no. DA8325300.
SCHNEEWEISS, E. (1979) Die Weberei der Navajos: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte eines
Kunsthandwerkes im Spiegel externer Einfltisse (Navajo weaving: a contribution to
the history of a tribal craft as a reflection of external influences). Universit’t Wien,
Austria, 522 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(3):480-C.
SCOTT, COLIN HARTLEY (1983) The semiotics of material life among Wemindji Cree
hunters. McGill University, Canada. Diss. Abstr. 44(5):1507-A.
SMITH, BENNETT HOLLY (1983) Dental attrition in hunter-gatherers and agricultura-
lists. University of Michigan, 298 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(2):529-A, orderno. DA8314358.
STROBL, I. (1983) Subsistenz versus Cash Crops — Eine empirische Studie zu Tradition
und Wandel in der Wirtschaft des Stammes der Gusii (Subsistence versus cash crops—
an empirical study of tradition and social change in the economics of the Gusii
tribe). Universit’t Wien, Austria, 277 pp. Diss. Abstr. 45(3):649-C.
SURMAN, GEORGE RIDHARD (1983) Ethnomedicine and process: strategies of treat-
ment in a Karnataka village. University of California at Riverside, 310 pp. Diss.
Abstr. 44(6):1853-A, order no. DA8323445.
THELER, JAMES LOUIS (1983) Woodland tradition economic strategies: animal
tesource utilization in southwestem Wisconsin and northeastern Iowa. University
of Wisconsin-Madison, 451 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(7):2186-A, order no. DA8319545.
VON LINDE, A.B. (1979) Minnisken, Vetet, och Kornet: Studier kring odlingens beg-
ynnelse—arkeologi och genetik (Man, wheat, and barley: studies on the beginning of
cultivation and domestication—genetics in archaeology). Lunds Universitet, Sweden,
rH 7 pp. Diss. Abstr. 41(2):701-C. ee ie k
RREN, ROBERT EDWARD (1983) Late-Holocene archeofaunal variation in Ozar!
Highland caves and rockshelters: environmental correlates and foraging behavior.
University of Missouri-Columbia, 272 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(12):3734-A, order no.
DA8406253, ee
BSTER, GARY STEW ART (1983) Northern Iroquoian hunting: an optimization
approach, Pennsylvania State University, 502 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(1):209-A, order
WER DA8312679. eas
ER, MICHAEL ALAN (1978) Nutritional ethnomedicine in Fiji. ope
ve ifornia at Berkeley, 191 pp. Diss. Abstr. 41(12):4468-B, order no. 811 ene
“LS, HELEN FAIRMAN (1983) Historic and prehistoric pinyon oo
© Grass Valley region, central Nevada: a case study in cultural ariel aya A
change, University of California at Riverside, 231 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(12): alee
WENDO® no. DA8405552., :
ORF, MICHAEL ANDREW (1982) Prehistoric manifestations ©
me areas of Santa Rosa Island, California. University of California at
Warne. PP. Diss. Abstr. 44(1):209-A, order no. 8313014.
JAMES MURRAY (1983) Late Quaternary geochrono
of fire and the
Berkeley,
logy and palaeoecology
206 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 4, No.2
of the Upper Peace River District, Canada. Simon Fraser University, Canada. Dis,
Abstr. 44(8):2508-A.
WILLIAMS, JOHN MARK (1983) The Joe Bell site: seventeenth century lifeways o
the Ocona River. University of Georgia. Diss. Abstr. 44(2):523-A, order no. DA
8314752.
WILSON, JACK HUBERT, JR. (1983) A study of the Late Prehistoric, Protohistoric,
and Historic Indians of the Carolina and Virginia Piedmont: structure, process, and _
ecology. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 666 pp. Diss. Abstr. 44(12):
3734-A, order no. DA8406956.
REFERENCE CITED
HAYS, TERENCE E. (1983) Recent anthropology doctoral dissertations of interest to
ethnobiologists I. Journal of Ethnobiology 3(2):179-184.
Book Review
Desert Resources and Technology, Vol. 1. Alam Singh, Ed. Jointly published 7
Publishers and Geotech-Academia, Jodhpur, India: 1983. Pp. 368, figs. and
$60.00.
A vast country, India has such a diversity of ecological areas that to gather top?
notes on the wide range of dryland resources and technology of such an area 18 apes
formidable task. It has been well done in this first volume—so well that we
anxiously awaiting a second contribution. i a
The volume is divided into eight chapters, contributed by 13 scientists, aa
Indian: 1) Fauna of the Indian desert ; 2) Water reclamation for potable use; * jon
nization of water; 4) Unsaturated flow in an arid environment; 5) Solar and win mee!
gies; 6) Ravine lands—reclamation and use; 7) Pasture development; 8) Econom
+s : very
medicinal plants of Indian deserts. Each chapter has a specific bibliography, usually
tal mate
inclusive,
€ contributions are, naturally, of varying excellence, but all offer er fi
not hitherto available or easily obtainable. This book will be of interest t
; : ‘ ‘ al ter is
mentalists working in xeric areas in any part of the world, and the eighth chap
Significance especially to economic botanists.
of
Richard Evans Schultes
Botanical Museum
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 207
NEWS AND COMMENTS
Keep those cards and letter coming! The value of this feature depends entirely on your willing-
ness to take a moment to share with us an item of interest: for example, research projects planned or
underway; newsworthy events, opportunities, or commentary; requests for information or assistance.
Thanks in advance.
This “Shoe” cartoon seems to indicate that Mr. Jeff MacNelly is privy to current debates about
folk biological classification.
SHOE / Jeff MacNelly
ere hanks to Ms. Claudia Konker, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington for the
clipping. Reprinted by permission: Tribune Media Services, Inc.
HAWK’S GENES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
‘ Dr. William Sturtevant of the Smithsonian Institution sent in this piece on biotechnological
ee abstracted from a Washington Post article on 1 October 1984 under Christine Russell's
yline,
The USDA is conducting research to produce extra-large SHEEP and pigs via genetic engineer-
ng using a human growth-hormone GENE. However, Dr. Harold HAWK, chief of the USDA animal
“Production lab, noting that, “some people would be disturbed about eating human genes,” plans to
ch from human gene implants to using cattle genes.
But microcannibalism is not the only spectre raised by this potential blurring of the folk taxon-
ag The Humane Society of the United States joined with Jeremy Rifkin’s Foundation on Econ-
omic Trends to fj aie Seat : the grounds that the
” “ H f
— represents a “new and insidious form of cruelty toward animals,” to wit, by robbing = .
pad unique genetic makeup.” Michael W. FOX, Scientific Director of the Human ——— a!
“the mi
cies has a certain integrity
Rifki , +“
n told Judy Mann (Washington Post 3 October) that “every spe Se —
= In the long run, you undermine the biological basis of that species wd
Pi “w, There aes no species boundaries anymore. That’s what the public fs
»_€ cannot improve upon nature until we learn to work with her.
“declared unlawful as a federal common law nuisance and ic
e dichotomy. However,
f the boundary between
ight be seen as farthest
Right on!
€T animal
from
that sacred boundary, American civilized values. Right on, Mary Douglas,
RETROBREEDING THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH _
. ye. it
gard, an item posted on my colleague Kate Mills’ office door a we Ce as
: ped from the April 1984 issue of Technology Review, with the above hea a ca
ovum— = 4 Russian-American cooperative effort had succeeded in implanting a W' aiken
rettieved from a Pleistocene ice remnant in Siberia and fertilized by spe™m
In thi
been ois 1s re
208 Vol. 4, No.2
elephant—in the uterus of a receptive Indian elephant. The resulting offspring were said to resembk
both parents, but to have retained the infantile hair. e two surviving two-year old “Mammont=
elephas” individuals were last reported adapting well to the Siberian climate and in training as draft
S.
I found it astounding that this feat had not received wider coverage given its radical evolu-
tionary implications. Dr. Mills had a good laugh at my expense, noting the publication date of April
Fool’s Day (byline: Diana bel-Aaron). Yet the possibility remains high on my fantasy wish list, Why
not retrobreed a mammoth, a passenger pigeon, peking man?
CMRAE SUMMER INSTITUTE ON PREHISTORIC AGRICULTURE
The Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE), Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, announces it fourth annual Summer Institute course. This one month inten
sive investigation of ancient agricultural technology and its reconstruction from archaeological and
paleoenvironmental data will be held 10 June — 5 July, 1985 at M.LT. It will be taught by Frederic
M. Wiseman, Principal Research Scientist, CMRAE,M.LT. The purpose of the course is to introduce
archaeologists, geographers, and olars in related disciplines to techniques and methods used t0
reconstruction past agricultural technologies and crop mixes. For further information and applic
tion forms write Professor Suzanne DeAtley, Director of the summer institute, at M.L.T., Room 8158
Cambridge, Mass. 02139, or call 617-253-1375.
MELVILLE AND ELIZABETH JACOBS RESEARCH FUND
The Melville and Elizabeth Jacobs Research Fund invites applications for small ini
to support research on Native American cultures primarily of northwestern North America. The F
is designed to facilitate field research rather than analysis of previously collected materials. woe
priate are field studies of any aspect of culture and society, with emphasis on expressive, concep
and purely linguistic systems. (Projects in archaeology, physical anthropology, urban an $200 '
and applied anthropology or applied linguistics will not be funded), Awards range fron ; oe
approximately $800; salary cannot to supplied, and only minimum living expenses can be consid
For further information and application forms, contact the Melville an
Research Fund, Whatcom Museum of History & Art, 121 Prospect St., Bellingham, Washing
Application deadline is February 15, 1985.
SCHOOL OF AMERICAN RESEARCH SEMINAR ON AFRICA
to ee”
The School of American Research, P.O. Box 2188, Santa Fe, NM 87501, plans 10 §.
Proceedings of a conference held 22-26 October 1984 on “Early Complex Societies — the
conference focussed attention on the recently unearthed urban site of Jenne-Jeno wakes
10 ara dessert. The city was founded ca 250 BC, flourished with an estimate peak ee Univer
: 5000 at 800 AD, and was abandoned by 1200 AD. Susan and Roderick McIntosh 0 ologists
sity, organizers of the conference, joined an international panel of historians see
evaluate this earliest known sub-Saharan city.
D
ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF AMAZONIAN ECUADOR PLANNE
The N. . a ; , . in sponsoring 2"
ew York Botanical Garden joins the Missouri Botanical Garden in yee project :
: j Hection OF’.
y local people as food, fuel, medicine, fiber, etc. (3) ves ant ape
- Prance, Director, Institute of Economic Botany,
arden, Bronx, New York 10458.
December 1984 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 209
8TH ANNUAL ETHNOBIOLOGY CONFERENCE
The Botanical Museum of Harvard University, the Archaeology /Anthropology Program of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Biology Department of the University of Massachu-
setts/Boston are co-sponsoring the 8th Annual Ethnobiology Conference. It will be held in Cambridge
and Boston on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, May 8, 9, and 10, 1985. An announcement giving
registration information, a call for papers, symposia plans, and other details will be mailed to those on
the Society mailing list. For further details and /or to request an announcement, write to:
Dr. Frederick Wiseman
Archaeology /Anthropology Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
-
210 Vol. 4, No.2
Book Review
The Heirloom Gardener. Carolyn Jabs. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1984. 288 pp.
$17.95 cloth, $9.95 paper.
Every plant breeder knows the importance of maintaining a wide genetic base from
which to draw new material, but few realize the extent of diversity available in obscure
locations in the United States. Few lay people fully comprehend the importance of this
need, nor truly appreciate the important role they have played and can continue to play
in maintaining this genetic diversity. Now there is a book which fills this gap between
amateur and professional, and provides valuable information to both. ‘
In her book The Heirloom Gardener, Carolyn Jabs examines from numerous angles
and with unsurpassable clarity and depth, the problem of the heirloom plant variety, he
old traditional lines of fruits and vegetables found across the U.S. and preserved by hi "
byists and backyard gardeners. She explains in terms easily understandable to the average
lay person, the importance of genetic diversity and the risks of uniformity. She discuss
the tendency of large seed companies to emphasize large scale field crops, and the
ing decline in the number of varieties offered by these companies over the last 100 .
She also outlines the inadequacies of existing governmental germplasm storage prog
which concentrate on imported races and wild strains at the expense of equally valual :
traditional North American varieties. q
She then discusses who is growing these traditional varieites today, and why they a
doing so. These people include hobbyists who collect varieties of certain crops,
ing organizations, smaller, regional seed companies, and living history musuems
try to reconstruct gardens of pioneers or of famous figures such as Lincoln and Jef
She also describes how to go about obtaining seeds from such sources, and provides
structions to lay people on how to harvest and store seeds, and how to graft stock
fruit trees.
For the professional interested in doing research on these plants, the most Vl"
het of the book would probably be the appendices, which provide extensive “a .
listings of seed companies, seed exchanges, federal seed repositories, and living hist 4
cee and museums, as well as giving a bibliography of selected historical sources,
horticultural books, and old seed catalogs. “ial
; For the ethnobotanist, the historical depth in the book provides an enlight
Picture of the social forces which have been influencing genetic diversity and pe ,
Hon in this country for over two centuries. The book also serves to remind us tha :
: ii, potential for the study of traditional plants right here witha
culture,
It would be rather easy for a book on this kind of topic to be written ina
tual tone. Jabs, however, writes in a very clear, vivid style, using interesting, F
examples, but yet relating such a wealth of information as to betray 2 thorou
ledge of the subject,
I have absolutely
mation for th
a
urce of
no reservatio nding the book as a SoM"
ns about recomme g pi Is
€ interested backyard gardener, as a reference book for pro
‘ icetonia reading material for undergraduate courses in ethnobotany,
Y, plant breeding, crop evolution, or even introductory botany-
seph E. Laferriere
MASSE of Ecology ®
Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
NOTICE TO AUTHORS
The Journal of Ethnobiology accepts papers on original research in ethnotaxonomy
and folk classification, ethnobotany, ethnozoology, cultural ecology, plant domestication,
zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, palynology, dendrochronology and ethnomedicine.
Authors should follow the format for article organization and bibliographies from articles
in this issue. All papers should be typed doubled-spaced with pica or elite type on 8% x 11
inch paper with at least one inch margins on all sides. The ratio of tables and figures to
text pages should not exceed 1:2-3. Tables should not duplicate material in either the
text or graphs. All illustrations are considered figures and should be submitted reduced
to a size which can be published within a journal page without further reduction. Photo-
graphs should be glossy prints of good contrast and sharpness with metric scales included
when appropriate. All illustrations should have the author(s) name(s) written on the back
with the figure number and a designation for the top of the figure. Legends for figures
should be typed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. Do not place footnotes
at the bottom of the text pages; list these in order on a separate sheet at the end of the
manuscript. Metric units should be used in all measurements. Type author(s) name(s) at
the top left corner of each manuscript page; designate by handwritten notes in the left
margin of manuscript pages where tables and graphs should appear.
If native language terminology is used as data, a consistent phonemic orthography
should be employed, unless a practical alphabet or a more narrow phonetic transcription
is justified. A brief characterization of this orthography and of the phonemix inventory
of the language(s) described should be given in an initial note. To increase readability
native terms should be indicated as bold-face italics to contrast with the normal use of
italic type for foreign terms, such as latin binomials. If necessary, the distinction be-
‘ween lexical glosses, i.e., English language approximations of a term’s referential mean-
ing, and precise English equivalents or definitions should be indicated by enclosing the
gloss in single quotation marks.
_ Authors must submit two copies of their manuscript plus the original copy and
original figures. Papers not submitted in the correct format will be returned to the
author, Submit your manuscripts to:
DR. WILLARD VAN ASDALL, Editor
Journal of Ethnobiology
Arizona State Museum
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
NEWS AND COMMENTS section Journal
sh ividuals with information for the “News and ee 0 pad i 3
culd submit all appropriate material to Eugene Hunn, Dep a
DH05, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195. :
BOOK REVIEWS ka bool
. With Volume 3, Number 1, the editors of the Journal of Ethnobiology : te the
“Ww section. We welcome suggestions on books to review oF actual reviey Charles H.
teadership of the Jo ; ts, or reviews to
: urnal. Please send suggestions, comments, ee? zona,
Miksicek or Richard S. Felger, Office of Arid Lands Studies, University aur
‘eson, Arizona 85721 |
SUBSCRIPTIONS
eg Sctiptions to the Journal of Ethnobiology should be — x $2611.
tne, Department of ‘Zoology, Universty. of Flora, Canenile, Foie S26)
and Meno” Ttes are $35.00, institutional; $17.00 regular members, 9
biog foreign subscribers add $8.00. Write checks payable re epee n request
. sy. Defective copies or copies lost in shipment will be replac r
“ea within one year of issue. :
CONTENTS
MMM RMIOD OC AE GAN 6 et te et ww ee ee 6 ee i
“COVERT CATEGORIES
IDENTIFYING UNLABELED CLASSES IN
TOBELO FOLK BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Ee er 105
_ HIERARCHY AND UTILITY IN A FOLK BIOLOGICAL
TAXONOMIC SYSTEM: PATTERNS IN CLASSIFICATION
OF ARTHROPODS BY THE KAYAPO INDIANS OF BRAZIL
a ee nee 13)
CHUMASH ETHNOBOTANY:
A PRELIMINARY REPORT
oe aga a Se ere 141
CONTRIBUTIONS OF FRANK G. SPECK
(1881-1950) TO ETHNOBIOLOGY
Ralph W. Dexter
one
« eee
So ee See Fe ee ee 8 8 Oe eS 8 fe ee 6 oe eee eS eee
PEELED PONDEROSA PINE TREES:
A RECORD OF INNER BARK UTILIZATION
BY NATIVE AMERICANS
Thomas W. Swetnam
a
a aad
o «) ee
ee See ee ee + ee ee ee ee ee Be, Oe Eee
UTAH JUNIPER (JUNIPERUS OSTE OSPERMA)
CONES AND SEEDS FROM SALMON RUIN, NEW MEXICO 191
David L. Lentz a
o*
+
oa
Re AR RO aN ee ee ee ee ee ew ee ae ee
RECENT DOCTORAL ool ee OF INTEREST
TO ETHNOBIOLOGIST
Joseph E. Laferriere
.
Bye acne
8 ee ee
ee pe, Ce ee ee kee Be ee 8 a Oe a ee ae
Pe ee eR Oe a ee ew eo ee ek ee ee
ef
*
Pe er at.3
i A Re a ee eae ee ge ae BE ea
Journal of
_Ethnobiology
3
»
a
:
SUMMER 1985
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 1
ee
Journal Organization
-
EDITOR: Willard Van Asdall, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson,
Arizona 85721.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Karen R. Adams, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary
iology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
PRESIDENT: Steven A. Weber, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsyl-
vania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Steven D. Emslie, Department of Zoology, University of
Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611.
NEWS AND COMMENTS EDITOR: Eugene Hunn, Department of Anthropology,
DH-05, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
BOOK REVIEW EDITORS: Charles H. Miksicek, Office of Arid Land Studies, University
of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 and Richard S. Felger, Office of Arid Land
Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
EDITORIAL BOARD
BRENT BERLIN, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley,
California 94720; ethnotaxonomies, linguistics. ‘
ROBERT A. BYE, JR., Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic
Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder; ethnobotany, ethnoecology.
RICHARD S. FELGER, Office of Arid Land Studies, University of Arizona, Tucs0t,
Arizona 85721; arid lend ethnobotany, desert ecology.
RICHARD I. F ORD, Director, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, An"
Arbor; archeobotany, cultural ecology. :
B. MILES GILBERT, Box 6030, Department of Geology, Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011; zo0archaeology. Col
ee ' Island Col-
TERENCE E. HAYS, Department of Anthropology and Geography, Rhode -_
: lege, Providence; ethn obotany, ethnotaxonomies,
RICHARD H. HEVLY,
Flagstaff, Arizona 8
_ EUGENE HUNN, Dep
in vy ersity;
Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona Un
6011; archacobotany, palynology. Seattle:
. ‘ e€a ’
artment of Anthropology, University of Washington,
ethnotaxonomies, 200archaeology, cultural ecology.
] - } +e = um
setae oe KUHNLEIN, Division of Human Nutrition, University of British Co
Vancouver; ethnonutrition.
bia,
ye, Tucson, Ariza
8 Native Seed/SEARCH, 3950 W. New York Drive, Tucsom
ote and Office of Arid Land Studies, University of Arizona, Tucso”,
ae J 21; cultural ecology, plant domestication. pietsburgt
spines A. POSEY, Center of Latin American Studies, University . ag
: ‘ necttomotogy, tropical cultural ecology.
oe re REA, Curator of Birds and Mammals, San Diego
ae ory; ethnotaxonomies, 200archaeology, cultural ecology. fot
he ee “e exemation >
Journal of Ethnobiology is published semi-annually. Manuscripts for publication and informe” cde
mments” lained
the “News and Co
: section should b e ap jate editor as ¢xP
back cover of this issue, € sent to the appropria
n the nsf
© Society of Ethnobiology
ISSN 0278-0771
auene of Natur
=, leaden inl i
i
:
Journal of
Ethnobiology
VOLUM
E5,N
UMBER 1 SUMMER 1985
One of the pleasures of being editor of this journal is that I enjoy a great deal of
interaction with people and I have free rein in this column. I am pleased that this time
there is an especially joyous event about which to write.
I am happy to extend on my behalf and that of the Editorial Board and the member-
ship of the Society of Ethnobiology CONGRATULATIONS and wishes that are at once
sincere and almost estatic over the welcome news of an honorary doctoral degree awarded
this spring by The University of British Columbia, Canada, to Margaret Siwallace. Dr.
Siwallace has been acknowledged in several papers published by the Journal and many
will remember her presentation on ooligan grease at the Seventh Annual Ethnobiology
Conference in Seattle (April, 1984).
It is gratifying to see that at least one institution of higher learning recognizes and
acknowledges—so it would seem—that folk knowledge is a valuable human resource as
well as being fascinating in its own right and having its own wisdom and insights. Formal
"cognition of Margaret Siwallace’s talents, skills, devotion, and contributions to aca-
emic scholarship through work with ethnographers and ethnobiologists is both richly
deserved and long overdue. I commend the scholars of the Pacific Southwest of Canada
who undoubtedly nominated her for this great honor and The University of British
Columbia for making the award.
It is heartwarming to note in recent years (it’s about time) a shift in attitude and
regard of academicians toward those wonderful fellow humans—the possessors of folk
knowledge who are at once our teachers (teaching us humility, patience, and “piss
dualities we didn’t ask about), our students (learning from us qualities that, in some
mstances, they might better be without), our friends, and our guides. Ethnographers and
sweclally ethnobiologists now often refer to those with whom we have such a relationship
aS native Consultants (rather than as informants, a term prevalent in the older literature).
And Sccasionally some of these folk teachers now participate in ethnobiological con-
ferences as they did at the Third Annual Ethnobiology Conference in Tucson (1980)
and at the ethnobiology symposium sponsored by the Congresso Brazileiro de ee
In Brazil last year,
‘ one-
Although many are mentioned in dissertations and published daa there are n
Sardenin
‘tion for this sharing of themselves. :
te e feel certain that Dr. Siwallace would be delighted for the Journal and ae
le thnobiology © recognize all those who live close to tradition, Nature, an ote ae
‘8: Many Native Americans, rural folks of the Appalachian and Ozark tan yea ane
Mexican heritage in the American Southwest), both in and eae em ni "a ,
been or are our co-servers, co-workers and “folk colleagues” in ethnobiology.
fach of you wherever you may be. W.V.
“NO have
We thank
J. Ethnobiol. 5(1):1-19 Summer 1985
PALEOETHNOBOTANICAL EVIDENCE FOR
DEFORESTATION IN ANCIENT IRAN:
A CASE STUDY OF URBAN MALYAN
NAOMI F. MILLER
Department of Anthropology
Washington University
St. Louis, MO 63130
ABSTRACT.—Plant remains from archaeological sites can provide information about the
ancient environment. However, these remains should be considered archaeological artifacts,
“filtered” through human culture. Adequate interpretation is only possible, and is indeed
enriched, by taking the cultural practices of human populations into account. This approach
is applied to archaeobotanical materials from Malyan, a fourth to second millennium B.C.
site in Fars province, Iran, where there is archaeological evidence for population increase,
growing complexity of settlement organization, and technological changes. Clearance of the
ancient woodland in the vicinity of Malyan, and concomitant changes in the choice of fuel
woods, can account for the observed changes in the proportions of woody taxa found dur-
ing excavation. In particular, it appears that as the local poplar and juniper were removed,
wood of the more distant oak forest was used. Deforestation was a result of a growing
Population’s fuel demands for domestic and technological—especially metallurgical—pur-
Poses,
INTRODUCTION
_Tran has had sedentary communities for about 10,000 years. The beginning of this
Petiod marks the transition to an agricultural way of life. By the fourth millennium B.C.,
the great urban civilizations of antiquity were developing in Mesopotamia and Iran.
Human Populations have therefore had both the social organization and the technology
0 maintain themselves at relatively high densities for thousands of years—densities great
“nough to result in substantial changes in the natural environment. :
b Changes in the prehistoric environment have been documented by archaeologists
sed upon settlement pattern studies (Jacobsen and Adams 1958; Gibson 1974), by the
4 of botanical remains from excavations (Conrad and Koeppen 1972; Willcox mt
. aek 1960; Minnis 1978; cf. Western 1971), and by analysis of ancient texts ~~
83; Wertime 1983),
© site of Malyan in the Zagros Mountains of southwestern Iran, about 46 =
end of Shiraz (Figures 1, 2), lies at an elevation of about 1700 m on the northwes
le the broad, flat Kur River basin. The major Near Eastern domesticates (w a
® Sheep, goat and cattle) were and continue to be the basis of the agricultural ricer
ietinie though the plain has been occupied by settled populations since 588 thes 3400-
m B.C., the major occupation of Malyan began during the Banesh period, °*-
Population estimates of 100 to 200 people /ha of oc
heat, bar-
an reached its maximum extent during the subsequent Kaftar! period
B.C.), the city had grown from about 45 ha to 130 ha, with total : ie of
t area in the Kur basin of 288 ha (Sumner 1972). Thus the popu - pn
30,000 + 2%, Petween 13,000 and 26,000, and the total settled population w
N00 to 60,000.2
Settlement
. ee also
addition to regional population increase, the organization of settlement
9 MILLER Vol. 5, No.1
HH OAK
ALMOND OR
PISTACHIO -
ALMOND
HOT DESERT VEG. a
CENTRAL STEPPE VEG.
HALOPHILOUS VEG.
6) 100 200 km.
FIGURE 1.—Vegetation of southwestern Iran (after Zohary 1963).
. lived if
changed. During the Kaftari period, only about one half of the portlet to
Malyan, while the remainder were scattered in numerous villages and towns \™
10 ha) to the south and east (Sumner 1972, 1980). |
Other important changes were taking place as well. Kaftari period Maly
in ancient texts as Anshan (Hansman 1972; Reiner 1974; Stolper 19
demonstrate a political link between Anshan, the highland capital of th
and Susa, the lowland capital during the Elamite period (Amiet 1979), 1
porary with the Kaftari deposits at Malyan. Malyan became increasing y
broader economic and political network. A greater quantity of cnem
Malyan (Sumner 1974: 173). The third millennium saw an increase in
throughout the Near East (Mallowan 1971:239-240, 305-306; cf. Lloyd 19 ore
Moorey 1982). At Malyan, copper-bronze slag indicative of smelting 1s ™
in the Kaftari period deposits, .
; The way in which a population exploits a given territory depends a
sity, the way it is distributed over the landscape, its economic activities, the Kur basil
available to it. These factors changed during the third millennium grams ic activities
Excavations at Malyan provide evidence for the impact of human eee ile
an is know?
titles
widesP
part on its ae
d the resours®
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 3
Fs
ae:
ies
*BEIZA =
BEIZA . »
7 oMaLyan » * " RAMJERD
‘ f.) 1 *
ad 2 @s°
aa oe
MOSSE! pd :
px
APU!
°
ZARQAN
»*
a
.
.
vv.
| 5 10 km
| KUR BASIN
“ —
ag
P ~ ELEVATED AREA
te ARSHY AREA
“MAYAN ~ SETTLEMENT
o- ~ DEHESTAN (REGIONAL AD
ay & UNIT)
= COLLECTION SPOT MENTIONED IN TEXT
* OAK Fi
HALOPHILOUS VEGETATION
GALLERY FORE!
6:
2: IRRIGATED FIELD 7: ST (TEMPERATE)
3* UNIRRIGAT;
icons ED FIELD 8 = GALLERY FOREST (TAMARISK)
, PROSOPIS, A TAMARISK 9: = MARSHY AREA
5: ALMOND a PISTASHIO
FIGURE 2.—Kur River basin.
th
ny changes. The evidence is in the form of wood charcoal, recovered from Malyan
ng the 1974, 1976, and 1978 field seasons.
THE CHARCOAL ANALYSIS
“tchacobotanical evidence for the use of wood resources at Malyan consists of char-
Generic identifications of the charcoal were made by comparison with known,
carbonized woods collected during the 1976 and 1978 seasons. A variable power
Was ide ope with magnification of 7 - 30 x was used.3 The modern comparative material
Ntified at the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, England.
Visible ‘coal pieces were broken manually so that the transverse section would be
scala (SEM) photographs of modern
identified spe cimens#,
, ray thickness,
of the southern
Coal,
freshly
Microsc
Ԥ are anatomically distinctive relative to one another,
ine each specimen at a higher magnification. Pieces with less oe
ring, and those that crumbled beyond recognition were not included in
:] ; a
arge pieces that had indeterminate anatomical features, as well as unfamiliar
s for each taxon
identified
to exam
Plete sTowth
Pieces
were
chosen. Some archaeological features were excavate
4 MILLER Vol. 5, No.1
more than 20 pieces of charcoal were identified from some of the larger and charcoal-rich
features.
Although only 0.2% of the 130 ha site has been excavated to date, both Banesh and
Kaftari deposits have been sampled extensively (Sumner 1980; Nicholas 1980; Nickerson
1983). A large number of sediment samples (ca. 10 1 each) was taken for flotation |
(Table 1), and charcoal visible in the site matrix was collected on the site by the work _
men. Some of the charcoal was submitted for radiocarbon dating and is unavailable for
the paleoethnobotanical analysis. The charcoal from the Banesh and Kaftari periods at
Malyan comes from a variety of residential contexts—hearths, pits, rooms, jar fill—burials,
and other sediment matrix.
TABLE 1.—Flotation sample summary from Malyan. |
No. No. Charcoal Seeds |
Deposits liters Total Total Carb. |
Period Sampled floated Wt. (g) Wt. (g) Material
Banesh 971 1303 426.49 $37 429.60
Kaftari 89 1301 438.25 38.18 476.43
'Sediment volume of two jar samples could not be determined, so they are not included
in this table.
a
The charcoal comes from two types of sample. The first consists of large pitets
(generally about 1 to 3 cm in diameter) collected by hand during excavation); the second
consists of smaller pieces, well under 1 cm in diameter, recovered by flotation of sedi:
ment samples at the field laboratory.6 Identification of the larger, hand-picked piecs®
somewhat more certain, because it is generally easier to identify larger pieces. Also, the
hand-picked pieces represent a greater quantity of wood per sample.
For both time periods, information from numerous samples is combine a
comparison of the two. The initial justification for this step was that for both Ban f
and Kaftari periods there is no evidence of burned structures. It is therefore ae
that the bulk of the charcoal represents wood or charcoal intentionally burned Lye se
regardless of whether it is found in primary hearth or secondary trashy ieee
assumptions are made about the purpose of the fires, which could have been for per
and other food processing, for heating, ceramic manufacture, and smelting, OT for 1 ee
activities. Some of the hearths and ovens have relatively high densities of chare
(Miller 1982, Table B.1). -
Although the amount of charcoal recovered does not necessarily reflect the ee |
peed burned, one might expect charcoal weight to be the most appropriate ~ wt
of the relative importance of different taxa. The number of pieces of wood put fe wile
fire, or the number of pieces of charcoal left when that fire is extinguished, woul en |
nat 2 less direct relationship to the quantity of wood burned than does the am |
: ais tation
(by weight) of charcoal left when that fire is extinguished. In addition, wane ve
d, enabling
taxa. Unfortunately, many of the small pieces from the flotation samples are ~
(less than 02g) to weigh accurately. The charcoal fragments frequently have * dure
clay €ncrustations, further distorting the very low weights. Therefore, a
counts is more practical. :
— to see whether an analysis by counts would differ from an analy
Rit = correlation analysis of weights and counts for flotation an
= s carried out. Counts and weights are highly correlated
to emphasize the number of charcoal pieces or count for the r*
t to
better to compare flotation and hand-picked charcoal (Table 3). AS@ supplemen
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 5
TABLE 2.—Correlation of charcoal counts and weights of the major taxa.
Taxon No. Samples Corr. coeff. (r) .
Juniper | 29 Wf
Almond 40 .80
Maple 18 94
Pistachio 35 © 81
Oak $5 .88
Poplar 19 72
Elm family 25 .76
l R ay ae
Correlation coefficients significant at p <.01.
use of count and weight, relative frequency of the taxa can be used to identify types that
may have a consistent but low level of occurrence (cf. Hubbard 1980). Weight and
frequency measures are therefore useful checks on the data based on count (Tables 4 and
5). It is not possible to report densities for the hand-picked charcoal; although excavated
volume of the various loci and features were calculated by the excavators, not all charco
was collected. Pieces sent for radiocarbon dating were not available for this analysis.
Increase or decrease in the proportions of a taxon may be affected by a number of
factors. First, because of the large size of the site, a sample of 10m x 10m squares was
chosen for excavation, and not all areas were sampled equally.8 Within the excavated
*eas, differences among hearths, pits, and other deposit types could conceivably account
for some of the differences among samples (Table 6). Although it is inappropriate to use
inferential statistics in the analysis, a representative group of deposits was samp ed.
Examination of a large number and variety of deposits, sampled by flotation and visual
Mspection, and measured in several ways (i.e., count, weight, and frequency) —
en that the observed patterning in the data accurately reflects the onnre
material on the site. Consistency among the various measures then provides the
MEANS to assess the reality of changes in the archaeobotanical record.
Differential distribution of charcoal within the site is assumed n
the broad com
ot to interfere with
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MODERN VEGETATION
: tivities.
On the nie: the natural vegetation of the region is greatly disturbed by cong! eo oe
oo lands not in cultivation are used for pasture, and the limes of the natural
tia he plain are largely denuded of vegetation. Reconstruction ee ae
tion is based upon remnant forests of less populous areas. The vege
ion forest, near the pistachio-almond steppe forest (Figure
6 MILLER Vol. 5, No. !
TABLE 3.—Charcoal counts from Malyan.
Hand-picked Samples Flotation Samples
Banesh Kaftari Banesh Kaftari
No. of (N=35) (N=40) (N=99) (N=89)
deposits (N)
Taxon: # % ca % cS % # %
Dry Forest
Juniperus :
excelsal 243 32 45 5 118 14 4 2
Amygdalus sp. 101 13 159 17 372 43 322
Acer monspes-
sulanum1 21 3 130 14 24 3 121. =
Almond/ :
Maple Je ive 1 + id a ~
13
Pistacia sp. 65 9 199 21 148 17 141
Quercus -
aegilops1 45 6 235 25 55 ¢
Humid :
Populus sp. 162 22 10 1 48 6 . :
Fraxinus sp. int ae 13 1 3 +
Platanus .
orientalis] ih res a te ae a :
Vitex sp. ite = 18 2 _ _ abe
Distant Vegetation
Capparis : ‘i
spinosal ne ka 8 1 a2 a ; :
Prosopis sp. ~ = 1 + — -
Miscellaneous : ;
Vitis vinifera] ove ee 23 9 yee aol
Daphne ; :
acuminatal 1 ra al be = pee : ‘
Rhamnus sp, sh si a ne. 4 + o :
Ulmaceae 80 11 46 23 3 a ,
Diffuse Porous ae = we 14 2 os 4
Unknown 33 4 70 7 60 7 :
98
1
Totals” 751 100 958 101 869 101 108
d.
togy (
lig entifications to not morpho |
species are based on phytogeographic grounds,
Sabeti 1966), ee
23
ased on data presented in Miller (1982),
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 7
TABLE 4.—Charcoal weights of hand-picked samples from Malyan.
Banesh Kaftari
No. of deposits (N): (N=35) (N=40)
Wt. (g.) % Wt. (g.) %
Taxon:
Juniperus excelsa 123.88 38 35.65 10
Amygdalus sp. 21.56 7 58.63 17
Acer monspessulanum 3.94 1 42.10 12
Almond /Maple a - .07 +
Pistacia sp. 32.37 10 84.44 25
Quercus aegilops 14.29 a 73.37 21
Populus sp. 93.21 29 1.32 +
Fraxinus sp, Rie se 7.81 2
Vitex sp. a os 1.04 -
Capparis spinosa ee as 6.19 2
Prosopis sp, oi 06 +
Vitis vinifera ee = 8.42 2
Daphne acuminata m os + ze Be
Ulmaceae 14.26 4 11.04 3
Diffuse Porous 451 1 se pa
Unknown 13.67 4 12.64 4
Hee 321.81 98 343.78 98
pistachio. Almond
f trees and shrubs,
xtens
forest ig
Maple,
Mount:
tic” of ii iae tes
thio. sition zone between the dry southern Zagros 04
well Te steppe forest of Fars province, but it is less common ™ the os . aie
1960) Careous soils and has an elevational altitudinal range of 1500 peer cimen
» 80 Malyan is near the presumed lower limit of its range. The one ee
5 oak forest and the pista-
8 MILLER Vol. 5, No.1
TABLE 5.—Frequency of charcoal.
Hand-picked Samples Flotation Samples
Banesh Kaftari Banesh Kaftari
No. of deposits (N): (N=35) (N=40) (N=99) (N=89)
# % = % = % # 4%
Taxon:
Juniperus éexcelsa | 26 65 3 9 34 34 ae
Amygdalus sp. 21 53 17 49 57 57 58 = 65
Acer monspessulanum 4 10 14 40 12 12. Sa
Pistacia sp. 18 45 17 49 33 33. $7 ae
Quercus aegilops 9 23 24 69 19 19 55
Populus sp. 14-35 5 14 18 18 Tem
Fraxinus sp. ies = 1 3 3 3 2 2
Platanus orientalis _— a or _ -- a 1
Vitex sp.. = = 1 3 nS, Ee = Ks
Capparis spinosa _ ~ 3 Cs * a i
Prosopis sp. aa a 1 3 hy Ss 1 l
Vitis vinifera an ss 4 11 = — 2 F
Daphne acuminata 1 3 ak ie _ “ J
Rhamnus sp. a Es Eb a 9 : “ee
= she 16 40 9 26 13 18 The
Diffuse Porous - 2. 2. 2. » a
38
: erophyt
se in the oak forest near Malyan is probably Juniperus excelsa M.B., 2 *
es.
cae ist of pop
Pp On the plain itself, most trees are cultivated, and groves typically cont syria
opus alba 1.., P. nigra L.), willow (Salix excelsa G.M. Gmel.), ash si Dasht a!
% or fruit trees. In the central part of the plain near the city © imate 0 th
ee ard the southeast, there are several species that prefer a warmer oe as 2 snrul>!
— more saline conditions. Tamarisk (Tamarix sp.), which here ae od =
mh Be caper (Capparis spinosa L.) and Prosopis (P. farcta L.), both shu at end of
vie present discussion They were never seen growing at the eae area.
Man and were unfamiliar to a couple of Malyan boys with whom I visited tf
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 9
TABLE 6.—Density of charred material.
Banesh Kaftari
Deposit type N Mean N Mean
Fireplaces! 18 17.86 4 1.71
Pits 16 4.64 28 4.37
Rooms 49 1.45 32 3.18
Burials 3 PIE i an rn
Jars 4 1.35 3 1.22
Matrix? 7 2.64 Pe 4.86
Total 973 89
bi
Fireplaces: hearths, ovens
au “awe ;
“atrix: soil matrix not found in association with architecture
, nae .
ee volume of two jar samples could not be determined, so they are not included
in this table
.
ieee
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN WOOD USE
The effect of human activity on vegetation largely depends on the uses to which
Particular plants are put. First, wood is brought to a settlement for a variety of purposes,
i. as construction and fuel, and trees of both forests and gardens are cut and 274
oe: Most woods are suitable as fuel, but variability in heat eon hae: ac :
bulk an sparking will affect their desirability for particular tasks. Secon , woo! ge
Y commodity. If it is the primary fuel for cooking and heating, supplies mus
For example, estimates for fuel use in traditional Middle ory
a year are 1.5-2 kg/person/day (Thalen 1979; Home 198¢2).
ce of wood (Chisholm 1967;
r things being equal,
Properties of trees. Knowledge of these propertie ‘
o ret variation in the relative proportions of different species on
“hig of the major woods available today are suitable for fuel. anion lespeagr
Wood; th ave] with donkeys and on foot to the mountains 15 or = ae persica J. &
$) “Ri mention almond (Amygdalus sp.), oak (Quercus orgieei™ a agreslant
soe i ock), Pistachio (Pistacia cf. eurycarpa Yalt.), and maple ace © wn for use as
- aving been important. Poplar (Populus alba L. and P, nigra aeptl cake fac.
Juiper 4° 's available in the village and sometimes is used to supplemen .
’ ound archaeologically, is quite rare nowaday
: 2 than
The physical piuorrtios of thias woods diene oak burns hotter
10 MILLER Vol. 5, No.1
maple and juniper (Graves 1919), although juniper!0 ‘4s an excellent fuel and said to
yield good charcoal” (Townsend and Guest 1966: 92). Pistachio, a resinous wood, may
be a preferred fuel (cf. Mikesell 1961: 26). Almond is probably a good fuel wood too,
but information about its burning qualities is hard to come by. Poplar is quite porous
and burns rather quickly so is somewhat less desirable. Dung is also readily available for
fuel, since most households own at least a few cattle, sheep, or goats. Wood, although
preferred over dung cake fuel, is relatively expensive, and, at least in 1978, there were
legal restrictions against fuel cutting in the forest.
The biological characteristics of the trees will affect their availability. Juniperus
excelsa, for example, is a fairly slow-growing, xerophytic tree (Pabot 1960), and is ad-
versely affected by a combination of fuel cutting and grazing (cf. Thalen 1979). Sinceit
does not compete well with oak (Pabot 1960), it would not be able to renew itself if
over-exploited for fuel. In contrast to juniper, poplar is fast-growing, and, when cut,
readily puts up new shoots. Unlike juniper, it has a high water requirement, and in the
arid climate of southwestern Iran, is restricted to stream sides, irrigated groves, and other
areas with a high water table. Because it is always in demand for roof beams, it is cult
vated and protected. Fuel is merely a by-product of its use in construction in the region
today, and it is therefore always available, at least in small quantities.
FOREST UTILIZATION IN ANCIENT TIMES
The major genera found archaeologically at Malyan are juniper, oak, almond, pls
tachio, maple, and poplar. Perhaps the most striking difference between the Banesh and
Kaftari levels is the inverse relationship between juniper and poplar on the one hand "
oak and maple on the other (Tables 3, 4, 5). This relationship obtains regardless °
analytical method (Table 7). During these time periods, almond and pistachio pit
ages remain fairly constant. The very small quantities of caper and Prosopis do no
appear until the end of the sequence. In addition to these changes in the use of W
and charcoal fuel, there is indirect evidence for an increase in the use of dung fuel igs
to wood and charcoal (Miller and Smart 1984). =
Wood found on an archaeological site has been selected by people, so me -“ A
tion of the charcoal assemblage is not directly analogous to the ancient vere
change in wood use might represent a change in the relative availability of the econ®
TABLE 7.—Consistency of results for the major wood taxa (changes between Banesh até
Kaftari periods).
Hand-Picked Floto?
inte Counts Weights Frequency Counts Freq
Re
Juniper decline decline decline decine am
Almond slight increase _ increase slight increase slight increas¢ slight incre
Maple increase increase increase increase increase
Pistachio increase increase _ slight increase slight decline —a
Oak increase increase increase increas€ ier
: : t decline
decline decline decline slight decline sigh
ght decline slight
E] : ; ;
m family decline slight decline decline sli
Poplar
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 11
cally important species. Changes in availability may be associated with climatic change,
or, as is more likely in this case, with human interference with natural forest growth.
Before changes in wood use can be assessed, Post-Pleistocene climate and vegetation
changes must first be considered. Ancient climatic conditions can be inferred from pollen
analysis if suitable sediments are available for testing. Information thus obtained is com-
plementary to ethnobotanical data from archaeological sites. Samples taken by H. E.
Wright from a salt lake near Shiraz unfortunately yielded insufficient quantities of pollen
to be useful for environmental reconstruction (1985, personal communication), Sum-
marizing the available pollen evidence, Wright (1977) and van Zeist and Bottema (1982)
infer that the Pleistocene environment over much of the Near East was a cold dry steppe.
The species typical of the Zagros oak forest would have spread in a southeasterly direc-
tion from Syria and southeastern Turkey at the end of the Pleistocene (van Zeist and
Bottema 1977), Conceivably this expansion of the oak forest in the post-glacial period
did not reach the southern Zagros until the third millennium B.C., and it replaced a more
xerophytic mixed forest of pistachio, almond, maple, and perhaps juniper. This recon-
struction is not likely for two reasons. First, data from Lake Zeribar in the central Zagros
indicate that the modern climate in that region became established by 5500 B.P. (van
Zeist and Bottema 1982). Using the MASCA radiocarbon correction, this date is equiva-
lent to about 4250 B.C. (Ralph et al. 1973), well before the Malyan samples. Second,
although climate and vegetation history are important determinants of the presence,
absence, or relative abundance of particular species, the proportions of different species
is also influenced by people. The disjunct but widely dispersed occurrence of juniper in
southern Iran today suggests that were it not for herding and fuel-cutting activities the
“ea could support more juniper than it does at present.
Alternatively, a change in local availability of various tree species could be affected
by factors other than climate. The use of wood by human populations determines which
axa will be brought to a site, and in the absence of accidental fires, which taxa will be
Preserved as charcoal. Wood cutting by human populations can alter the composition of
the forest as well as its extent. Probable activities involving tree use are based on general
* specific ethnographic analogy, and are partially corroborated by some of the archaeo-
‘gical evidence (Table 8). It is also possible to assess the amount of wood involved in
Yanlous activities.
Fuel.—Wood may be used directly as fuel, or it may first be transformed into char-
— Although trees may be pruned rather than felled for wood and charcoal, js OE
‘tne a etion, Most structures excavated at Malyan aoa: = necessary for part
of the vege winters of the Kur River basin, heating asap ibis " nd heating fires
at year. Various hearths and ovens suggest that food preparation a
- in built-in facilities within structures.
found
v€ was also used for industrial activities at Malyan. Copper-bronze pig
ad in the Kaftari
k place at the
than wood is
Used in :
1982a), ‘melting, and some woods must be cut green in order to make
that of really old trees is
of older tre
i whereas wood for
¢s is inferior to that of younger, for the same reason
For it is very dry, wherefore it sputters as it burns;
contain sap.” k as having
the chars pe2@) Specifically mentions juniper, pistachio, a higher caloric
value “racteristics mentioned by Theophrastus. Although charcoal _ a use of wood
fuel (1 wt Wood, its manufacture by primitive methods is a very infos eased during
the i. 1982a, b). It cannot be proved that charcoal ela ETT Banesh and
tari millennium, However, evidence for smelting is common ita increase in
deposits (W.M. Sumner, p.c.), and even in the absence of a per cap
Horne (
12 MILLER Vol. 5, No, |
metal use the larger Kaftari population would have required greater quantities of metal
It therefore seems likely that more charcoal would have been produced and bumed for
smelting.
There is evidence for pottery manufacture at Malyan. The pottery kilns, filled with
kiln wasters and probable dung ash post-date the Kaftari occupation of the site, however.
TABLE 8.—Possible uses of woody taxa at ancient Malyan.
Leaves/
Taxon Wood Branches Fruits
Juniper fuel! fodder ' medicine”
timber?
Almond fuelt»2,3 fodder" fodder,
timber food’
Maple fue] 1»2.3
timber?
Pistachio fuelt+2 fodder” food?”
timber? (presume!)
Oak fuel} »2 fodder” fodder”
timber? food
Poplar (largely cultivated now) fuel +2
timber!»2.3
sain fuel
timber?
Plane (some cultivated today) fuel
timber?
Vitex
fuel
Caper f food”
: uel 3
pa Osopis f fodder
uel 5
food
G } 1,2,3
tape (cultivated only) fuel? food” food
Delve fuel
Rhamnaceae fuel
Ulmaceae fuel!
timber?
1 ; osits,
Archaeological evidence from in situ oven /hearth /kiln (fuel) and latrine (ogee
including Post-Kaftari deposits,
E : ;
; thnographic observations and discussion with villagers. ai)
‘ et.
Published references for Near East (e.g. Wulff 1966, Townsend and Guest 1966, |
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 13
Alden (1982) has found several Banesh pottery manufacturing sites near the mountains
and suggests their location may be due in part to their proximity to fuel. The few pieces
of charcoal recovered from one of these sites neither support nor refute this proposition
(Miller 1980).
Lime production would also have used up large quantities of fuel, considering the
substantial evidence at Malyan for the use of plaster for walls, floors, and containers
(Blackman 1982). It is appropriate to point out that Malyan, as the center of an urban
system, could well have drawn finished products (notably lime and pottery) from its
hinterland; direct evidence of fuel use for these manufacturing activities would therefore
hot appear at the site, even if deforestation may be inferred on the basis of the charcoal
assemblage from the ancient city.
Construction.—Contemporary construction techniques are similar to those found
archaeologically ; for descriptions and discussion of traditional techniques in use, see
Wulff (1966), Watson (1979) and Kramer (1982). Both present-day and ancient struc-
lures are made of sun-dried mud brick. The former, and presumably the latter, have
wooden roof beams covered with mats, brush, and a layer of hard-packed mud. Today,
poplar and willow are the primary woods used for roof beams. A large burnt public
building, dating to about 400 years after the Kaftari period, had an abundance of poplar
charcoal. The large chunks found in association with other roofing material (grass or
eed stem, from matting) suggest that by 1200 B.C. poplar was used for beams. Juniper
J. excelsa M.B.) may grow to a height of 20 m; its wood is “light and not particularly
“ong,” but it could provide durable wood suitable for beams (Townsend and Guest
1966). Although none has been found to date in this context, the excavator has sug-
gested that some Kaftari period rooms may be too wide to have been spanned by poplar
beams, which have a maximum usable length of about 4 m (W.M. Sumner p.c.).
In any case, despite population increase in the valley, the cutting of trees for roof
beams for local use would probably not be sufficient to cause deforestation. If long-
ce trade in wood were important for construction material (the suggested reason
e depletion of the Lebanese cedar forests, for example) or ships (for example, in the
se terranean region during Classical times, Hughes 1983), this could be a factor in
orestation. Data are not available to assess this possibility. :
. a manufacture.—Although no wooden tools have been found, there is pdr
thdeess t that wood was used for utensils, tool handles, containers, ornaments, a a
fore 8. The manufacture of wooden artifacts is not likely to put as great a stress
Sts as fuel use and construction ;
Grazing, — ae . ite significant, especially if
‘ates ing.—The role of grazing in deforestation could be quite sign ca oaks
a als were brought to forests that were already under stress from yposeacearen os
alm camels can be observed today in the oak forest nibbling on oak, Liane ee
ond trees, an t times.
Land Clear: but this has not
always been th
ng the trees,
Ww
. nno
Suish from ot be determined, since the wood of cultivated trees ep e, which is
; archaeologically all
°Ccur in the wi istachio and oe
of i ie
wid ere are not now grown in the area, nor are they found maar igranl ce
gale and almond!3 are collected today by villagers and are aor
ate ined Although contemporary use of acoms is widespread—g0@ ot been found
iN archa m tanning leader, and nomands used them for flour—acorns onl fruits or nuts
“botanical samples. Grape is the only woody plant ——
14 MILLER Vol. 5, No. 1
that one can safely assume was planted at ancient Malyan. Wood of the grape would
represent incidental use as fuel.
DEFORESTATION IN THE KUR BASIN
Initially, forest clearance close to Malyan may have been undertaken to provide
agricultural land. Population estimates for earlier fourth millennium occupation exceed
those of the Banesh period, and presumably some forest clearance in the Kur River basin
was already underway. In the absence of climatic and archaeobotanical data, the degree
of disturbance cannot be estimated. However, the Kaftari population increase could
certainly have led to the clearing of primary or secondary forest.
Horne (1982a) has suggested that the vast amounts of wood required for charcoal
used in metallurgy can also lead to rapid depletion of forests. This is certainly a pos
sibility for later antiquity; Wertime (1983) considers that the “‘pyrotechnical industries”
were the primary cause of Mediterranean deforestation. As mentioned earlier, the choice
of slow-growing juniper as a fuel would deplete a nearly non-renewable resource, part
cularly if the trees were cut down rather than pruned. Note further that juniper would
have grown on the well-drained part of the plain, on land otherwise suitable for agricul-
ture, whereas poplar would not have interfered with cultivation. A complicating factor
is the apparent increase in the use of metal at Malyan and elsewhere in the Near East
during the third millennium. Juniper could have been a preferred fuel for this activity.
As the Classical author Theophrastus commented (although not specifically in reference
to bronze manufacture and juniper): ‘Smiths require charcoal of fir rather than of oak;
it is indeed not so strong, but it blows better into a flame as it is apt to smoulder less
and the flame from these woods is fiercer.” (quoted in Forbes, 1964:107) i
The archaeological context of the finds, particularly the absence of any evidence °
burned structures in the Banesh and Kaftari levels, suggests that most of the =
probably represents the remains of spent fuel. The deposits characterized by high ~
sities of charcoal probably represent primary hearth deposits or secondary dumping ®
hearth debris. The charcoal from low-density deposits has been interpreted as disp w
—— Since a major limiting factor for the use of firewood is transport costs; char¢
is lighter than wood, and its manufacture is one way to reduce transport costs. yen
production sites by their nature are ephemeral (cf. Horne 1982b) and would be diffi
if not impossible to discover archaeologically. Although it is not possible to pene
whether wood or charcoal was the preferred fuel, one may still apply least mee”
siderations to the problem of fuel use. Those collecting areas nearest the site wo a
used first, especially in a time of non-mechanized transport. One might expect ~
Ss Iran is provided by Hansman (1976), who has suggested yes ed to in the
Gi ot Elam, east of Sumer, is “the land of the cut-down ERIN-trees” refert esh must
oe the third millennium, the Sumerian epic hero wie suggests
Juniper en this territory ati order to obtain ERIN wood, which Hansem
us excelsa on epigraphic and phytogeographical grounds.
_Poplar probably grew in the poorly drained marshy area to the east 0 lar for
£en a preferred fuel. Like juniper, the pester of Ot al
tween Banesh and Kaftari times. It may have groW" |,
“Me sae a today is completely treeless and used for pasture. Unlike joe rome
nities. sent in the area today, poplar did not disappear from f poplar
“Js intentionally grown and protected by people. The decline of P
f the site and
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 15
coal in the archaeological samples from the Kaftari period may be due toa change in its
primary use, from fuel (or construction and fuel) to construction.
During Kaftari times, the major woods used for fuel were those characteristic of the
modern oak forest. Today, the plain seems to be at the southeastern limit of oak forest,
so it is likely that the oak in the archaeological samples grew at high elevations. Some
juniper could have grown on the plain or within the oak forest. There are at least two
explanations which can account for the increase in the percentage of oak charcoal at the
expense of juniper at Malyan. First, juniper could have been a preferred fuel wood, and
acomponent of the oak forest in Banesh times, especially if charcoal manufacture for
smelting was a significant factor. After the depletion of juniper from the forest, it would
have been replaced by the more competitive oak. Note, however, that both juniper and
oak yield charcoal that is suitable for smelting. Second, juniper could have been primar-
ily a tree of the pistachio-almond forest near the site. This would accord better with the
modern distribution of juniper. Whether or not juniper was preferred, it seems to have
been removed first. Since oak would not have grown near the site, the increase in oak
charcoal suggests that an increase radius of procurement was necessary to provide fuel for
the city. The increased use of dung as an alternative fuel also suggests a decrease in local
supplies of wood for fuel.
ther major genera found archaeologically (almond, pistachio, and maple) all
interdigitate with oak in this part of Iran, depending on local climatic conditions. As
“sé genera are dominant in plant associations of the warmer and drier climes to the
south and east, they may have been associated with juniper on the plain during Banesh
mes, and possibly continuing into Kaftari times. They may have spread at the expense
of juniper during the Kaftari period, but, due to fuel cutting and agricultural expansion,
“ere eventually restricted to the more distant mountains, where they are found today.
Finally, there are only minute amounts of wood that may have come from the center
of the plain, Prosopis and caper. Both of these shrubs provide edible fruit but are que
Si in their properties. Prosopis provides high-quality fuel (Isely Agiaoro . i
_. eM seen growing to a height of less than 20 cm. Caper is extremely thorny
Painful to collect; it is difficult to account for the presence of its charcoal for any pur-
Pose. One would not expect wood from these shrubs, particularly caper, to have oom
wan” as fuel, especially if there were a closer source of pe esheets
bee wih < of the settlement pattern, the few pieces of caper a om at least $0 km
away vi ree and a half Prosopis seeds) which would have rae ais heen
he 'thcie recovered from the later levels, when settlement on the p
oriented toward the southwest.
CONCLUSIONS
: ivities
- Results of the analysis of charcoal from Malyan suggest that the economic act! i.
© ancient The non-marsh vege
tion of the Kis juniper association
Was eith . In addition,
Man te for fuel procurement seems to have expanded alon
forest a Sowing urban population for fuel and land
n the Mountains.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T. L. Smart, and a3
ae : . CC.
US reviewers for their critical comments on earlier versions . 2 ” onthe the
erm of the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew kindly provided — sida’ gave
help fy) comparative material (except for Juniperus cf. excelsa). Don shinier 40 the
advice on the content and presentation of Table 2. —*
Malyan crew, directed by William Sumner, without whom the data presented in this
paper could never have been collected.
This research was supported by a Malyan Graduate Research Assistantship under
NSF (SOC75-1483) and a Rackham Pre-doctoral Dissertation grant from the University
of Michigan. The Malyan Project field work was sponsored by the University Museum,
University of Pennsylvania, with additional major financial support from the National
Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
and the Ohio State University.
An earlier version of this paper entitled ‘‘Paleoethnobotany at Malyan” was pre:
sented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Philadelphia,
May 1, 1980.
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NOTES
1 d
The chronology is based on MASCA corrected (Ralph et. al. 1973) radiocarbon @@
from Malyan
The population estimates may be revised upward as the analysis of t
continues (W, M. Sumner, p.c.).
3
Poplar (P opulus sp.), indistinguishable from willow (Salix sp.) at these m4
Was €xamined under higher magnification.
‘Collection in possession of author; duplicate material at the University
It is unfortunate that few w
e the major trees of Iran. Greguss (1959) has some .
, and Hajazi (1965) has poorly reproduced photos?
thern Zagros and Caspian forests. For those who a
Ethnobotanical Laboratory,
available which includ,
fruit and timber trees
from trees of the nor
the documentation 6
(transverse, 50x;
Hand
] pit
Ann Arbor.
f the modern wood specimens, descriptions and 5
tangential, 100x; radial, 100x and 300x) are available
tes
he settlement dat@
gnificatio"®
of Michiga”
od atlases are
f the useful
s of wo
ae i
EM photos
(Miller 1982)
. . 5 hearths
ib sie samples come from 35 Banesh and 40 Kaftari deposits. Banesh: 5 |
8, 21 rooms, 8 matrix. Kaftari: 10 pits, 16 rooms, 14 matrix.
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 19
NOTES (continued)
Flotation samples come from 99 Banesh and 89 Kaftari deposits. Banesh: 18 hearths,
16 pits, 49 rooms, 3 burials, 6 jars, 7 matrix. Kaftari: 4 hearths, 28 pits, 32 rooms, 3
jars, 22 matrix.
"The completed analysis of the materials appears in Miller (1982) and includes a con-
sideration of charcoal weight, density per volume of soil, and differential distribution
of charcoal within the site. The complete data set is presented sample by sample for
those who wish to use it.
The excavation areas were chosen to answer certain archaeological questions about
stratigraphy, the extent of settlement, and the range of variability on the site (Sumner
1980),
9 ,
Quercus aegilops L. ssp. persica (J. & S.) Blakelock.
i, :
Juniperus polycarpos C. Koch = J. excelsa M. B. (Riedl 1968).
ll
Cf. Day (1953): “So important was firewood in Indian economy that the Naragansetts
of Rhode Island thought the English had come to America because they lacked fire-
wood at home,” and they even lived in the temperatre forest zone!
ae
Pistacia cf. eurycarpa Yalt.
13
siden cf. scoparia (Spach) C. K. Schneider = Amygdalus scoparia Spach; Prunus cf.
tschyi (Boiss. & Hohen.) Nab. = A. kotschyi Boiss. & Hohen.
20 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 5, No. |
Book Review
Plants and Ancient Man, Studies in Palaeoethnobotany. Edited by W. Van Zeist and WA,
Casparie. 344 pp., illus. A.A.Balkema Publishers, Boston, 1984.
The International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany first convened in Prague,
Czechoslovakia in 1968 and it has held meetings every three years hence. Plants and
Ancient Man contains the proceedings of the sixth symposium sponsored by the State
University of Groningen in The Netherlands in 1983. The thirty papers presented in this
volume cover methodological problems, the use of documentary evidence, ethnographic
models, and various European regional studies. A special section is devoted to the ident
fication of archaeological wheats.
The papers by Hillman and Jones discuss the potenials and problems of applying
ethnographic models for cereal processing derived from Turkey and Greece, for inter
preting prehistoric plant remains. Hillman’s contribution also contains a test of his mode
on a palaeoethnobotanical assemblage from Cefn Graeanog in Wales. Willerding (Central
Europe), Behre (Germany), and Green (England) explore the botanical content of medi-
eval maps, tax lists, paintings, court documents, herbals, brewery recipes, cook books,
monastic texts, and market records. Green and Behre also compare the documenta)
evidence with the archaeological record. Forni analyzes the linguistic roots of Indo-
carbonization, Wilson tests the differential destruction and distortion of moist and ous
samples of 12 common types of European weed seeds. Greig compares the gee
“floras” of modern and Iron Age British hay meadows. Van Vilsteren (Medieval? ene
lands) examines the interpretation of charred seeds from postholes. Bottema ae
oa use of animal dung for fuel as a potential source of charred seeds in a
sites. Regional studies are presented by Korber-Grohne (Central European fruit INeo
vii (Bronze and Iron Age Macedonia), Kucan (Iron Age Yugoslavia), Wary Lisit-
lithic through Medieval Poland), Pashkevich (Scythian and Greek Crimea, USSR) Neo
ag (Neolithic Caucasus, USSR), Lundstrom-Baudais (Neolithic France), mee a
~~ Germany), Pals (Neolithic Netherlands), Straker (Roman London),
(Roman through 18th ce
ae tric data from wheat caryopses. Some statistical purists,
and may balk at the use of ratio or percentage data in the attempts ‘0 a tools fo"
Processing residues. I feel that these multivariate techniques can be —_
pattern recognition and date reduction if used cautiously. the pape
Plants and Ancie _ om Manitobé!
by Harris (North America and Australia), Clarke et al. (Australi a), and “< presen
tside of Europe or western Asia. Nevertheless the ieee hop®
that the n ap — useful for any practitioner of palaeoethnobe 7 partic nat
from i Symposium scheduled for the summer of 1986 hee an China so
it will b and South America, Africa, Oceania, India, Southeast Asia,
€ more truly international in scope.
]. Ethnobiol. 5(1):21-28 Summer 1985
EDIBLE ANIMALS OF THE ITURI FOREST, AFRICA
IN THE ETHNOZOOLOGY OF THE EFE BAMBUTI
MARIA ARIOTI
Instituto di Studi Sociali
Facolta de Scienze Politiche
Universita di Perugia
06100 Perugia, Italy
ABSTRACT.—This article presents ethnographic data about the ethnozoology of the Efe
Pygmies, hunters and gatherers of the Ituri forest (Northeastern Zaire). It deals particularly
with categories of edible animals. The Efe system is compared with that of their Negro
neighbors, the horticultural Balese.
INTRODUCTION
This article presents data concerning the ethnozoology of the Efe Pygmies of the
lturi forest (northeastern Zaire, Africa), collected during two periods of fieldwork: July-
August 1981 and November 1982-January 1983.1 I worked among some groups of bow-
hunting Efe Bambuti in the zone of Andifere, between Mambasa and Nduye. The Efe are
"aditionally linked to the horticulturalist Balese through a complex relationship of inter-
dependence. This symbiotic relationship results not only in economic transactions, but
also in intermarria €, common ceremonies and, above all, shared knowledge, beliefs, and
Values (Schebesta, 1938-195 0). Anthropologists who study Pygmies are faced with the
Been of discerning the contribution of each ethnic group to this common cultural
inheritance. It is a difficult, in some ways impossible, operation. cea 3
_ in the specific case of ethnozoological classification, however, there is little doubt
"18 an original product of Pygmy thought. I extended my research work to the Balese
and discovered they have a classification almost exactly akin to that of the Pygmies, with
nly a few significant differences. The Balese themselves are aware that they have assim1-
mes Pygmy Knowledge about the forest. They maintain that the Efe introduced ~~
them names and uses ©
and guided them ; i twe
d taught
in the unknown, hostile forest an : s and differences between
ry * *,?
on and plants. In this article I will point out similaritie
€ and the Balese classification systems.
The Efe snd : f the same language
the Balese speak two very close dialects 0 Kimbute, and use the
are completely bilin-
arabized tribe ©
Bangwana) : : : contexts.
me, howey H
er, that the attitude of female Efe toward Kingwana 3s
¢ Efe.
Women speak and understand Kingwana, but they are I
t
live together. The mos
s live Aa The Babira
d the Efe, and
into ay og with the majority of Kilese speakers. These pice
ee fe band after marriage. On the whole, the permeabili - Kibira or Kilese.
I will : iy ng and sometimes it is difficult to ascertain if a term E ss Sica und Efe
mg in this article the terms which are used interchangeably Dy
29 ARIOTI Vol. 5, No.1
METHODS
I carried out my research using Kingwana, with the assistance of a bilingual inter.
preter (Kingwana-Kilese). Kingwana has undergone adaptation to local situations, |p
regard to the Pygmies, this process resulted in an almost complete correspondence be.
tween Kingwana and Kilese terminology.
Only one of the Pygmies I met had gone to school. He was about 35 years old, had
attended a primary school for two years, but could read only with the greatest difficulty
and was unable to write. On the contrary, in each Balese village there were two or three
people, usually men, who were able to read and write quite well, and were able to speaka
little French. I found that the level of education of informants is a very important point
in ethnoscientific research. The anthropologist must be aware that it can affect the
quality of his or her work. Indeed, I noticed, for example, that Balese education people
immediately grasped the idea of the taxonomic tree and afterwards tried to force all given
information into this structure. Fortunately, they contradicted themselves and each
other frequently enough to make me understand that they were just playing with am
appealing new idea. As a matter of fact, non-educated Balese and Efe people either did
not grasp or simply refused the taxonomic tree model.
e Pygmies do not like to work as informants individually and regularly. Only we
people—one of whom was the educated man mentioned above—agreed to work with me
in this way. In each camp, people preferred to gather and talk with me asa group, ©
sulting each other before they answered. I discovered that this was a very fruitful method
From the questions they put to each other, and from the answers to these questions, and
from the doubts they expressed, I got more information than in my work with regult
informants.
In contrast, I worked often with single Balese individuals. They prefer to be =
Suspect, because they are very proud and do not like to be found to be at fault YE
people, Among the Balese, only children were ready to start collective conversations:
na few cases I tried to talk with the Balese and the Efe together. ewe
the conversation took place in a Balese village, the Balese assumed an ath amp
Superiority toward the Efe, preventing them from speaking. However, in a Pygmy
In the forest they agreed to talk on the same level.
; In the first stage of my research work, I put forward tentative questions, +e
time showing them the pictures of some animals, just to start a conversation ee
matter I was interested in. Both the Efe and the Balese were enthusiastic bi
= would always begin talking to each other or to me endlessly, trying to ident s, mai
and thus giving me much information about names of single beasts:
; dentification criteria.
A final methodological remark is necessary. I present my data in ade
without Systematizing it into any model. In fact, I think that at present
oe comparative data to allow generalizations about universal principles .
hogy cal Classification, Indeed, my data do not fit any of the models i oe
W (Berlin, Breedlove, Raven, 1973; Hunn, 1982). So, this paper 1s ted aspect
pie ethnographic contribution to add to the knowledge of a so far neglec
of Pygmy culture, ab perlit,
Brcedioy: poe e the terminology prevalent in ethnotaxonomy prope ge t col
aven (1978), Instead, the similarity between my mi people
(1976) among the Hill Pandaram, a hunting and gathering Ps
™ India, convince
when
at the same
categories, and j ;
scriptive W4)
there are
» “intermediate taxa” to indicate all the taxa include
taxa, and “taxa terminalia” all the taxa included enhie® rae
and “species” euiceed _ not including any other taxa. The terms des
‘> Specific” are used only in the biological sense.
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 23
ANIMAL REALMS: EDIBLE VERSUS INEDIBLE ANIMALS
There is no term for ‘animal’ either in Kilese, Efe or Kingwana. As far as I could
ascertain, the Efe do not recognize via terminology or in any other way the existence of
one unitary realm, including all those living beings which we consider to be animals.
They lack what Berlin, Breedlove and Raven (1973) call ‘unique beginner’.
The most comprehensive term they have is uura, which is exactly translated in King-
wana as nyama (best, meat).* This term, as we will see below, has many different mean-
ings, the most important and explicit being all edible animals. There is no corresponding
term in Efe for all inedible animals, which, therefore, constitute a sort of residual cate-
gory.” Sometimes the Efe use the Ngwana word vilulu to designate them, which is
usually translated as insects, but which includes also worms, spiders, and more generally
all little animals. The Balese have the same term uura, but they also have a term, baasi,
which covers all inedible animals, with only a few exceptions which I will consider below.
It is important to point out that this distinction between edible and inedible animals
is avery precise one and none of the categories into which the Efe put animals include
th. So, we can say that in one sense edible and inedible animals constitute two sepa-
rate realms,
DIF FERENT MEANINGS OF UURA
The Efe use the term wura with at least three different meanings. The first, as stated
above, is all edible animals, and is the widest and also the most formal and explicit. Not
only are hunted game thus considered to be uura, but also fish, crabs, and small animals
‘uch as turtles and snails. When I asked people to tell me if a certain animal was or was
me, they always answered me: “It is wura: we eat it’’, or “It is not uura: we do not
eat it.”
na more limited sense, the term is used to designate mammals. This use is not
I
*xplicit; I have inferred this from the answers of people. When I asked them to tell me
ey hunted animals—
and so
. No one gave me spontaneously, in his list, any names of fish, snakes, poe non
cat for one person, who included the name of a snake. However, when I “a | at
insi
d represent, more oF less a
oi par excellence. This meaning also is implicit and I have inferred it.
» all lists of wura I elicited begin with the names of the most common a ‘
“Pes and wild boars. I noticed also that they always hesitated before adding to the
hames those of other animals, for example, monkeys.
he — vara can be added some modifying words. fit
Orest an, intl melt and uura ubopo, which indicate, i soe ps
chickens lib . —o living in the villages, such as goats (meme; in re
only b con in Kingwana kuku), Another expression, uura ogbu,
ee € Balese, to designate all big game.
alese use the term uura with the same basic meanings.
total field, because the Balese do not eat all of the anim
So we have, for example, the
the wura living in the
gwana mbuzi) and
d, more com-
However, it covers 4
als that the Efe do. In
lined to limit the use
they
pon boys during the
m
n show that the widest
ich was mn
an
fish, birds, ete.
94 ARIOTI Vol. 5, No.1
UURA CATEGORIES
The Efe subdivide uura into six larger taxa primaria, five of which have their own
name, while one is unlabeled. e five named categories are: osa (birds), uua (snakes),
ufu (fish), odi (monkeys), and aja-aa (a mixed category which includes felines, rodents,
etc.). The last unnamed category corresponds to the third meaning of the term wura, |
stated above. In this paper I will refer to it as uura par excellence.
To these must be added five smaller categories: bea (turtles), arigba (snails), echu
(termites), aruja (a kind of worm), and ei-ei (the larvae of some kinds of Coleoptera),
Finally, there are small number of animals which are considered uura, but are not affili
ated in any of these categories, or ambiguously affiliated.
The Balese have exactly the same categories. However, it must be pointed out that
one of these cannot be considered uura. As a matter of fact, the Balese consider snakes
disgusting and do not eat them. This introduces an element of disorder into the Bales
system of classification, to which I will return later.
In addition to these well defined categories, I elicited a term which labels a group of
animals with no precise boundaries and which crosses other categories. It is uura uiebolu,
which indicates all aquatic animals except those included in the ufu category. All the
categories mentioned above are discussed in more detail below.
Uura par excellence —This category includes antelopes and wild boars. Wild boars are col
sidered to be brothers of antelopes and are in no way separated from them. All Pygmis,
enumerating animals falling into this category, grouped them according to size, 8° -
wild boars were put together with large-sized antelopes. Both the Efe and the Balese
that these animals are akin because they have the same hooves (ija).
It is noteworthy that no Pygmy ever mentions in this class elephant :
buffalo (tupi), although both are hunted in the area and their meat is highly appre“
‘hen I asked if they considered these animals “brothers” of antelopes, people —
little puzzled. Some of them told me that buffalo was almost the same size as the biggest
antelopes, especially oapi (vkapi), so it could be considered akin, but not really —
because of its wildness. The elephant, on the other hand, was considered to —
own, because of its enormous size.
On the contrary, the Balese state that both elephant and buffalo are very
other animals in this category, into which they also put oxen, which are nehe
this area and only recently were introduced by missionaries in its northern par
The category is subdivided into a small number of taxa terminalia ( ems
itms for antelopes, 2 for wild boars), all labeled by unanalyzable primary Ie the
(Berlin, Breedlove, Raven 1973). They are all specific taxa directly included por
peer. So example, in this arca a few species of the genus Cephalnpies eer
live. Each species has its own name, Kibis
- must be pointed out that some of these terms are used both by Kiee me
speaking Pygmies, for example, soli (Boocercus euryceros). Also Hare for
st ene among Kibira speaking Basua. He reports also the term ne medi
buluk phalophus monticola as a Kibira term. The Efe call this antelope * informatie
: u or mboroku, but they told me that the last word was Kingwana. Me and moo
seg with that of Schebesta (1941:98), who also records both names, me : aquatic
0. The little gad befe (Hyemoschus aquaticus) is also groupenms
u),
(uu) and rarely
ted.
similar to
resent in
iL
elicited 10
Ber”:
) bi nging
~This category includes animals of many different biological families, pe io
fa he order Carnivora (Mellivorinae, Viverrinae, Herpestina®, animals #*
a etc.), but also Rodentia and Insecivora. The Efe say that all if sete fro
foo e aust they have the same footprint, which in turn is very differs
Ootprings of all other uura agree?
: rmants
Aja-aa are subdivided into a small number of taxa terminalia. Info
be
Se
Be : - ii
‘i ? a NN ee ae ES ee ee a ee TEN ae ee Se OE el a eee eee ee NL) ee yale eee
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 25
upon only 14 taxa. They are all labeled by unanalyzable primary lexemes. Some of these
taxa are definitely specific, as, for example, au, leopard (Panthera pardus), chamu, afri-
can civet (Viverra civetta), abee, gaint elephant shrew (Rynchocyon cirnei), Some others
are generic, as egbu (genets). All are directly included in the category, which is the same
for the Balese, who called it aja-haba.
Two terms I elicited are almost the same also in Kibira: dere, mongoose, and borog-
boro (Crossarchus obscurus) are called in Kibira ndele and kpolokpolo. However, Harako
(1976:49) identified the first animal as Atilax palidinosus (marsh mongoose), while the
Efe told me it was dere Bodeogale nigripes (black-footed mongoose), and the Efe name
for Atilax palidinosus was fidifidi. They added that fidifidi spends much time in water,
so one can also call it uura uiebolu (in Kingwana, lombe),.
Odi—Both the Efe and the Balese call all moneys and apes odi (however, the Balese pro-
hounce it with aspiration, hodi). They say that odi differ greatly from other uura because
of their general appearance, their sura, which is similar to that of man.
This category is subdivided into a small number of taxa. | elicited twenty terms,
which for the most part label biological specific and terminal taxa. They are all unanalyz-
able primary lexemes. For example, the term dato indicates chimpanzee, and different
names are attributed to the different biological species of Colobus present in the area.
There are two ambiguous cases that I was unable to resolve. Regarding the first, I
noticed that two names in some odi lists were distinct, mbela and muo, in some others
they were combined, mbela muo. 1 tried to discover whether or not they were different
names of different species, but my efforts resulted in nothing. Somebody told me that
mbela and muo were two different names for to different monkeys, and that mbela muo
Was not a correct form; somebody else said that they were three equivalent names for one
and the same animals; a third informant maintained that the three terms were all correct
‘ames of three different animals. In the second case, several people gave me two dif-
ferent terms, bisi and agbisibisi, for two species of galagos. Afterwards, other people
save me the same terms, but reversed. When In investigated this matter further, their
‘swers were as contradictory as in the first case.
e of legs.
Cua—All snakes fall into this category. The main characteristic is the absenc hace
, labelle
a me subdivided into some terminal taxa (people agreed upon only 13 taxa)
.Y Primary lexemes, including both analyzable and unanalyzable forms. Some — rs
ee category have no names and are designated simply as ua. nel nies a si
re Ratter of fact, informants usually arranged snakes according to ’
too *y were poisonous or not poisonous. Then, they said that 0 puausig
be ‘mall to have a name. It must be remembered that the Balese do not const er il
gah because they do not eat them. They say that the big intestinal worms fall into
s Category also,
ther snakes were
ever, some
because of
is point. I
Ufa
sand oaery ufu includes all fish, mollusks and cruseaten nae
io me that crabs, for example, are more akin to spiders or to a a
deus : in their appearance, legs and shells. I did not go deeper in
i € terms for 14 terminal taxa, upon w
ary lexemes.
30 oy : n ese subdivide ufu into two subcategories: ufu 65 ae
Recife or ufu ebi, big fish. The Efe do not make this distinction,
small fish, and ebi a specific big fish.
small fish, no longer than
and call sei only a
- a birds and bats fall within this category, which is the widest. poet
Clevo. Which reached fifty, which is more than three times pauses
ins “a €se terms label taxa which are, for the most part, pate
tere: ©VEr, Some of them designate intermediate taxa, under whi ek
’ “rminal taxa are grouped. In all these cases, the term which design
ich some, usually
two ter-
26 ARIOTI Vol. 5, No, |
mediate taxon is polysemic with one of the terms used for the terminal taxon. For
example, there are two kinds of ebi bird (a sort of pigeon), ebi and ebi ene. (They ue
the Ngwana word jiwa to designate both).
Besides these intermediate categories there are informal groupings of birds. Indeed,
informants usually listed birds grouping them according to the kind of next, the noctur.
nal or diurnal habits, the diet, and kind of voice. Obviously, these groups cross and over.
lap. Moreover, it must be pointed out that, when I asked them if ebi, for example, was
more akin to ebi ene than to other birds, they always told me that all birds were brothers,
and gave me a list of other birds akin to ebi as for size or voice and so on.
As for bats, I pointed out to both the Efe and the Balese that bats have neither
feathers nor beak and that they do not lay eggs, but give birth to their little ones. How.
ever, they all insisted on bats being osa because they have ‘wings’.
The Balese have an identical category. The only difference consists in the name.
Osa is translated to Kilese as hali.4
Uura ueibolu—As stated above, all aquatic animals, except those in the ufu category, fal
into this class, which crosses and overlaps many other categories. Also considered tobe
uura uiebolu, for example, are a species of aquatic antelope, marsh mongoose, crocodile,
aquatic turtles, and hippopotamus. This last animal, called apfo both in Efe and Kilese
and kiboko in Kingwana, is not present in the area, but its name was given me inall ist
of uura uiebolu. Some Pygmies had never seen it and described it as a big beast wil!
horn and claws.
Arigba—The Arigba (in Kingwana kora) category includes snails. Two members, arigh
and magbou, live in the forest, two others, budubudu and imabududy, live neat the Bales
villages. All the terms may be binomialized. So, one can say, for example, arigba maghoe
and this form is in common use. Another snail, bicho, which is not eaten, is considere
by the Balese (but not by the Efe) to fall within this category. No Efe ever mentioned It
Bea—Bea is the name given to the terminal taxon which includes all terrestrial i
It is translated in Kingwana as kuro. The Balese call them afelu. They are ont
be akin to aquatic turtles, which are called bago by the Efe and begbeda by i
These last animals are considered also to be uura uiebolu.
Echu—Echu category encompasses all termites, which are subdivided into eight sin
taxa: adeiraba, bodi, eabo, esio, ndufu, sara, ndoju, eli. The Balese call them gee
term also used by the Efe, and they use the same names for the eight taxa. Ri. a
consider termites to be uura (however, they eat them), but call them basi. The
wana term is ishwa,
. e J
Ei-ei—All edible larvae are called ei-ei, both by the Balese and the Efe. Howat
Balese consider them to be haasi. The most commonly eaten are posi and mobt
tively, the larvae of the Coleoptera called posi ogu and opu ogu.
which irritate the
Balese do not ©
axa: aruja and
Aruja—This is the Efe and Balese name of small hairy worms,
7 Ait are eaten both by the Efe and the Balese. However, the
as uura, but baasi. | elicited only the terms for two terminal t aa
€. The last one can be binomialized (aruja etepebebe), but normally is 2
Non-affiliated or ambiguously affiliated uura—The categories I have an vibe
cover a large part of the uura realm, but do not exhaust it. There is a sm vefiiated
edible animals which, for some peculiar charactertistics they present, ar© ms ropt
sigs of the mentioned categories, or are ambiguously affiliated. They an pale have
chien ate and ou (two species of pangolins), and igbo (aardvark).
€ names for the first three animals, but call the last one arufey:
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 27
The majority of people classified aropi (Anomalurus) as osa, because it has wings,
pointing out that it was more like a bat (derebi), One Pygmy told me that derebi was a
small aropi. However, some other people told me that it can not be considered osa,
because it has a tail and fur, and has neither feathers nor beak; instead it was odi. Some-
body else mentioned that it was neither osa nor odi, and that it was simply aropi.
Ou and ate, respectively Manis tetradactyla and Manis gigantea, are definitely not
affiliated. The Efe say that they are peke yake, which in Kingwana means “on their
own,” The same is valid for igbo or arufey (Orycteropus afer); however, this last animal
was mentioned in two lists after antelopes and wild boars. Elephant and buffalo, as
stated above, can also be considered in one sense not affiliated or ambiguously affiliated
in the category of uura par excellence.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In concluding this ethnographic report, I want to draw attention to some specific
points, particularly with regard to differences between Efe and Balese systems of animal
classification,
In the first place, there is the primary importance of being edible or inedible, as a
principle for classifying animals. Edibility is the quality which permits the distinguishing
of two classes of animals, each of which is so large as to be considered similar to what we
call a ‘realm.’ This preeminently cultural criterion operates in a coherent way in Efe
classification. It is noteworthy that there are no uura categories which include both
‘ible and inedible animals. On the contrary, animals of the same genus can be separated
~~ because they are or are not eaten. All inedible animals are for the Efe a sort of
residual category, which they do not name; they subdivide them into small categories,
which include no other taxa or a small number of terminal taxa.
Balese : same principle works in Balese classification, but in a
“se also call uura all edible animals. However, they have a ter
designates all inedible beasts. So, the baasi category should cover the
by ura, However, this is not the case. On the one hand, the Balese do not eat snakes
\mua), but they do not consider them to be baasi. On the other hand, they cat termites,
roduce into some
less coherent way. The
to ej
Osa ee purely natural or curlturally relevant natural features. +3
char ig uua (snakes), and ufu (fish), are constructed according to natu
gpa (Hunn, 1982). In the same set we find another gr
t of residual category, because of the arboreal habits of monkeys. ae
do ver, as I have pointe gary ey
: ither are
"a Consider snakes to be uura, because they do not eat them, cgeniae the system.
: ‘ : ‘ : ins 0
» In the Balese classification taere is one class which remains 0U “ag from other
a little
The Ba
€ i M . . ‘ on are difficult to
explai S€ Inconsistencies in the Balese system of animal ‘thout solving the
generally, from a different economic relationship with
Balese people, 2 youns nS
98 ARIOTI Vol. 5, No!
who had gone through primary school, when faced with these contradictions, tried tp
elaborate for my benefit a more coherent classification. He wrote a scheme, in which he
grouped all mammals under the term uwura, and put this category on the same taxonomic
level of uua, ufu, osa. On the same one level he put the category haasi. As a consequence
aja-aa, odi and uura par excellence became second level categories. He was a little emba:
assed by turtles, pangolins, aardvarks and flying squirrels. Lastly, he decided to put them
into the wura par excellence, as a subcategory. It was exactly the system the anthropolo.
gists like. However, when I tested this scheme with other informants, they denied it
irmly. Moreover, the same young man who had invented it never maintained that it wa
the Balese system, but only that it would have been a better one.
LITERATURE CITED
BERLIN, B., D. BREEDLOVE, and P. Mind? Notes on the Natural Taxono-
RAVEN. 1973. General Principles mies of a Hunting and Gathering
of Classification and Nomenclature. People. Man 11:542-557.
Amer. Anthrop. 75:214-242., SCHEBESTA, P. 1938-1950. Die in
HALTENORTH, T., H. DILLER. 1980. buti Pygmaeen vom Ituri. Memoires
A Field Guide to the Mammals of de l'Institut Colonial Belge. 3 vol.
Africa. Collins, London, VORBICHLER, A. 1965. Die Phone
HARAKO, R. 1977. The Mbuti as logie und Morphologie des Bales:
Hunters, Kioto Univ. African Verlag J.J. Augustin, Gluckstadt.
Studies 10:37-99, 1974. Das Interdialektale
BOON, S. 1982. The Utilitarian Sprachverhalten zwischen sesshaften
Factor in Folk Biological Classifi- Balese Hackbauern und ey
cation. Amer, Anthrop. 84:830-847. enden Efe-Pygmaeen. Anthropos. 69:
MORRIS, B. 1976. Wither the Savage 1-16.
NOTES
n and was
1 Ss
The research took place in the framework of the Italian Ethnological Missi “ae
0
_ by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and by the Italian Ministry f
ion.
oki ma (P!
Kingwana does not maintain the distinction that Kiswahili does between ™”J?
Wanyama, big animals, both edible and inedible) and myama (meat).
3 . denied
mies ga Efe informant told me that it could be used the term ogy, but after he
- Ogu is the term used to indicate Coleoptera.
+ :
Vorbichler (1965) reports the term bosa among the Southern Balese.
Summer 1985 BOOK REVIEW 29
Book Review
. vO nar i i
E : .
ee. in a while a book appears which seems destined to spark controversy
Flies aang and open the door to entirely new methods of analyzing vexing
Sok oe a Bae of Agriculture takes a bold stab at being such a book, and
cceeds, alt : . : Agee
te ahiect. ough in other ways it falls short of being the definitive work
human /p] . ; abt
such ey epee aa eile: it to other mutualistic plant/animal interactions,
ee ietenss ona sctoeraal a ee symbioses, concentrating primarily on the changes in
different types of Elon itk : anisms of the plant. He then discusses in similar terms the
Bd harvest with th plants exhibit under various human utilization patterns, com-
We elec tive La sighs vegetative parts, and how these differences result from
indos presents hi eaters ca POPSIAE te
Ee acideotal Sa a mee of different types of domestic
Be cane bein a : which involves no alteration of natural dispersal patterns,
author says is a c E06 SiECUVE but usually not the only agents of dispersal. This the
onservative force serving to maintain existing subsistence patterns but
tion,” in which further evoluti | es Second is “specialized domestica-
ion occurs solely within the developed agroecology. Through-
e establishment
stablishment of mutualis-
ation. First, there
tic human / ;
plant i . Par if
nteractions, vs. ‘‘agriculture” i.e. the developed agroecology-
thematical models repre-
>
t, in the early stages
€Nvironm ;
Towth aie eseteH ation. There is a negative feedback restricting fur
to Recaliied d pthc, but the demographic foundations are laid for the tramsi-
t the best food omestication. Second, in that transition stage, ' ‘ni
dance, increa ‘3 Put feed on all available food types in proportion to their preceive
Population ag diet breadth. Third, the model predicts that domestication permits
Rin :
ive etry presents a second model, the ‘graphic model,” in which he plots the
*aph to make ake food type vs. the amount of each resour ailable, and uses this
SUMptions th scenes predictions about diet breadth. In all of this, he makes the as-
at animals are more highly valued as food sources than plants, wild plant
more abundant than those from animals, and domesticates arose from the
ally , pean of the wild plant class.
xamines the effects that domesticati
“ation rathe
ri (Rin doa 1
° Spread,
H
ie 980), that the most unstable agricultural systems ar :)
ce during bad years (assumed to be more comm in unstable system
More lj ? :
€ likely to emmigrate, taking their subsistence systems with them.
m
sys
30 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 5, No.1
The book, although presenting numerous fascinating new hypotheses, is limited by
several major drawbacks, primarily emanating from the author’s preconceived biases
toward his subject matter. Rindos is a devout Darwinian, almost to the point of religious
fervor, and attempts to apply the theory of natural selection whenever possible, regardless
of the applicability of the approach (see also Rindos 1985 and subsequent comments).
His biases show through in other ways as well, for example in his closing statement when
he justifies his interest in the origins of agriculture by likening agriculture to an infec-
tious disease. The literature reviews, although extensive and clearly written, should be
taken with a proverbial grain of salt, since the author frequently pooh-poohs any ideas at
variance with his own. For example, he denigrates the idea that population pressure may
have had a contributing role in the development of agriculture, as suggested by Boserup,
Cohen, and several other workers, totally ignoring the possibility of a positive feedback
mechanism relating population density and agricultural technology.
The models he proposes are only a first approximation of the kind which are needed
for this kind of analysis. Any model is only as good as its assumptions, which must be
rigorously tested against all the available evidence. Rindos makes liberal use of unsub-
stantiated assertions and tenuous if not erroneous assumptions concerning how a group
of people would react in a given situation. The variables used in the models are also ve
to question; for example, in the discussion of his graphic model, he stresses that “value
should be defined not in terms of caloric content or other similar quantity but should
instead reflect the “technology, preferences, and habits of a culture;” a “humanante
grated perception of investment and return, availability, nutrition, and abundance.” The
use of such a nebulously defined variable runs the strong risk of giving rise to totally
unfalsifiable hypotheses. There are many other aspects to the situation which could wel
yield fruitful areas of inquiry, including those involving dynamic processes internal to the
human society, such as demographic, nutritional, and time allocation considerations.
Also missing is the application of a wide variety of models constructed for other ends
but potentially shedding light on the problem at hand. There exist innumerable examples
of mathematical formulations in ecology, economics, etc., which could be of —
dous assistance in some of the things Rindos is trying to do, but he ignores them, at
ming to write his own models a priori. True, there is a danger in making too bold arg
(of which Rindos himself is guilty); but nor does it pay to spend a great deal of 0
trying to reinvent the wheel.
I welcome the approach, and strongly recommend the book, wi
Caveats, to anyone interested in the subject. The book presents a bol
look at a problem which has vexed workers in several academic fields me
anticipate that the types of methods used here will be of great value in uncove
ea sain. pale aspects of the situation. If it merely succeeds in provoklt :
sy and stimulating thought the book will have served its purpose admirably.
th the appropri
d, fascinating
for decades, and
REFERENCES
‘ : ‘ ture: #
Rindos, David (1980) Symbiosis, instability, and the origins and spread of agricul
new model. Current Anthropol : :
: pology 21(6):751-772. sna of
Rindos, David (1985) Darwinian selection, symbolic variation, and the ven
‘ture. Current Anthropology 26(1):65-88.
Joseph E, Laferriere ary piology
Department of Ecology & Evolution
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
]. Ethnol. 5(1):31-47 Summer 1985
GATHERING AND SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS
AMONG THE P’URHEPECHA INDIANS OF MEXICO!
JAVIER CABALLERO N.
CRISTINA MAPES S.
Jardin Botanico, Instituto de Biologia
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Ciudad Universitaria
Coyoacan 04510, Mexico, D.F.
ABSTRACT.—The P’urhepecha Indians, also known as “Tarascans” supplement their sub-
sistence agriculture by gathering edible mushrooms and numerous vascular plants. In addi-
tion they collect honey produced by several species of wasps. Many species of plants are
gathered for medicinal uses, firewood, ornaments or household needs. These plants are col-
lected throughout the year from agricultural fields as well as from the natural environment.
For the P’urhepecha, gathering is a part of a complex year round subsistence pattern ——
on multiple uses of their natural resources.
Plantas con fines medicinales, para combustible, como adorno o para uso domestico.
recoleccion se realiza tanto en el medio ambiente natural como en los campos cultivados en
diferentes epocas del afo.
n base en los datos presentados, se discute el signific
Plantea que la persistencia de esta practica, mas que ser un sin
Propio de la cultura P’urhepecha. Se sefala que la recolecci6n es en re
. un complejo patron de subsistencia basado en el uso miltiple de
urales,
A
ado que tiene la recoleccion. Se
los recursos
INTRODUCTION
Studies of subsistence patterns in agricultural societies usually consider posing
fthing ed productive practice, giving too little attention to gee Or ae ot
l1978\ ith the exception of works of Pennington (1963, 1968), By¢ | ol
bas Felger and Moser (1976), Wilken (1979), among others, the MDOT
sa i. i past and present agrarian societies has not been ae ie aa
. best N today, these practice activities are significant m terms 0
ty of Products for indigenous farmers in Mexico. | searing ihe
Pithepechs? 3 we describe the present role and patterns of Yau people,
“eae ndians, also known in the literature as the pee cacan, gathering is
In * °
Part of - Region of Lake Patzcuaro, in the Mexican state of f their
Complex subsistence and plant use pattern based on m
ources, |
sciplinary research project
ON tradi+: : aro
ae . knowledge, use and management of natural resources 1n phen late 1980.
Ethnobo © majority of our field work was carried out between early : a market places
With th ongies data and voucher specimens were obtained in the fielc ser the Herbario
© aid of 50 native consultants. Herbarium specimens are deposited in
Nacional . i oma de Mexico.
Mexico, (MEXU) of the Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Auton
ultiple uses O
We ee
report herein on a portion of the results of our multidi
32 CABALLERO & MAPES Vol. 5, No.1
THE SETTING
The Lake Patzcuaro Basin is one of the three regions that form the modern day
geographic area of the P’urhepecha culture. In prehispanic times this region was the main
center of the P’urhepecha empire. Despite the processes of social and cultural change, it
is still one of the most extensive areas of indigenous culture in Mexico.
The study area (Figure 1), known as the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, is located in the
Transverse Neovolcanic Belt, in the northern part of the state of Michoacan. It forms
part of the lacustrine system which also includes the Valley of Mexico. The area is
approximately 1,000 km2 and ranges from 2,043 to 3,200 m in elevation, with five
obvious physiographic zones: the islands in the lake, the shoreline, the hillsides, the
intermountain valleys, and the mountains. The lake itself occupies about 100 km*.
The basin is bordered by high mountain ranges on the west, north and south. The geo-
graphy of the area is discussed in detail by Barrerra (1985).
Although the climate is temperate (mean monthly temperature is 16°C), with mild
winters, several degrees of below freezing temperatures often occur during December and
January. A well-marked dry season extends from November to May, and the rainy seasol
is from June to October. Annual precipitation is about 1,000 mm (see Garcia, 1973, for
details of the climate),
In terms of the interelations between the people in the environment two major lant
scapes can be identified: the “natural” environment and the transformed or anthropo-
genic environment. Areas supporting primary and secondary vegetation are herein termed
the natural environment. Forests are often dominated by oaks (Quercus spp.), pines
(Pinus spp.), and fir (Abies religiosa) with intervening shurb and grasslands. The natu
ecosystems of Lake Patzcuaro are represented by three communities of hydrophytts
Occurring in the characteristic Zonation in relation to the shoreline (Caballero et. #
ae iole 40° ee
N
ate
Se
eS
gy E
2700
an
a Lake Patzcuaro Basin (Based on Comision de Estudios del Territorio M2?
a and Gorenstein and Pollard 1983), showing major settlements. 1 = Patz
an Ba Quiroga, 4 = Pichataro. Contour interval: 100 meters.
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 33
1981, Toledo et. al. 1980). We have recorded approximately 500 vascular plant species
in the region, and estimate the total flora to include 600 to 700 species.
The transformed environment is made up of areas devoted to agriculture, cattle and
human settlement. The population of nearly 80,000 inhabitants is distributed in about
100 towns and villages. The P’urhepecha population constitutes nearly 25% of the total
and is located in all of these island, shore and mountain settlements.
P’URHEPECHA ECONOMY
The P’urhepecha economy is based on agriculture, fishing, and folk art (artesanias).
Agriculture is the most important and widespread economic activity among the P’urhe-
pecha. Almost all of the harvest—maize, beans, squash, and wheat—is for self-consump-
tion, In addition to these common crops, 16 species and numerous varieties of fruit
trees—mostly pears, apples, and peaches—are cultivated in kitchen gardens (Toledo, et. al.,
80). They cultivate fifteen species of vegetables near the lakeshore. Fishing is an
important traditional activity and fourteen species of fish are obtained from the lake
(Toledo, et. al., 1980). Animal husbandry is mostly limited to chickens and turkeys,
although some people raise a few pigs. Most families have one or two oxen and a few
families own a cow. Hunting, once an important activity, is no longer significant. Today
it is restricted to squirrels, rabbits, and about eight species of migratory ducks (Foster,
). The most important folk arts are ceramics, weaving based on hydrophytes (Scir-
Pus spp. and Thypha spp.), and many different wooden objects such as furniture, masks,
kitchen utensils, and sculpture.
GATHERING
f the 224 useful
use, fodder, and tool making which includes a variety 0 : hg ve
Gathering is usually carried out in association with agriculture, and is done _ ak
ihe men although at times the women also participate. Every morning while ee
tis parcel of land, the man takes note of things he will gather and carry back with him
a his return, In general these observations are made with no preconceived plan. In
‘ddition both men and women make special trips to gather teas and mushrooms to ip
ae medicinal plants also to be sold in markets, and special foods for their own U
ich they consider to be delicacies.
EDIBLE PLANTS
: ; an-
. Fruits and Toots of certain plants are commonly eaten in the field as er ok
* OF to allay thirst, but are not brought home. These include the roo diophyl-
"ophyllus which is eaten like jicama (Pachyrrizus erosus) and — nee sd
agg has small tubers like common potato (the men stop " uaat serie
thats ir agricultural labors). The P’urhepecha have shown and f0
‘Which they know to be edible but they do not gather or eat them.
TABLE 1.
hete
lum
—Plant uses in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin.
Food 99 Fodder 2
Househ 30 Flavorings :
old : : ns
Firewood Utensils 20 Construction 1 cabot ow
4
Omam ‘cal, Religious
ik 12 Tannins Magica’,
34 CABALLERO & MAPES Vol. 5, No. 1
In general, wild edible plants are an important complement to the everyday diet,
even though most of daily nutrition is provided by the products of agriculture: maize,
beans, squash, and wheat. Collected plants are consumed mainly in the form of fruits,
greens, and teas (Table 2). Mushrooms are an important input to the diet but only during
the rainy season. Of the 43 species of fungi known to be eaten (Mapes et. al. 1981), only
10 are regularly gathered. These most highly esteemed species are gathered by the people
for their own use and to sell in the markets. The P’urhepecha commonly consume these
mushrooms in soups or cooked with “chiles” (Capsicum annuum and C. pubescens) and
other spices and vegetables.
“Quelites,” or greens, are among the more important food plants gathered in the
region. As with the Tarahumara (Bye 1981), the quelites gathered used by the P'ur
hepecha are commonly associated with agriculture and anthropogenic vegetation. Also,
as in the case of the Tarahumara, we believe that P’urhepecha “‘queliles”’ are undergoing
active processes of domestication. Nine species are considered as “queliltes” and are col-
lectively called xakua in the P’urhepecha language (Table 2). Among their more impor
tant quelites are Amaranthus hybridus, Brassica campestris, and Chenopodium berlan-
diert. “Quelites” are usually cooked with “‘chiles” and mixed with fish, meat or beans.
Several species of plants provide sweets and condiments. For example the young
inflorescence stalks of Agave inaequidens are collected in January and cooked and caten
as deserts. Plants used as condiments include Tagetes micrantha and two species of wild
Physalis,
ommonly gathered fruits of arborescent species include Crataegus pubescens,
microphylla, Opuntia spp., and Prunus serotina spp. capuli. Among non-arborescent
plants that provide fruit, the most important are Gonolobus numularis and Rubus adeno-
trichos. Gonolobus fruit, known as talayote, is highly esteemed. It is toasted and then
eaten.
Morus
FIREWOOD
The most important firewood trees (Table 3) are pines, oaks, and two species of
alder (Alnus). Certain shrubs, such as Baccharis conferta, are also used as fuel. Big
selection of one or another species depends on the kind of fire desired and availability:
For example, pine wood is used when an intense and fast-burning fire is needed, and 0%
or — wood is used when a longer-lasting fire is desired.
Firewood for domestic consumption is usually gathered only from
trunks and branches found on the forest floor; living branches and trees ar¢ not
dead, fallen
cut for
rears on wood
ea firewood, In contrast, there is intensive use of both living trees and dead i
or firing ovens for commercial bread and pottery making. This use js one of the
increasias
Rape causes of deforestation in the region and is responsible for the ever- a
oe gy from the villages to the forests. Long walks are now required to obtal
wood.
MEDICINAL PLANTS
‘ ive
The major uses of medicinal plants are to prevent or cure illnesses of the i
et respiratory system, female reproductive system, traumas, and various illnes B
domestic animals. Medicinal plants are also employed to cure supernatural ee
as susto (popular term used for an ailment provoked by a sudden-and disagreeable ¢
lence, Viesca et. al., 1976).
Sheil See pointed out four possibilities of medical choice in Pich
hepecha in mses Basin, and the same conditions seem to hold
ice ca Sas, These alternatives are: (1) self treatment,
: loners of folk medicine), (3) social service Pr
lling their social service obligation), and (
sent consecutive steps in treating an illness. Treatm
in
ataro, 4 mounts :
true for the
alternatives may repre
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 35
TABLE 2.-Common edible wild-gathered plants in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin. A = maize
and wheat fields, and fallow fields, B = shrublands of Baccharis spp. (derived from pine/
oak forests), G = grasslands with xerohpytic plants such as Acacia spp., and Opuntia spp.,
O= oak forests, P = pine forests, M = specimens collected only in markets.
Type of Food and Species Habitat Months of Procurement
Fruits
Casimiroa edulis B April-May
Crataegus pubescens B, P October-January
Gonolobus numularis A September-October
Jaltomata procumbens A August-October
Morus microphylla B June-August
Opuntia joconostle G October-January
Opuntia tomentosa G June-September
Prunus serotina B, P July-October
Rubus adenotrichos B March-May
Solanum mozinianum A July-October
Greens
Amaranthus hy bridus A March-July
Amaranthus sp, A March-July
Brassica campestris A May-September
Chenopodium berlandieri A March-June
Reseda luteola A January-May
Rumex crispus AC January-December
Rumex conglomeratus G January-December
Sycios microphylla A August
Teas
Agastache mexicana P.O May-November
Bidens ostruthoides P. 0 January-December
Hedeoma piperatum p. O September-October
Satureja laevigata P, re) December-February
Sweets and Condiment
Agave inaequidens G, B a eces
Phy salis acuminata de Mar enkennaenned
Physalis pubescens A pa eee
Tagetes micrantha A,G January-December
Mushrooms e
Asaricus campestris P, B, G aecriniere
™anita caesareg P, B bese? sitealbet
Armillarietiq tabescens M acini ber
Oletus edulis P.O July-Septem
Calvat; ; , st-September
Yatia cyathiformis M ip mber
Helvettq crispa July-Nove 2
Laccarig | P.O August-Octo er
accata
Lyophy tum de nig May-September
Stilago iy Pp, Oo August-October
>
ee
&
e
3
o
3
g
36 CABALLERO & MAPES Vol. 5, No.1
TABLE 3.—Firewood plants from the Lake Patzcuaro Basin.
Alnus acuminata Subesp. glabrata Pinus pseudostrobus
Alnus jorullensis Pinus teocote
Baccharis conferta Quercus castanea
Pinus lawsoni Quercus crassipes
Pinus letophylla Quercus laeta
Pinus michoacana var. cornuta Quercus obtustata
Pinus montezumae Quercus rugosa
may depend on five criteria: (1) the seriousness of the illness, (2) the knowledge or
availability of an appropriate home remedy, (3) faith in the effectiveness of folk treat:
ment as opposed to modern medical treatment, (4) the expenses of each alternative, and
(5) the availability of the different medical resources.
The first and second alternatives (self treatment and treatment by the curanderos)
involve the use of wild-collected medicinal plants. Self treatment is generally a domestic
routine in most households, and involves a basic set of plants. Almost all of these plants
are collected when needed, by both men and women, in areas near their homes. However,
in some cases medicinal plants are purchased at the market (El Mercado) at Patzcuaro.
Some of these wild-collected and market-purchased plants are also widely used elsewhere
in Mexico for the same purposes: common examples are Gnaphalium spp., Sida ew
bifolia, and Tagetes spp. (Table 4). The majority of curanderos are men, and they almost
always collect their own medicinal plants. They frequently store their plants in a dried
form in order to have them on hand when needed,
ORNAMENTAL PLANTS
Gathering of ornamental, or decorative plants is a common activity. During
religious celebrations, groups of people collect branches and flowers of several speci® Ms
adorn churches and other public places. It is also commonplace among the Prurhepecl
to decorate their homes with flowers which are almost always wild-gathered. Som :
€ most important wild ornamental plants are orchids, such as Laelia spp. and Hage
clypeata (Table 4),
OTHER USES
The gathering of wild plants to make soap and a variety of household utensils (Table
4) has been declining in recent years. Nowadays most of the people eee ,
manufactured soaps and household utensils such as brooms. Nevertheless, aes on
recognize that using local plants is cheaper and usually more effective. On the . vr
and, gathering certain shrubs to make work implements, such as fish traps OT cattle-
ing poles, is still a common practice. jon, ter
Although most of the plants gathered are destined for family consumption, ad
are some species which are collected in substantial quantity and cles yer a os
markets. In some cases the P’urhepecha themselves sell these plants in me ser
away as Guadalajara and Mexico City. For the most part these are several fruits, ae as
Crataegus pubescens, Prunus serotina, and Rubus adenotrichos and certain pe
Satureja laevigata and to a lesser extent Agastache mexicana. The mushrooms o nap
in these distant markets are Amanita caesarea, Hypomyces lactifluorum, a
and Ustilago maydis, |
WASPS
a
ney fro
ene honey gathered from certain wasps is appreciated even more ye es the loc
estic bees. Wasp honey is eaten daily, and especially esteemed _
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 37
TABLE 4.-Common non-edible gathered plants. A = maize and wheat fields and fallow
fields, B= bushlands of Baccharis spp. (derived from pine/oak forests), F = fir forests
G = grasslands with xerophy tic plants such as Acacia spp., and Opuntia spp., H = hydro-
phytes, O = oak forests, pine forests.
Kind of Use Species Habitat
Medicines
Febrifugues Artemisia mexicana B
Bidens pilosa B,G
Chenopodium murale A
Antidiarrheatics Cestrum nitidum P,O
Lepechinia caulescens P,B
Sida rhombifolia B,G
Antiespasmodics Tagetes lucida B,G
Cough drops Argemone ochroleuca A
Cosmos bipinnatus B
Gnaphalium burgovit B,G
Analgesics Montanoa grandiflora B
Alleviate liver sickness Berberis moranensis G
Berula erecta H
Allevi : .
eviate kidney sickness Equisetum hymale H
Eryngium carlinae J
Omaments
to ad
orn homes Begonia gracilis B, :
Bidens aequisquama G, G
Rumfordia floribunda B,
to de
Corate altars & churches Abies religiosa G ;
Castilleja tenutfolia : O
Habenaria clypeata O
Laelia grandiflora
Household Utensils
SOaps B
Michrosechium ruderale - B
Phytolacca icosandra ;
brooms B
Baccharis conferta G.B
Heimia salictfolia :
to wish dij G
ishes Erhetya mexicana B
Salvia mexicana
Work Im 1
Piements
fish traps B
38 CABALLERO & MAPES Vol. 5, No, 1
fiestas (religious celebrations such as those dedicated to certain saints and weddings),
We have identified two species of wasps which provide the P’urhepecha with honey:
Polybia occidentalis subsep. nigratella Brysson, and P. parvulina Richards. In addition,
the larvae of another wasp, Vespula pensylvanica Saussure, are gathered as a delicacy.
This wasp makes subterrainean nests, locally called talpanales, in the pine forest. Groups
of people go to dig up the nests. This activity is a social event, similar to the collecting
of talayote (Gonolobus) fruit. The larvae are taken home and toasted or cooked with
chile colorado (red chile sauce).
GATHERING IN SPACE AND TIME
The P’urhepecha of the Lake Patzcuaro Basin collect products from the natural
environment as much as from agricultural lands. The milpas (cultivated fields) and
fallow fields provide the people with some of their most important food plants such a
quelites (greens) as well as medicinal plants. These are mostly collected in maize fields
but sometimes also may be taken from wheat fields. Shrub lands with Baccharis spp. and
grasslands provide important fruits, e.g., Cralaegus pubescens, Gonolobus numulari,
Opuntia spp., Prunus serotina and Rubus adenotrichos. Oak and coniferous forests pr0-
vide mushrooms, teas, and firewood. All of these plant communities provide medicinal
plants, but on a comparative basis, the fallow fields and anthropogenic vegetation are the
major sources of medicinal plants (Figure 2)
3200
2600,
2 4004
2100-4
2040. sence
: x:
Fe 1a P [se] 6A Al
MOUNTAINS |vaLLeys HILL SIDES SHORELINE a8
FIG. 2.Profile e Lake Pat
showing origins of wild-gathered plants and products in ee
F = fir forest, P/O = pine, oak and mixed forests, A = ma? = grass
= aquatic
munities. ] its, = sweets and c
ae Mushrooms, 7 =
Implements,
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 39
The various wild-gathered plant products are available seasonally, and this is espec-
ially important in the case of the food plants. Almost all of the wild edible plants are
gathered during the rainy season. There is an enormous variety and quantity of wild
edible plants products available from July through September. The P’urhepecha say
that during the rainy season there is such abundance of wild plant-derived food that
it cannot all be used: ‘‘es tanta la comida que hay que se desperdicia.” In contrast,
during the dry season, from November through May and especially in January and Febru-
ary, the quantity of available wild food products is much less. Nevertheless, there are
important dry season wild harvests, e.g., certain important teas such as Saturcja laevigata,
and edible fruits of Casimiroa edulis, Crataegus pubescens, and Rubus adenotrichos. The
latter is available from the end of the dry season through the beginning of the rainy
season (Figure 3). With the exception of these teas, wild-gathered edible plants are not
stored.
On the other hand, medicinal plants and firewood are collected the year round. Some
medicinal plants are stored dried for use when needed and plants for household and work
implements are likewise often stored.
Various ornamental plants are available throughout the year. According to the date
of the celebrations, there are specific flowers for each fiesta. For example, the beautiful
orchid Laclia autummalis is the flower for the “dia de muertos” (Day of the Dead) in
November, while Laelia grandiflora is one of the flowers for the “fiesta de Corpus”
(Feast of Christ) in June.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GATHERING
Wilken (1969) pointed out that animal and plant gathering in the highlands of
Mexico have commonly associated with poverty. Some anthropological studies of =
ant only
Purhepecha reaffirm this concept. Beals (1946) says that gathering is import
AGRICULTURE
OP SPR KOR
TREE CULTURE 2 PEO SOP
‘edetetrom Ka
SATHERING
FISHING
AQuaTic
HUNTING
nov oICc
7 oct
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN vUL AUG SE
oductive activities
fferent pr opor-
FIG. 3 ie eit
~*~ Availabili ' the di
thr lity of food products according to Jy pr
Ughout the year, ee of the bars is diagramatic and not necessar YP
Uonal t
0 :
the amount of the production obtained.
40 CABALLERO & MAPES Vol. 5, No.1
in times of hunger or an an occassional practice to bring variety into the diet. Brand
(1951) describes that use of more than 30 plant species for food, dying, household
utensils and other different purposes. However, he states that these plants do not play an
important role in the life of the majority of the people of the Municipio of Quiroga in
the Patzcuaro Basin. Foster (1948) points out that at the time of his study gathering was
not a significant economic activity at Tzintzuntzan due to the state progress reached by
people.
Certainly in the region of Lake Patzcuaro the gathering of food plants and animals
has a low prestige among the non-Indian population. Nevertheless, a remarkable persis-
tence of this practice is observed among the P’urhepecha. There are several levels of
significance of this practice to the life of the P’urhepecha. Of course, gathering provides
fruit for emergency and during times of need or economic stress, wild plants have been
a generalized source of food. Not only supplimentary foods have been obtained but also
some substitutes for ordinary staples. The older men and women remember when they
ate tortillas of maize mixed with acorns during the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917.
Today people say that they gather wild plants when there is nothing else to eat. How-
ever, in another sense, some people say that they gather plants or honey to give as gifts
to friends at occassions of social events. As it is currently practiced, gathering affords a
meaningful input to the agricultural subsistence. In addition to firewood and medicines,
gathering provides dietary diversity.
Through the year, the primary dietary souces are maize in its multiple forms, beans
and “chile”. Secondarily, wheat is part of the basic diet. It is consumed as bread am
sometimes mixed with maize and made into “tortillas.” These constitute the basic sours
of protein and energy. Protein is also obtained from fish from the lake and, to ein!
extent, by meat from chickens or pigs. At certain times of the year other cultivated
plants, mainly ‘squash’ and some fruits, provide additional food, vitamins and minerals
In the lakeshore towns some vegetables are grown. Most of these, as well as most of the
planted tree fruit crops, go to the market for sale. Thus, guelites and gathered fru!
the major source of vitamins and minerals essential for nutrition among the Puree
Gathering provides foods mainly during the rainy season, from May through Octo”
(Figure 2). When these wild-harvested foods are combined with t fi
balanced nutrition may be achieved. The importance of the gathered pl -
in their intrinsic nutritional value, but also in their role in varying or reli
tony of the everyday staples. Wild edible plants are mixed and coo
beans and chile and sometimes are also combined with meat. As th
‘ e i :
of quelites, fruits, and mushrooms appear throughout the seasons, different er
prepared. Indeed, P’urhepecha cuisine is wonderfully attuned to the vi of the
ason, 0
different wild resources through the year. Thus during the dry and hot seaso Thes
most common dishes is tamales of maize with “blackberry’ (Rubus adenotrichos)- °
tamales are much appreciated because they are made with fresh ingredients. Of ae
hand, during winter, “atole” (gruel) with the chile and leaves of Satureja lacviga’® ia
monly consumed. It has a good taste and warms the body. During the bye peal
rainy season some of the common dishes are quelites or mushrooms cooked © ae
or fish, as well as atole of unripe maize (green corn) or mushrooms cooked with
fish, and atole of unripe maize flavored with Tagetes micrantha. ; diversified
The diversification of subsistence strategies is the underlying fact - any of!
nutrition. Toledo et. al. (1980) pointed out that in Patzcuaro as rs
of the ins acacia This results in the utilization of more than - anality °
‘gration and combination of different practices, the multidimensio" emt: Oe
activities, and the diversification of the products obtained from each — entift
orateey may operate as much on the level of the family as at the level © maxi
_ SG This pattern is carried out through time and space. On the spat : a goal aft
utilization is sought of all of the available ecosystems. In terms of time, ue
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 41
obtain a maximum number of necessary products which each ecosystem offers through-
out the year.
This diversified gathering strategy has formed the basis of the P’urhepecha society
development since antiquity, as has been documented in the studies of Pollard (1982),
Caballero (1982) and Gorenstein & Pollard (1983) on the protohistoric P’urhepecha
(Tarascan) cultural system. Upon these basis gathering, as a forming part of a complex
subsistence strategy, could be regarded as a practice that possesses a very long tradition.
Palynological or archeaological evidences for P’urhepecha plant gathering are lacking,
amd there are no clear references to plant gathering in historical documents such as the
Relacion de Michoacan (1541) or the Relaciones Geograficas de la Diocesis de Michoacan
(1579-1580). However, reports of use, consumption or economic exchange of non-culti-
vated plants does occur in these sources. Moreover, on the basis of the Relacion de
Michoacan, Gorenstein and Pollard (1983) state that non-cultivated fruits such as capulin
(Prunus serotina), tejocote (Crataegus pubescens), tunas (Opuntia spp.) and zapote blanco
(Casimiroa edulis) formed part of the diet of the ancient P’urhepecha.
Quelites, or xakua, have been to the P’urhepecha as the cultivated vegetables have
been to the European culture. Although there are no specific references on their early
use in the Lake Patzcuaro region, clear reports are provided for other areas. For example,
in the Relaciones de Tuxpa and Jiquilpan (Relaciones geograficas de la Diocesis de
Michoacan, 1579-1580) reports on consumption of quelites:
“Las comidas de que antiguamente usaban dicen que eran de maiz y frijoles
y benados y chile y muchos generos de yerbas cocidas.”
“...y la comida de ellos era tortillas, tamales, frijoles y otras yerbas de la tierra
que se dicen quiletes,’’4
Gorenstein and Pollard (1983) identified xakua of the P’urhepecha region as pushed
Podium spp. However, on the basis of our ethnobotanical field works it may be a
that xakua, or quelites, involves at least eight different species. There are many re
11959) and Fray Francisco Ximenez (1888). In the same way, oral tradition among the
eter Purhepecha suggests the past importance of plants for food and ores eae
Indeed, the most significant features about gathering amonth the P’urhepec =e
‘uquity and persistence. In general, this practice is declining in the erento yer
we * cultural and socioeconomic changes. Habits for collecting certam aa
= of consumption are disappearing. For example, certain meals such pe cevwhbh
— mushrooms or the “atole” with “aguamiel’’ (fresh unfermented ei ao se isifl a
dail fommon in the past are no longer prepared. Nevertheless, plant syne aii
p Y activity among the less acculturated P’urhepecha. Many P urhepecha §
: : F ents and in the
tivated i in the historical docum
plants resources mentioned fruits and mushrooms for
its
: sei overty
Sistenc 969), in the case of the P’urhepecha it is more closely pees of view of indus-
trial = y fa strong cultural tradition than to poverty. Frome f wild plants for
food tad the P’urhepecha live in conditions of poverty. The use ae by European
*thnoce ance basic needs has often been taken as clear evidence of Pies must be criti-
cally enter and modem agroindustrial society. These proc culture of
. 1 . ‘‘ 3 ns
Ntiquit in the light of integral man-nature relatlo
42 CABALLERO & MAPES Vol. 5, No. 1
biological factors involved in this process could form the basis for more rational use of
natural resources by the present and future societies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank our P’urhepecha friends of the Lake Patzcuaro region for their hospitality,
patient and generous assistance. This study was done as a part of the “Etnobiologa
P’urhepecha del Lago de Patzcuaro”’ research project. We thank, too, the Direccion
General de Culturas Populares, Subsecretaria de Cultura y Recreacion, Secretaria de
Educacion Publica, of Mexico for financial support. The encouragement of anthropolo-
gist Leonel Duran was invaluable. We thank Drs. Robert Bye and Richard Felger for
reading, commenting on and correcting the English version. We also thank Dr. Robert L.
Jeanne from the Department of Entomology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison
and Dr. O. W. Richards from London, England, for the identification of the wasp speci-
mens collected for this study.
LITERATURE CITED
BARRERA, N. B. 1985. La Cuenca del
Lago de Patzcuaro: Un analisis geo-
sistemico. Manuscrito.
BEALS, R. 1946. Cheran: A Sierra Tara-
scan Village. Smithsonian Institu-
tion. Inst. Soc. Anthrop., publ. 2.
Washington, D.C.
BRAND, D. 1951. Quiroga: A Mexican
Municipio. Smithsonian Institution.
Inst. Soc. Anthrop., publ. 11. Wash-
ington, D.C.
BYE, R.A: 1976, Ethnoecology of the
Tarahumara of Chihuahua, Mexico.
Unpubl. Ph.D. dissert. (Botany),
Harvard Univ.
——————.- 1981. Quelites -Ethno-
ecology of Edible Greens- Past, Pre-
sent and Future. J. Ethnobiol. 1(1):
109-123,
CABALLERO, J. 1982. Notas sobre el
uso de los recursos naturales entre
los antiguos Purepecha. Biotica 7(1):
31-42
——— N. BARRERA, A. LOT,
and C. MAPES. 1981. Excursion a
la Cuenca de Patzcuaro. In: Guias
Botanicas de Excursiones en Mexico.
Sociedad Botanica de Mexico y Uni-
versidad Michoacana de San Nicolas
de Hidalgo, Morelia: 78-119,
CLAY, J. Y. 1981 Medical choice in a
Mexican village. Rutgers Univ. Press.
New Jersey,
Comision de Estudios de Territorio Na-
clonal. 1976. Carta topografica 1:
50,000, E14A21, E14A22, £14A31
and E14A32. Secretaria de Progre
macion y Presupuesto. Mexico.
FELGER, R. S. M. B. MOSER.
1976. Seri Indian food plants:
desert subsistence without agricul-
ture. Ecol. Food and Nutrition. 5:
18-27.
FO G. M. 1948. Empire's Child-
ren: The People of Tzintzuntzan.
Smithsonian Institution, Inst. Soc.
62S
GARGIA;: £... 3975; Modificaciones #
sistema de clasificacion Climatics™
Képpen. _ Instituto de wie
Universidad Nacional Autonoma
las de Hidalgo, Program
. 7 c
gacion y Estudio ; de
P’urhepecha, y Direccion ee
‘oaci ientifica y
Investigacion Cientl vorelia, Mex
a de Invest
]
Academica, S.E.P. CAB
MAPES, C., G. GUZMAN, wae
ALLERO. 1981. iat a
Purepecha: el conociniient s a
los hongos en la Cuenca Eo
Patzcuaro. Cuadernos de er
cia, n _ Direccion ee ‘e
Culturas Populares, Sem coca
Educacion Publica Ge Mexic?
Mexicana de Micologia,
ity.
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 43
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
MESSER, E. 1978. Zapotec plant know-
ledge: classification, uses and com-
munication about plants in Mitla,
Oaxaca, Mexico. Memoirs Museum
of Anthropology, Univ. Michigan,
10, Part 2. Ann Arbor.
PENNINGTON, C. 1961. The Tara-
humar of Mexico. Univ. Utah Press,
Salt Lake City.
——__.. 1969. The Tepehuan of
Chihuahua. Univ. Utah Press, Salt
p.
POLLARD, H. P. 1982. Ecological
variation and economic exchange
in the Tarascan State. Amer. Eth-
nol, 9(2):250-268.
Relaciones Geograficas (1579-1580). Re-
laciones Geograficas de la Diocesis de
Michoacan. Jose Corona Nunez, ed.
Coleccion Siglo XVI. Guadalajara.
Relacion de las Ceremonias y Ritos y
Poblacion y Gobierno de Michoacan
pert #80). 1977. Basal Editores.
Morelia (Edicion Facsimilar).
TOLEDO, V. M., J. CABALLERO, C.
MAPES, N. BARRERA, A. ARGUE-
TA and M. A. NUNEZ. 1980. Los
Purepechas de la Cuenca del Lago
de Patzcuaro: una aproximacion eco-
logica. America Indigena 40(1):17-
55.
VIESCGA, C., P. LAMY, R. IBARRA and
J. L. DIAZ. 1976. Terminos medi-
cos asociados con plantas mexicanas.
In: J. L. Diaz (ed.). Uso de las
plantas medicinales de Mexico. Mono-
grafias Cientificas II. Instituto Mexi-
cano para el Estudio de las Plantas
Medicinales, A.C.:319-329.
WILKEN, G. 1969. The ecology of
gathering in a Mexican farming
region. Econ. Botany 24(3):286-
295
XIMENEZ, F. R. 1888. Cuatro libros
de la naturaleza y virtudes medi-
la Nueva Espana. Gobierno del
Estado de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico.
NOTES
l
An earli ‘ ;
at eon version of this paper was presented by J. Caballero, C. Mapes and N. Barrera
td Conference of Ethnobiology in Tucson, Arizona in March 1981. The present
Paper is a revi ee
evised and modified version of that presentation.
cr
2
The p’ :
- urhepe cha names used in this paper are written phonetically according to the
ot Gomez, Perez and Rojas (1984)
st appears
to be a common fact in all the Mesoamerican cultural area.
“Foods
th
chil
«
im ;
name 2 aig foods were tortillas, tamales, beans and other herbs of the |
” (Relacion de Jiquilpan).
and oer mey were using, they say that they we
y kinds of pot herbs.” (Relacion de Tuxpa).
re maize and beans and deer and
and that they
In the rela+:
el pes ; :
“Hon of Jiquilpan the word quelites was erroniously written as quiletes.
APPEND
As i. }—Vascular Plants utilized by the P’urhepecha in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin.
” Spanish 45 ~ amily, § = life form, 4 = plant part utilized, 5 = P’urhepecha name,
Abies reli .
i
8t0sa H.B.K.; 2 - Pinaceae 3 - tree; 4 - leaves;
648, 1009, 1109.
ame, 7 = collection number. (J. Caballero & C. Mapes).
5 - kumcbkari; 6 - oyamel; 7-
44 CABALLERO & MAPES Vol. 5, No. |
APPENDIX 1. (continued) — Vascular Plants utilized by the P’urhepecha in the Lake
Patzcuaro Basin. 1 = species, 2 = family, 3 = life form, 4 = plant part utilized, 5 = P’ur-
hepecha name, 6 = Spanish name, 7 = collection number. (J. Caballero & C. Mapes).
Agastache mexicana (Kunth.) Lint et Epling; 2 - Labiatae; 3 - shrub; 4 - leaves and
owers; 5 - tsmtsun tseraku; 6 - toronjil morado, toronjil blanco; 7 - 1007, 1069,
1249.
Agave inaequidens Koch.; 2 - Agavaceae; 4 - floral peduncle; 5 - akamba; 6 - maguey;
7- 1034.
Alnus acuminata subesp glabrata (Fernald) Furlow; 2 - Betulaceae; 3 - tree; 4- stems
and branches; 5 - its ‘u pamu; 6 -aile; 7 - 309, 1245.
Alnus jorullensis H.B.K.; 2 - Betulaceae 3 - tree; 4 - stems and branches; 5 - tepamu;
6-aile 7-85, 135, 158, 348.
Amaranthus hybridus L.; 2 - Amaranthaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves and stems; 5 - kurintsi
xakua; 6 - quelite de cerdo; 7 - 674, 714, 785.
Amaranthus retroflexus 1..; 2- Amaranthaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves and stems; 5 - kuchiri
xakua; 6 - quelite de cochino; 7 - 714.
Argemone ochroleuca L.; 2-Papaveraceae; 3 - herb; 4 - flowers; 5 - xate; 6 - chicalote;
205.
Artemisia mexicana Willd.; 2 - Compositae; 3 - herb; 4 - the whole plant; 5 - tsaualr
gueni; 7-995.
Baccharts conferta H.B.K.: .; 2-Compositae 3 - shrub; 4 - branches; 5 - karatakua; 6 -
- jara; 7 - 146, 865, 947.
Begonia gracilis H.B.K.; 2 - Begoniaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - flowers; 5 - kaxurakua; 6 - sang
de doncella; 7 - 276, 307, 403.
55-
Berberis moranensis Hebenstr. et. Ludw.; 2 - Berberidaceae; 3 - shurb; 4 - stems
tiripu; 7-277, 837.
t;
Berula erecta Huds. Cav.; 2 - Umbelliferae; 3 - hidrophyte; 4 - the whole plan
xurburbe; 7 - 937.
5-
: $5
Bidens acquisguama (Fer.) Scherff.; 2 - Compositae; 3 - herb; 4 - inflorescence
xarbikamata, andan; 6 - aceitilla; 7 - 104, 489, 520, 776. ve
5;
Bidens ostruthoides ah Sch. Bip.; 2 - Compositae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves and a
te de lima; 7 -
+ nay: 6 - aceitilla
Bidens pilosa L.; 2 - ers 3 - herb; 4- the whole plant; 5 - ts umu; wou
ay es 9
. eo eee ortan Ss:
Brassica campestris L.; 2 - Cruciferae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves; 5 - mipajipikun ™
6 - mortanza, nabo; 7 - 35, 114, 325, 682, 787, 1113.
Casimiroa edulis Llave et lex; 2- Rutaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - fruit; 5 - uruata;
blanco; 7 - 421, g99.
6 - zapore
Castilleja tenuifolia Mart & Gal; 2 - Scrophulariaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - — ge
rangi; 6 - flor de San Miguel; 7 - 667, 778. icheri
Ceanothus coeruleus Lag.; 2-Rhamnaceae; 3 - shrub; 4 - branches; 5 eats:
6- membriguillo; 7 - 345, 454, 578, 824, 1001. g - hed
“estrum nitidum Mart & Gal; 2 - Solanaceae; 3 - shrub; 4 - leaves; 5 - =upiami
ondilla; 7 - 1063, 1098,
Chenopodium berlandieri Mogq.; 2 - Chenopodiaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves;
kura xakua; 7 - 979, 1117.
5 - japujuke
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 45
APPENDIX 1. (continued) — Vascular Plants utilized by the P’urhepecha in the Lake
Patzcuaro Basin. 1 = species, 2 = family, 3 = life form, 4 = plant part utilized, 5 = P’ur-
hepecha name, 6 = Spanish name, 7 = collection number. (J. Caballero & C. Mapes).
Chenopodium murale L.; 2 - Chenopodiaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves; 5 - xakua turipiti;
6- quelite; 7 - 1263.
Cosmos bipinnatus Cav.; 2 - Compositae; 3 - herb; 4 - flower; 5 - xarbikamata; 6 - gira-
sol; 7-67, 718, 827.
Crataegus pubescens (H.B.K.) Steud.; 2 - Rosaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - fruits; 5 - karax; 6 -
tejocote; 7 - 63, 148, 783, 839, 928.
Ehretya mexicana Watson; 2 - Borraginaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - leaves; 5 - tuminix; 6 - tumin;
7 - 840.
Fquisetum hymale L.; 2- Equisetaceae; 3 - hidrophyte; 4 - the whole plant; 5 - xur-
burbe; 6 - cola de caballo; 7 - 593.
Eryngium carlinae Delar.; 2- Umbelliferae 3 - herb; 4- the whole plant; 5 -kuanas;
6-hierba del sapo; 7 - 254, 371, 803, 1251.
Gnaphalium burgovii Gray 2 - Compositae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves; 6 - gordolobo; 7 -
711; C. Ma apes 43,
Gonolobus numularis Hemsl.; 2 - Asclepiadace; 3 - vine; 4 - fruits; 6 - talayote; 7 - 1024.
Habenaria clypeata Lindl.; 2- Orchidaceae 3 - herb; 4 - the whole plant; 5 - xanuata;
§-granizo; 7 - 503,
Hedeoma piperatum Benth.; 2 - Labiatae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves and flowers; 5 - paraxuin;
7-C. Mapes 43,
ge salicifolia (H.B.K.) Link.; 2 - Lythraceae; 8 - shrub; 4 - branches; 5 - its’u tarimu;
- 404,
Istomata procumbens (Cav.) J.L. Gentry 2- Solanaceae; 3 -herb; 4- fruit; 5 - potse-
ua; 7-413,
Laelia grandiflora Lindl.; 2 - Orchidaceae; 8 - epiphyte; 4 - the whole plant; 5 - tsik-
i its umakua; 6 - flor de Corpus; 7 - 1136.
“ebechinia caulescens (Ort.) Epling; 2 - Labiatae; 3 - herb; 4- leaves or roots; 5 - xen-
*enekua; 6 - sonajita; 7 - 502.
Micr
Sechium ruderale Naud.; 2 - Cucurbitaceae; 3 - vine; 4- roots; 5- apopin; 7 - C.
Mapes 39.
Mont
™anoa grandiflora sg 2 - Compositae; 3 - shrub; 4 - leaves; 5 - parakua; 6 - vara
lanca; 7. 618,
ru
‘microphylla: ae 2 - Moraceae; 8 - tree, 4- fruit; 6 - mora; 7 - C. Mapes 502
~ Sucher specimen in alcohol).
nti
Opun Eerie Weber in Diguet; 2 - Cactaceae; 4 - fruits; 6 -joconol; 7 - 1141.
“a tomentosa Salm-Dyck; 2 - Cactaceae; 4 - fruits; 5 - pare charapiti; 6 - tuna
"ja; 7- 1139,
*olus hetero
ee Willd.;
6- -jicamita: oy 2 - Leguminosae; 38 - vine;
4 - roots; 5- kuxturuxkua;
Phytola
2,6 142,
392, a a Phytolaccaceae; 3 - shrub; 4 - fruits; 5 - konguera; 7 -
tal See
“tha aes i Solanaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - fruits; 5 - 5 - chapindikua; 6
46 CABALLERO & MAPES Vol. 5, No.1
APPENDIX 1. (continued) — Vascular Plants utilized by the P’urhepecha in the Lake
Patzcuaro Basin. 1 = species, 2 = family, 3 = life form, 4 = plant part utilized, 5 = P'w.
hepecha name, 6 = Spanish name, 7 = collection number. (J. Caballero & C. Mapes).
Physalis pubescens L.; 2 - Solanaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - fruits; 5 - toma; 6 - miltomate; 7-
1248.
Pinus lawsoni Roezl.; 2 - Pinaceae; 3 - tree; 4- branches; 5 - pukuri aparikua; 6 -pino
ortiguillo; 7 - 130,417,991, 1181.
Pinus leiophylla Sch. et Cham.; 2 - Pinaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - branches; 5 - pukuri urus;
6 - pino chino; 7 - 29, 79, 155, 208, 365, 804, 954.
Pinus michoacana var. cornuta Martinez, 2 - Pinaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - branches; 5 - pukuni
tepajkua; 6 - pino lacio; 7 - 78, 211, 366, 395.
Pinus montezumae lam.; 2 - Pinnaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - branches; 5 - pukuri tepajkua;6-
pino lacio; 7 - 137, 182, 611, 929.
Pinus pseudostrobus Lindl.; 2 - Pinaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - branches; 5 - pukuri kansimbo;
6 - pino lacio; 7 - 159, 212, 367, 616, 927.
Pinus teocote Schl. et Cham.; 2 - Pinac 3 - tree; 4- branches; 5 5 - pukuri aparikus;
6 - pino ortiguillo; 7 - 18, 3 ie se 384, 546, 638, 954.
‘.
Prunus serotina subesp. capuli (Cav.) Mc ei 2 - Rosaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - fruits;
xengua; 6 - capulin; 7 - 125, 133, 157
0
Quercus castanea Nee; 2 - Fagaceae; 3 - tree; 4- branches; 5 - urikua urapiti; 6 - iss
blanco; 7 - 64, 115, 269, 353, 481, 505, 700, 805, 1169. -
Quercus crassipes H. et B.; 2 - Fagaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - branches; 5 - urikua tsiraps
encino chilillo; 7 - 74, 354, 561, 658, 911. ;
cin
Quercus laeta Liebm.; 2 - Fagaceae; 3- tree; 4- branches; 5 - urikua urapiti; ?
blanco; 7 - 171, 270, 356, 483, 627. dee
Quercus obtusata H. et B.; 2- Fagaceae; 3 - tree; 4 - branches and wood; 5-#
tukus; 6 - encino tukus; 7 - 46, 152, 218, 390, 492, 801, 1175.
Quercus rugosa Nee; 2 - Fagaceae; 3 - tree; 4- branches; 5 - urikua turipitt;
prieto; 7 - 73, 163, 271, 355, 582, 656, 825, 958. biti
Reseda luteola L.; 2 - Resedaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - aerial parts; 5 - kuaranikua ts p4
7-881,
6 - encino
6 - zat
Rubus adenotrichos Cham et Schl.; 2 - Rosaceae; 3 - vine; 4 - fruits; 5 - situni;
zamora; 7 - 134, 774, de
. . 6 - lengua
Rumex crispus L.; 2 - Polygonaceae; 3 - shrub; 4 - leaves; 5 - pupurajkura; 6
vaca; 7-812, 1111, 1119. planikwa
Rumex >; Nita Murr.; 2 - Polygonaceae; 3 - shrub; 4 - leaves; 5 -*m@
- tsi
Rumfordia a . DG.;.2. Compositae; 3 - shrub; 4 - inflorescences; 5 - ts
melonixh; 7 - 651, 1008, 1131. wa 7-20)
Salvia mexicana L.; 2-Labiatae; $-herb; 4- leaves; 5 - charajkukua; 6 - ase
432, 539, 663, 710, 838, 1075. ches; 9°
Satureja laevigata Standl.; 2 - Labiatae; 3 - shrub; 4 - leaves, flowers and bran
nurbiteni; 6 - te nurite, tede monte; 7 - 585, 828, 859. 37, 66;
5
Sida pg ag eh ae Malvaceae; 3 - shrub; 4 - leaves; 5 - itskipin; 7. 2Aals
26, 87
SK
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 47
APPENDIX 1. (continued) — Vascular Plants utilized by the P’urhepecha in the Lake
Patzcuaro Basin. 1 = species, 2 = family, 3 = life form, 4 = plant part utilized, 5 = P’ur-
hepecha name, 6 = Spanish name, 7 = collection number. (J. Caballero & C. Mapes).
Solanum cardiophyllum Lindl.; 2 - Solanaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - tubers; 5 - papax; 6 - papa
cimarrona; 7 - 1019.
Solanum mocinianum Dun.; 2 - Solanaceae; 3 - herb; 4 - fruits; 5 - pachindikua; 6 -
bebere gato; 7 - C. Mapes 23.
Sycios microphylla H.B.K.; 2 - Cucurbitaceae; 3 - vine; 4 - leaves; 5 - akarbeni; 6 - cha-
yotillo; 7-C. Mapes 1.
Tagetes lucida Cav.; 2- Compositae; 3 - herb; 4 - aerial parts; 5 - kurujkumin, 6 - Santa
Maria; 7 - 80, 378, 499, 754, 902, 1029, 1205.
Tagetes micrantha Cav.; 2 - Compositae; 3 - herb; 4 - leaves; 5 - putsuti; 6 - anis; 7 -
770, 790
APPENDIX 2.Fungi used for food by the P’urhepecha in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin.
= species, 2 = P’urhepecha name, 3 = Spanish name, 4 = collection number. (C.
Mapes, deposited in the Herbarium of the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas of the
Instituto Politecnico Nacional, ENCB).
Ascomycetes
Hypocreales p
Hypomyces lactiflorum (SCW. ex Fr.) Tul; 2 - kuxtereko; 3 - trompa
co.
puerco
Pezizales
Helvella crispa Scop. ex Fr.; 2 - sirat angants urapiti; 3 - oreja de raton blanca;
4 - 26, 29
Basidiomycetes
Ustilaginales
Ustilago may dis (DC.) Corda; 2-t’ukuru; 3 - viejito; 4 - 97.
flymenomycetes
Aphyllophorales
Clavariaceae
Ramaria flava (Fr.) Quel.; 2 - k’uin ants ir
Agaticales 4-27, 28.
Tricholomataceae
Siilereit tabescens (Scop. ex Fr.) Sing; 2 - paxakua;
- 95,
terekua; 3 - patita de pajaro;
3 - montoncito;
Lacaria laccata (Scop. ex Fr.) Berk & Br.; 3 - sikitereko; 4-96.
ot ing.; . 3 - montoncito;
Amanitacese phyllum decastes (Fr.) Sing.; 2 - parakua; 3-m
4-3.
illo;
Amanita caesarea (Scop. ex Fr.) Grev.; 2 - tiripiti terekua; 3 - hongo amar
. 4-
Agaticaceae 14, rs 24, 78.
; : eae Lit, t21-
os campestris L. ex Fr.; 2 - tepajkua terekua; 3 - llaneros
Boletus edulis Bull. ex Fr.; 2-semitu; 3 - semitas; 4 - 46.
Xeroco . . deron; 4 - 32.
Castetomycete, mus spadiceus (Fr.) Quel.; 3 - hongo de pa
Lycoperdales
Calvatia cyathiformis (Bosc.) Morgan; 2 - patarata; 4-118.
48 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 5, No. |
Book Review
The Analysis of Prehistoric Diets. Edited by Robert I. Gilbert, Jr. and James H. Mielke.
456 pp., illus. Academic Press, Orlando. 1985. $65.00.
The Analysis of Prehistoric Diets is another volume in the Studies of Archaeology
series published by Academic Press. It is designed to summarize the various techniques
which the archaeologist can use to reconstruct prehistoric food collection, processing,
consumption and the health factors which may be linked with dietary conditions. It
provides a useful review of the current “‘state of the art” in this field. The extensive
bibliographies included at the end of each chapter make an excellent starting point for
those interested in further research.
There is a basic division of the volume between the artifactual data and the human
skeletal data. The preservation of faunal and floral remains is handled by Victor Car-
bone and Bennie C. Keel and includes a discussion on the various factors which lead to
differential decay rates. Animal bone and botanical remains are also treated separately
by Paul W. Parmalee and C. Earle Smith, Jr. respectively. Care is given to include detailed
information on recovery, processing, analysis and interpretation of these remains. Gary
- Fry’s section covers coprolite analysis and how this relates to dietary interpretation.
Also included is an extensive review of parasite analysis and the biases which must be
considered in interpreting this data.
The section on human skeletal material begins with a discussion by William Stim of
growth and development and the physiological factors which strongly influence the adult
human form. Although this may not be directly applicable to the archaeological record,
an understanding of the complexity and adaptability of the human skeleton "
response to the environment is an asset. Separate chapters follow on skeletal pathologies
(Harris lines and porotic hyperostosis) by Debra L. Martin et al., on developmental abnor
malities in dentition (enamel hypoplasias and Wilson bands) by Jerome C. Rose et al., and
on the incidence of dental caries by Mary Lucas Powell. A review of trace elements @
human skeletal material by Robert I, Gilbert does more to convey the complexity of the
ses than provide a simplified summary. This is frustrating but probably a more —
‘ened than normally presented in a volume of this nature. The osteological section ¢
she a fairly complete review by Jane Buikstra and James Mielke of the use of a skele
series in the reconstruction of a demographic profile and how this can reflect the si
health of a population. Basic techniques such as sex and age determination are eel
well as the statistical analyses of mortality patterning. ters
Models appropriate for use in dietary reconstruction are included in various weet
throughout the volume. Bonnie W. Styles presents a chapter on the use of food et ry
availability for predicting diets within catchment areas and for intersite peso
Linear Programming models are discussed in a chapter by Arthur S. Keene. whee
ae oy sah directly to the archaeological setting, they can provi terms of the
ogist with important guideli i iti roblems in .
guidelines for understanding nutritional p han scussion
costs and benefits to prehistoric populations. This volume concludes
of ethnographic inference and analogy by Mark P. Leone and Ann M. Palkovich. f current
The Analysis of Prehistoric Diets, while providing a comprehensive survey 0 coal
methodology in data collection and interpretation,
tts recent publication date some areas are already in need of amendment. ©
its $65.00 price tag places it beyond the reach of most students, for whom eo
most useful, and restricts its acquisition largely to libraries.
ison Galloway
ae Identification Laborato
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Summer 1985 BOOK REVIEW 49
Book Review
Sustaining Tomorrow—A Strategy for World Conservation and Development. Francis R.
Thibodeau and Hermann H. Field (Ed.). University Press of New England (Published
for Tufts University), Hanover, N.H. & London (1984). Pp. xii + 196. $22.50
(cloth), $12.50 (paper).
There is today a plethora of publications on conservation and allied topics. Few
there are that merit serious consideration, and many are doing bona fide conservation
efforts a disservice. Here is a book, written by 19 specialists, that will, if widely dis-
tributed and read, most certainly enhance the numerous serious efforts underway towards
conservation of nature’s bounty.
The foreword by Harold Coolidge, one of the stars of serious conservation activities,
“a Honourary President, IUCN, is a masterpiece. The introduction, Section 1, comprises
two chapters: “The World Conservation Strategy” by L.M. Talbot and An Introduction
to World Conservation” by R. Dasmann.
eee 12 intensely pertinent contributions: Section II, Conservation Objec-
aay aie Processes and Life Support Systems (G.A. Betrand). 2) Preservation
(C. Bu Bey Pin (F. Wayne King); 3) Sustainable Use of Species and Ecosystems
teres (K 4 ey for aione Action: III, 1) National and Regional Conservation
Environmental Pl oller); 2) Environmental and Planning and Rational Use (P. Jacobs); 3)
baie. Snning a0 Rational Use; 4) Building Support for Environmental (W.
for Intemational ee Rural Development (D. Western). IV. Priorities
Kiss and Malcol ‘ ion: 1) Environmental Policy and Law (W. Burhenne, Alexan re
Tropical . orster, 2) Management of the Global Commons (A. Hollick), 3)
Strategies for os and Genetic Resource areas (T. Lovejoy and A.R. Brash), 4) Regional
Mayer). There Psi the Oceans (S. Holt), and Food, Nutrition and Population J.
able “ats fifth illuminating contribution by J.C. Faby entitled Toward Sustain-
of 170 items or ieee on abbreviations and contributors as well as a bibliography
Since Bikey = aici gciounsien ey
imperative that oe must be considered an integral part of economic botany, it is
students and inve 7m new and searching contribution be brought to the attention of
stigators in this interdisciplinary field of the plant sciences.
Richard Evans Schultes
Botanical Museum
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tree Rec
t
Mason Sa and their Mycorrhizas. D. Atkinson, K.K.S. Bhat, M.P. Coutts, P.A.
(Kleuver 4 DJ. Read (Eds.). Martinus Nijhoff/Dr. W. Junk, Publishers, The Hague
SDA. 165 cademic Publishers Group, Dordrecht) Holland (1983). Pp. ix * 525, fig.
(approximately $66.00).
Consict;
of _ lay of many contributions presented at a meeting of the International Union
. “ir Alga Organizations in 1982, a meeting dedicated to tree root systems a
“'S concerned i 7
° “s z5%
e xx
SPy
ad
; ao2
ie) 33
#9
Fig 9
. Bi .
pet al. ata bio} of the Dolores archaeological mandibles with the line from cba
ve irl ae Superimposed. Specimens of Nuttall's cottontail are suppose
© line while those of desert cottontails should fall below.
54 NEUSIUS & FLINT Vol. 5, No, 1
separating desert and Nuttall’s or eastern cottontail provided by Findley et al. (1975:
Fig. 35) was then placed on the scattergram. Mandibles falling above the line were identi
fied as Nuttall’s cottontail while those falling below the line were identified as desert
cottontail.
A second scattergram was constructed for the relationship between mandibular
depth and the shorter measure of alveolar length (P3-Mj). In this scattergram the species
assignments made on the basis of the first scattergram were used to assess the probable
species of the mandibles for which distance B was lacking. In those cases in which it
remained unclear, the crenulation of the enamel border was used as the arbiter of prob-
able species. However, we considered these identifications to be unreliable compared to
those made obvious by the bivariate plot.
We then used the species determinations to test the expectation of localized pro-
curement of cottontails among the Dolores Anasazi by examining distribution of species
across space and through time at Dolores archaeological sites. This has been reported in
Flint and Neusius (in press).
However, we remained dissatisfied with the method of species determination used.
The bivariate plots established that both species were present in the Dolores area and
utilized by the Anasazi. They did not indicate how reliable the species identifications
were. In instances in which our subjective evaluation of crenulation of the enamel border
was the primary indicator, we considered the identifications unreliable, but more subtle
Variation in accuracy was not obvious. Because correct identification was important t
the analysis of the temporal and spatial distributions of these species, we wanted to asstss
our accuracy more thoroughly.
SPECIES DETERMINATIONS USING DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS
Thus, we made a second attempt to determine species using mandibular measure
ments. We decided to use discriminant analysis on a group of modem cottontails whose
species were known and then employ the discriminant function to classify out _—
toric unknowns, Discriminant analysis is an appropriate technique for such classification
(Klecka 1980:7-8), and provides probabilities for the group assignment of each case.
: ile
Service had been identified as Sylvilagus audubonii baileyi at the time of capture ps
sixteen had been identified as Sylvilagus nuttallii grangeri. We also had measurem
i i aS ith
simply assigned to Sylvilagus audubonii. This gave us forty-six known individuals W! "
han that 4P
wo discriminate function analyses were performed on these individual
program Provided by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Nie et al.
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
or
or
Scores on the second discriminant function were then used to assign species to the
283 adult Dolores mandibles originally classified using bivariate plots. Figure 3 is a
histogram displaying the distribution of cases with respect to this second discriminant
function, This procedure provided us with probabilities for group membership.
: SS S. audubonii
0S. nuttallii
157 ME UNKNOWN
FREQUENCY
es
uo
i
-4 -2 0 2 “ 6
CANONICAL DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION 1
FIG. 3
ad Distribution of known and unknown mandibles along the discriminant function.
haar to the left of 0 were assigned to Nuttall’s cottontail while those to the right
ceed to desert cottontail. Probabilities for these assignments vary according to
‘ discriminant scores.
DISCUSSION
The results of our work are important to zooarchaeologists. First, our analysis —
‘eed desert cottontails tend to have a deeper and longer mandible than Nuttall s
aay re as Suggested by Findley et al. (1975), but also indicates that classification
tie 4 on this relationship is less than ideal. If we consider a probability of ibe el
of 90 adequate for identification, 35.8% of the prehistoric mandibles
could no ‘ ns ;
be id t be identified. If a more stringent requirement of .95 is employed 45.7% cannot
* identified.
fy
uly
Fur ’ i
thermore, the probabilities for those mandibles assigned to Nuttall’s cottontail
tend A
of “Sole than those for mandibles assigned to desert cottontail. Over ween
his is true “ *s assigned to Nuttall’s cottontail have probabilities of less than a tending the boiling sap. Group participation was important because collecting and
oiling sap is labor intensive with several tasks to be performed at once. Nonetheless,
‘ace sap does not run every day in the season, men and boys were able to spend some
‘me hunting and fishing as well (Henry 1969:142).
METHODS
ae documentation of techniques. — References to sugar making ie
fea methods and utensils are either sketchy, inferential, or late descriptions un a
chief ig a when metal cauldrons were not available. The statement of a Kickap ‘
ey... often cited (e.g., Henshaw 1890; Nearing and Nearing 1970) as
nt favoring prehistoric sugaring. He said:
Can it be th
the Mast
hese, of heating the stones and throwing them into the sap
St nF ‘
one boiling as described by the Kickapoo chief is commonly inferred to Baye sie
le to wi h Prehistorically because pottery or wood containers are considered va
to state . . direct heat (e.g., Nearing and Nearing 1970). Other rancas wan tm
a coy
Wet clay o tect boiling over the fire was possible so long as pottery Was eatin
r bi : 93: ing and
Nearing 1970:205 en repels placed only over coals (H. Smith 1933:93; Nearing
oe! : the
Water cage frequently cited as a method employed by the Indians to reduce
: : d
Kinsey 1958 the sap to produce syrup (Havard 1896; H. Smith 1933; Fernald ac
Ntrated ). Freezing of the sap in shallow containers allows the ae sugar : e
forms on . settle to the bottom while a layer of ice, which can be easily remove"
From x
Pottery "ee and other references it seems that sap can be processed in epidione S
‘Armstrong — 1933; Nearing and Nearing 1970; Densmore 1974, 1979), birch a
#1892; Havard 1896) or wood (Keating 1825; Havard 1896) and that evap
64 HOLMAN & EGAN Vol. 5, No.1
tion is accomplished by stone boiling (Keating 1825; Havard 1896; Femald and Kinsey
1958), direct fire (H. Smith 1933) or freezing (J. Smith 1831; Havard 1896; Fernald and
Kinsey 1958). Additionally, a combination of vessel types and/or techniques may
Techniques and devices for collecting sap are not at issue in the controversy sur-
rounding prehistoric maple sugaring. The amount of sap collected and the means for
doing so remained the same until the recent advent of plastic tubing in some operations
(e.g., Nyland 1966). Likewise, bark collecting vessels and wooden troughs were used by
some people into the present century (Rogers 1974; Densmore 1979). Rather, as noted,
the problem centers on the adequacy of prehistoric technology for evaporating the water
from the sap. Thus, this study focuses on the actual processing of sap into syrup and
sugar.
THE EXPERIMENT
Since the collection of sap is time consuming and not critical to solving the problem
of prehistoric sugaring, sap was purchased on March 22, 1984 from a local sugaring opera-
tion. Because our time was limited to one day, the quantity of sap obtained was 40
gallons (151.41). This amount, when processed, was projected to yield about one gallon
(3.8 1) of syrup or six to eight pounds (2.72 or 3.63 kg, respectively) of sugar (Thompso
1978). While this is nowhere near the amount processed in a normal season, it was com-
sidered sufficient to experiment with the various techniques discussed above and to
obtain data on the length of time needed to manufacture the final product. This is tum
can be compared to other time/efficiency data where historic methods were used.
Freezing, stone boiling and direct fire, the three historically and ethnobotanically
referenced techniques, were tested. Each technique was tested independently and in
concert with the other techniques. In addition, records were kept of each step of the
sugaring process. Quantities boiled, time expended, fuel used and process employed
were all noted.
Freezing was a technique used historically for initially removing some of the water
the sap so that less boiling was necessary (J. Smith 1831). Freezing may als siti
been used prehistorically to produce sugar. Smith (1831) states that the sap was Inte
aged frozen and the ice cast off several times in an instance when the Indians he wa
living with made sugar without kettles (see also Havard 1896).
For purposes of our experiment, we took one-half of the original sap, having @ sit
content of 3%, and allowed it to freeze overnight. Half of this quantity was set out ve
open porch while the other ten gallons (37.9 1) were set on a semi-enclosed porch. ;
formed and was cast off the sap on the open porch three times thus reducing It pice
gallons to five (18.9 1) and increasing its sugar content from 3% to 6%. Ice formed on by
Sap set on the enclos volumn ”?
1.5 gallons (5.7 1)
The second stage of our experiment involved boiling down the sap.
containers were possibly used in prehistoric sugaring. Ceramic and birch
most frequently mentioned in the literature. Consequently, to assess the ibis: in
kind of vessel, half of the sap used in stone boiling was pe
and half in ceramic pots (Fig. 2). Only birch bark verses nt were
y over the coals because the ceramic vessels used in the experime
le for direct heat.
from
Various types of
bark vessels a
were used direct]
deemed unsuitab fe
re ceramic pots used were unglazed, straight sided vessels with flat ae
“apacity of two quarts (1.91). Rim diameters were 20 cm and 21.5 cm and is Upper
were 16.5 cm and 17,2 cm. The pots differed from most prehistoric vessels 1n am bk
Great Lakes in the bases which prehistorically were rounded or semiconoid?
McPherron 1967). They were similar to prehistoric counterparts in that they we
at low temperatures and were comparable in size.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Raw Sap
40 gal/151.41
Summer 1985
Unfrozen
20 gal/75.7 1
Metal Kettle Birch Bark Ceramic
10 gal/37.91 18 cups/4.31 17 cups/41
|
Direct Stone
Heat Boiled
'
'
+ Stone
Boiled
Sample 1 Sample 3
(58.77% (18.95%
Sugar) Sugar)
Syrup
(65.79%
Sugar)
FIG. 1,
AIG. 9
a (3% Sugar) pas.
Frozen
20 gal/75.7 1
—_
Open Porch
Closed Porch
5 gal/18.9 1 8.5 gal/32.2 1
(6% Sugar) (3.5% Sugar)
/
Metal Kettle Birch Bark ram
5 gal/18.91 20 cups/4.71 18 kal
| |
Direct Stone
Heat Boiled
Sample 2 Sample 4
(61.46% (51.05%
Sugar) Sugar)
Syrup
(65.79%
Sugar)
~Techniques Used in Sap Processing Experiment.
~Bark ‘ :
and Ceramic Vessels Used in Experiments.
66 HOLMAN & EGAN Vol. 5, No, |
Three of the birch bark vessels, like the pots, had a two quart (1.9 1) capacity. They
were tray shaped, however, with a depth of 9 cm, widths from 13 to 25 cm and lengths
of 28 to 35 cm. The trays were shallow so that a large area of liquid surface was exposed
to heat from the coals underneath the vessels. A fourth bark container was like a kettle,
pyramidal in shape, with a flat base and a capacity of about three gallons (11.41).
Unfortunately, we were not able to process as much sap as we originally intended.
This is primarily because we did not have enough large containers to process the sap. As
it turned out, our experiments helped to demonstrate something implied in the ethno-
graphic literature (Densmore 1974); that is, when birch bark comes directly in contact
with flames, it will ignite. Consequently, we lost the three gallon (11.4 1) vessel early on
in the experiment and thus reduced our processing efficiency.
The small volumes which we were able to process provided illuminating results.
Comparable volumes of sap, both frozen and unfrozen, were processed using each of the
prehistoric techniques in various combinations. It should be noted that the birch bark
vessel samples, with the greater sugar concentration, were in fact processed for lesser
periods of time. It is also of interest that the samples we processed for five hours in metal
kettles on electric stoves, done for purposes of comparison, were boiled for only 14% less
time than the longest time for processing sap using prehistoric techniques. It also reduced
by approximately the same volumetric ratio. This suggests that there is not a significant
increase in the efficiency of metal kettles over prehistoric type vessels.
Content analysis provides additional insight into our results. Three samples of the
sap boiled using prehistoric techniques were analyzed for sugar and ash content by the
Laboratory Division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture (Table 1). These ™
cluded yields from unfrozen sap boiled over the coals in birch bark for 5 hours and 15
minutes (Sample 1), frozen sap boiled directly over the coals in birch bark for 6 tie
and 15 minutes with stone boiling being added for the last one hour and 45 mays?
the process (Sample 2), and unfrozen sap boiled in a ceramic vessel for 6 hours and 29
TABLE 1.—Content Analysis of Processed Sap.
Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 “Sample Michie
(5 hr., {G hr., (6 hr., (6hr.,:
15 min.) 15 min.) 25 min.) = 25 min.)
Liquid 39.4 35.91 78.5 33.31 33.8
Total Solids 60.6 64.1 21.5 51.23 66.2
Sugars 58.77 61.46 18.96 49.68 65.79
Sucrose 56.78 59.22 18.49 48.0 62.9
=e 0.60 0.77 0.13 0.49 a
Glucose 1.39 1.47 0.34 1.18 1.72
Total Ash 0.8 0.87 0.60 0.68 ele
Other Solids 0.9 1.81 1.94 1.85 is
Total solids determined b
: itrile
Abbe’ ids diluted with Acetom) i.
Sugars subsequently y e’ Refractometer. Solids dilu All rest!
determined by High P Liquid Chromatography.
‘ gh Pressure Liqui
€xcept total solids were calculated on a dry basis.
*Estimated
a Me
Composition meets U.S.D.A. criteria
_
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 67
minutes (Sample 3). The fourth sample of frozen sap, stone boiled in a ceramic vessel for
hours and 25 minutes, was analyzed for sugar content only and the other components
were estimated on the basis of the sugar content. In addition to the results of these
malyses, as shown in Table 1, the Michigan average for maple sugar is provided as a point
of comparison. The Michigan standards are significant because they identify the point
at which boiled sap will not ferment and therefore be considered syrup. Achieving a non-
fermentable syrup is therefore important for long term storage.
Sugars are not the only component considered. Interestingly, based on Michigan and
US.D.A. standards, the critical test has been not for sugar content, but rather for ash
content (Jones 1928:25). Ash contributes to the flavor of maple syrup. Therefore,
unlike syrups made from most other sugars, maple syrup is never subjected to chemical or
other forms of clarification because removal of the ash would destroy the flavor.
Although ash must be present in authentic maple syrup, the bulk of the total solids
im syrup is, of course, sugar. In recent years, the total solid content of maple syrup is
required to be at least 66% (U.S.D.A. 1977), although in the past the standard in both the
US.A. and Canada was 65%. Syrup having 65% or 66% totals solids will thus have 35%
or 34% total liquid. Variation around these percentages is fairly small because syrup that
Stoo thin will ferment and syrup that is too thick will granulate (Snell 1913:36).
__ In considering the results as displayed in Table 1, it is clear that the sap stone boiled
" ceramic pots (Samples 3 and 4) at 21.5% and 51.2% total solids is a long way from
. a as maple syrup. This is despite the fact that stone boiling des continuous
ours and 25 minutes. Sap processed in birch bark trays, however, 1s very close to
yup at 60.6% (Sample 1) and 64.1% (Sample 2) total solids. It is interesting that
Sample 2, which is the closest to syrup, is the sample where a combination of techniques
achieved. Ag can be seen in Table 1, all samples have a portion of total solids consisting
ty eas is neither sugar nor ash. Foreign matter is highest in the simaoeet
hatin § Was used because soot from the fire, adhering to the stones, bidert an a
of fore; 5 Sp along with the stones. U.S. Grade A table syrup must be “‘practically
sn material such as pieces of bark, soot, dust and dirt” (U.S.D.A. 1977). ™~
Ethnographic references (e.g., Wilson an
fire ive on. experiments were performed, indicate that often times stones alge
have iste i ae in water to remove the soot. Use of this proceaute WN
Efcie,.. the flavor and quality of the syrup we produced. me siesag An
important dei is possible to make maple syrup using prehistoric tec ie oa
Mount Desa. remaining, however, is whether sugaring is worth the time, ,
ation at must be expended. il efficient (Table 1).
After 6 ho nt that stone boiling sap in a ceramic pot is not at 4
Sugar ic. and 25 minutes, the sap in the ceramic vessels was O
Toutine, j . ‘
Much time hy would be possible to do. However, an expenditure
sit l
whi ‘ Probably not the activity of stone boiling but rather the a of iia
ark t ted the sap from reaching a syrup state in the time eae ace ae
‘Md thus ey. Heide va the other hand, exposed more surface to the heat than al P
aporation took place at a faster rate.
68 HOLMAN & EGAN Vol. 5, No.1
In order to compare the rate that syrup can be achieved using prehistoric methods
to the rate using metal kettles, some of our sap was boiled on the kitchen stove. Five
gallons (18.9 1) of sap were cooked into syrup in a period of five hours. Therefore, in
terms of processing time, kettles were only about 1/6 more efficient than birch bark.
The modern evaporator converts sap into syrup in about an hour. This represents
an increase in the rate of evaporation of kettles that is similar in scale to the increase
seen in birch bark trays over ceramic pots. The reason for both ‘‘quantum”’ leaps in
processing time are likewise similar. The evaporating machines used today, like the birch
bark trays, are shallow and there is thus greater area for exposure to heat and evapora-
tion.
Fuel.—It can be seen that the time required to process sap in birch bark trays is not
much longer than that necessary to boil sap in metal kettles. Likewise, fuel expenditure
is not much greater. It is expected that a “backyard” sugaring operation will require
about one cord of wood to boil 40 gal. (151.4 1) of sap into one gallon (3.8 1) of syrup
(Thompson 1978). This experiment used 1/5 cord of wood to boil 8.3 gallons (31.41)
of sap, which is reasonably close to 1/4 cord for 10 gallons (37.9 1) of sap required when
using metal cauldrons.
It has been noted (Richard Ford, pers. comm. 1984) that ‘“‘cutting’’ enough wood
for maple sugaring, prior to the introduction of metal axes, might have been the limiting
factor in prehistoric sugaring. While some cutting may have been necessary, quality fire-
wood (hardwoods) would also be available on the forest floor as a byproduct of the
natural self-pruning that occurs in mature forests (cf. beech-maple forest). Therefore,
fuel is not considered a limiting factor significant enough to preclude prehistoric maple
sugaring.
CONCLUSIONS
It is clear from the results of our limited experiments that it is possible to i
maple syrup with containers made of materials available to Native Americans. rae
syrup making can take place with almost the same amounts of labor and time using
“native” technology and pre-nineteenth century techniques. Given more time, —
little doubt that sugar, as well as syrup, could have been made.
It is instructive that the most efficient results were achieved using flat, bi
trays because this is comparable to improvements made in modern maple sytuP ene
ment, i.€., evaporators. Thus it must be recognized that using a metal kettle 's ee
necessary condition for maple sugaring. As the Nearings point out metal cauldrons ®
have shortcomings:
.
rch bark
The method of boiling in cauldron kettles was an endless affair and as
of time, labor and fuel, while quality and color necessarily suffered. aSiatless dit-
ficult to take the finished syrup out of the unwieldly kettles unless the fire was
low and plenty of help was around. So the tendency was to add more and more
sap and boil the resulting syrup over and over again all day (1970:54).
. ore
The later use of a graduated series of kettles such as those described by aa
(1974:309) necessarily represented some improvement in efficiency by preventing
problem of reboiling the same syrup over and over. The greatest increase 1m su a
efficiency, however, was first the use of flat bottomed pans and then the —— :
which was invented in 1866 (Nearing and Nearing 1970:56). Both the pee is osed
€vaporator are flat and shallow. Thus, more of the surface of the boiling liquid 1s ii
to heat and €vaporation so that both time and fuel are saved.
___ In summary, increasing the amount of surface exposed to heat seems tO be €
a pile regardless of the material of the container used. It is likely then cs er, the
toric sugaring was not done in ceramic pots because of their low efficiency: is ted by
sap was processed in large birch bark pans or perhaps in wooden troughs as sugges
the Kickapoo chief cited above.
xtremely
|
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 69
The practice of freezing the sap, like the use of flat, shallow containers saves time,
energy and fuel in syrup making. This is reflected in the disparate sugar contents of the
frozen and unfrozen sap boiled in ceramic pots. Although freezing does increase effi-
ciency, it is a technique that could not always be controlled because it is dependent upon
the weather. Thus freezing may have been used when possible but was not reliable on a
day to day basis.
Given that prehistoric Indians could make maple syrup and/or sugar with an effi-
ciency comparable to that of the early European settlers, the question becomes whether
it was worth doing so. The task under any circumstances is not only labor intensive but
requires moving to a specific location and focusing the energies of several people in the
process. The question then must relate to the context of the yearly cycle as practiced by
particular people in particular places. Hence, the advantages of sugaring need to be
weighed against the use and scheduling of other resources.
In northern climes, such as the Upper Great Lakes, New England and eastern Canada,
the availability of other foods is low in the early spring. This is true for both hunter-
gatherers and farmers. Animals are lean after the long winter, fish have yet to begin
awning, migrating birds have not returned north, and most plants are not yet produc-
tive. Further, hunter mobility is greatly reduced in the early spring (LaHontan 1905).
the relative absence of other foods and the difficulty of obtaining them creates a situa-
neglect 2
Bected as an important benefit in the early spring.
sideration is whether the products of boiled maple sap are useful enough
anufacture worthwhile. Maple sugar can be stored for long term sitio
an function as a preservative, provides essential nutrients, was con®! on
ar :
“aga and is flavorful. Densmore (1974) notes that maple sugar can be os) ey
Sy ar. Thus it is : ‘re seasonal cycle. Additionally,
itis easy available over the course of the entire s cence
1941.9 to carry in small birch bark makuks (Hoffman 1896:288) or sm
‘94), when traveling,
fruit a sugar can also be used as a preservative. Thus, Kohl (1956:319) notes “et
* Preserved with it. This was potentially, a valuable use since many ethnographi
and ar , ie
a ological sources suggest a considerable percentage of the monte eae
1977), *mposed of fruit, fresh as well as dried /‘‘preserved” (Yarnell 1964; N.
on of foods are interesting
. ohydrate
the fact that maple products constitute good sources of carbohy
Calc} :
to 89 2 9 well as other nutrients (Black 1980; Leaf 1963). Syrup may ope =
™g of ma caiclum, 3 to 6 mg of phosphorous, 10 to 30 mg of ase cone
_ 48nesium : ; ley Smi
Weting ; per fluid ounce (30 ml), (Leaf 1963:963). Beverley ah
8 Mtensj : Bis a ; ‘et of traditional
*orthern sive studies of Ojibiwa nutrition, notes that the high meat cee (1984:9).
Peoples required both carbohydrate and calcium from non-meat
70 HOLMAN & EGAN Vol. 5, No.1
Maple syrup and sugar may have been sources of both nutrients, since maple sugar is high
in carbohydrates (90 gm), (Watt and Merrill 1975:61) and maple syrup contains compar.
able amounts of calcium to that found in equal volumes of whole milk (Leaf 1963:964),
The storable character of maple products and the desire, among historic Indians, to store
maple syrup and sugar for later consumption would thus extend the nutritional benefits
of these products beyond the sugaring season (Densmore 1974; Black 1980).
Finally, maple syrup and sugar were used as seasoning (Havard 1896:42; Yanovsky
1936:42; Densmore 1974:313). Indeed, several references note that sugar was pre-
ferred over salt (H. Smith 1932:61, 1932:395, 1933:92; Kohl 1956:319; Swigart,
pers. comm. 1984). In addition, vinegar was made from maple sap and mixed with sugar
to make a sweet and sour meat dish (H. Smith 1932:395). Other uses include sugar
being added to water to make a summer drink and to medicines to make them palatable
(Densmore 1974:313).
Though syrup produced in our experiements was not U.S. Grade A in flavor, neither
was the syrup produced in early historic times. Scorching, caused by sap foaming on the
sides of the metal kettles, was a common occurence that imparted a bitter taste (Nearing
and Nearing 1970:55). Also, because boiling was often done in the open and other foods
cooked in the sap, foreign materials were often incorporated into the sap (Turner 1891).
Though the matter of flavor represents a cultural preference, in view of the multiple uses
of maple products and the fact that metal kettles did not necessarily produce a more
flavorful product, it is possible that taste as much as any other factor was an impetus for
regular prehistoric sugar making (cf. Jochim 198 1).
context of sugaring nor the varied benefits conferred by the product. It is likely then
that sugaring was as regularly practiced in many places prehistorically as it was historically.
It is noteworthy that these experiments, which were based on descriptions in doc
mentary sources, are supportive of the reliability of ethnohistoric accounts of sugariné
The apparent ambiguity of the written record reflects the range of available kinds of sexed
tainers that can be used to process sap. It is possible too that contradictory opinions *
“e = ability of prehistoric Indians to make syrup or sugar are based on accurate obset-
vations. Some early writers may not have seen a complete or normal seasonal a
aot example, an individual may not have been present for an entire year Or social stale
tion, such as that experienced by the Huron in the 1600s, may have precluded eae
It may be too that early travellers accompanied male hunters and/or warriors rathet a
whole families or villages, Thus, they might not have seen sap processed. Roaew”
context and group composition are both important factors in sugaring. Both are _
able and both need to be taken into account when evaluating ethnohistoric sources 0?
this topic.
Finally, the problem of identifying prehistoric sugaring sites remains. It is a se
sitidtnent sate nigga must in part be determined on the basis of ee een ic
attribut Pe €m of a given population. In addition, there are ecologic anc Spe at
(Hol “s c'istinctive of maple sugaring camps (Holman 1984). Though previous acter
ie ea suseested that large numbers of ceramic vessels might also ee
We cues c. . sites this is now being reconsidered in light of our experimen oe
by more eeitition "saree patterns in site assemblages which cannot be acc
al explanations.
Insteae,
nted for
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ailable for this
ties of The M
use Museum
acili
j ichi iversi de av
Project by C. Kurt Dewhe: um, Michigan State University, were made
tst, Director. Val Berryman and Terry Shaffer of The
i seaie 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 7]
plus Rick Zurel supplied birch bark for the kettles and trays used in the experiments.
Linda Kalanitch made the clay vessels used and in addition donated others. Richard J.
Seltin, former chair of the Department of Natural Science, Michigan State University,
gave us basalt samples for stone boiling. Mr. Fontz of the Michigan Department of
Agriculture and Ms. Renate Dezacks of Plant Biology Research at Michigan State Univer-
sity analyzed processed sap. Al Hafner of the Michigan Bureau of Standards supplied us
with copies of the U.S.D.A. standards for maple syrup. Maple sap was purchased from
George Fogel of Sugar Bush Supply in Mason, Michigan. Computer time was provided
by Fran King of the Illinois State Museum and the Whittiers of East Lansing.
Practical advice and encouragement were generously offered by Jerry Wilson, Beth
Andrus, Rick Zurel, Michael Hambacher, James Robertson, Philip Franz, Beverley Smith,
Shela McFarlin, Donald Weir, Charles Cleland and William Lovis. In addition, discussions
with Susan R. Martin and Richard I. Ford were most helpful. Finally, the finished manu-
script was read and commented on by James McClurkin. Clearly maple sugaring remains
cooperative enterprise and to each of these people we extend our thanks.
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ARMSTRONG, BENJAMIN G._ 1892.
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cences from the life of Benjamin G.
Armstrong. Dictated to and written
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BLACK, MEREDITH JEAN. 1980. Al-
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4on of aboriginal adaptation in south-
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Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnol. Ser-
Vice Paper No. ;
CHARLEVOIX, PIERRE DE. 1966.
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iizaly -+- Ann Arbor.
published 1761, printed for
don
AND, NANCY N. 1977. Identifi-
on file, The Museum
ermont 1915. How
of Agri maple sugar is made. Dept.
DENSMoR, State of Vermont.
RE, FRANCES, 1974. How
€ wild plants for food,
Ney Zork, crafts. Dover Publ.,
Chippewa Cus-
i 1979,
* “cpr. Ed. Minnesota Hist. Soc.
Press, St. Paul. Originally publ. 1929,
Smithsonian Inst. Bull. 86, B.A.E.
ALFRED CHARLES KINSEY. 1958.
Edible wild plants of eastern North
America. Harper and Row Publ.,
New York.
FINLEY, REV. JAMES B. 1857. Life
among the Indians; or personal remi-
niscences and _ historical incidents,
edited by Rev. D.W. Clark, D.D. Hitch-
cock and Walden, Cincinnati.
HAVARD, V. 1896. Drink plants of the
North American Indians. Bull. Torrey
Bot. Club 23:33-96.
HENRY, ALEXANDER. 1969. Alexan-
der Henry, travels and adventures in
Canada and Indian territories between
the years 1760 and 1776, edited by
James Bain. M.G. Hurtig, Edmonton,
Ontario. Originally publ. 1809.
HENSHAW, H.W. 1890. The Indian
origin of maple sugar. Am. Anth.
:341-351.
October III:341 site Sapa
Indians. 14th Ann. Rpt. of the B.A.E.
HOLMAN, MARGARET B. 1984. es
identification of Late — oe
H. Kent, and Emma W
vania Hist. Comm. Harris
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burg. Origi-
72 HOLMAN & EGAN
Vol. 5, No.1
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
JOCHIM, MICHAEL. 1981. Strategies
for survival. Acad. Press, New York.
JONES, C.H. 1908. The national pure
food law and the Vermont maple
sugaring industry, pp. 20-27.
KEATING, WILLIAM H. 1825. An Ex-
pedition to the source of St. Peter’s
River. Whittaker, London.
KINGSLEY, ROBERT G. and ELIZA-
BETH B. GARLAND. 1980. The
DeBoer site: a late Allegan phase site
in Allegan County, Michigan. The
Michigan Arch, 26(1):3-44.
KINIETZ, VERNON W. 1965. The
Indians of the western Great Lakes
1615-1760 Univ. Michigan Press, Ann
Arbor.
KOHL, J.G. 1956. Katchi-Gami wander-
ings around Lake Superior. Ross &
Haines, Inc., Minneapolis. Originally
publ. 1860, Chapman and
d
London.
LaHONTAN, BARON DE. 1905. New
voyages of North America, edited by
.G. Thwaites. Repr. from Englis ed.,
1708; A.C, McClurg & Co., Chicago.
LANDES, RUTH. 1971. Ojibwa woman.
Norton Lib., New York.
LATIFAU, JOSEPH FRANCES. 1724,
Publ. of the Champlain Soc. XLIX,
Toronto.
LEAF, ALBERT L. 1964. Pure maple
syrup: nutritive value. Sci. 143:963-
964
LEAF, ALBERT L. and KENNETH G.
WATTERSTON, 1964. Chemical
analysis of sugar maple sap and foliage
as related to sap and Sugar yields.
Food Sci. 288-299.
LOVIS, WILLIAM A. 1978. A num
cal taxonomic an
lake chain, Michigan Acad. XI(1):39-48,
- 1967. The Junt-
unen site and the Late Woodland pre-
history of the Upper Great Lakes area.
Mus. of Anth., Univ.
Anth. Papers No. 30., Ann Arbor
NEARING, HELEN and SCOTT NEAR-
ING. 1970. The ma)
ple sugar book.
Schocken Books, New York.
NYLAND, ROGER DANIEL. 1966.
Sugar maple and its use for sap pro-
duction in Michigan’s lower peninsula,
Unpubl. Ph.D. dissert. Michigan State
Univ., East Lansing.
RITZENTHALER, ROBERT E, and
PATRICIA R. RITZENTHALER.
1970. The Woodland Indians of the
western Great Lakes. Nat. Hist. Press,
Garden City.
ROGERS, JOHN (Chief Snow Cloud).
1974. Red world and white. Univ.
Oklahoma Press, Norman. Originally
publ. as A Chippewa speaks.
SMITH, BEVERLEY A. 1984. Sources
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protein diet of the traditional Ojibwa.
Ms. in possession of author.
SMITH, HURON H. 1923. Ethnobotany
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Public Mus. of Milwaukee 4(1):1-174-
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the Ojibwe Indians. Bull. of the Public
Mus. of Milwaukee (4(3):327-525.
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the forest Potawatomi Indians. Bull. 0
the Public Mus. of Milwaukee 7(1):!
f
SMITH, JAMES. 1831. An account ©
remarkable occurences were
tivity with the Indians 1755-59. ’
Philadelphia. eas
SNELL, J. F. 1913. Maple sap, ss
ducts and their limitations. ie? -
the proceedings of the oi i
Sugar and Syrup Co-operative g-
1:34-431. Canada.
8. Syrup trees
THOMPSON, BRUCE. 197 y poor
TURNER, JESSE.
of Kalamazoo.
Smith and Co. State Printer
Binders. ee
U.S.D.A.—Food Safety and oe ape
vice. 1977. U.S. standards tor
of table maple syrup.
WATT, BERNICE K. and .
MERRILL. 1975. Hand ve
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L.
NNABEL
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Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 73
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
WILSON, NORMAL L. and ARLEAN H. U.S.D.A. Misc. Publ. No. 237, Wash-
TOWNE. 1978. Nisenans. Handb. of ington.
N. Am. Ind., Vol. 8, California, edited YARNELL, RICHARD ASA. _ 1964.
by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 387-397. Aboriginal relationships between cul-
Smithsonian Inst., Washington. ture and plant life in the Upper Great
YANOVSKY, ELIAS. 1936. Food Lakes region. Mus. of Anth., Univ.
plants of the North American Indians. Michigan, Anth. Papers No. 23.
74 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 5, No.1
Book Review
Hames, Raymond B., and William T. Vickers (1983). Adaptive responses of native
Amazonians. New York: Academic Press. Cloth, 518 pp.
This is an anthology containing the following articles:
—"
. Introduction, by Raymond B. Hames and William T. Vickers.
no
. Machiguenga gardens, by Allen Johnson.
ve
. The cultivation of manioc among the Kuikuru of the Upper Xingu, by Robert L.
Carneiro,
4. Adaptive strategies of Wakuenai peoples to the oligotrophic rain forest of the Rio
Negro Basin, by Jonathan Hill and Emilio F. Moran.
or
- Neotropical hunting among the Ache of eastern Paraguay, by Kim Hill and Kristen
awkes.
a
. Shotguns, blowguns, and spears: the analysis of technological efficiency, by James A.
Yost and Patricia M. Kelley.
7. Why do the Mekranoti trek? by Dennis Werner.
8. Cocamilla fishing: patch modification and environmental buffering in the Amazon
varzea, by Anthony Stocks.
9. Carpe Diem: an optimal foraging approach to Bari fishing and hunting, by Stephen
Beckerman
—
i=)
: 2 ; ous ‘mal
. Adaptation and ethnobotanical classification: theoretical implications of ie
resources and diet of the Aguaruna and Huambisa, by Brent Berlin and Elois
.
Berlin
11. Nutrition in the northwest Amazon: household dietary intake and time-ene's)
expenditure, by Darna L. Dufour.
: : lian
12, Seasonal factors in subsistence, nutrition, and child growth in a central Braz
Indian community, by Nancy M. Flowers.
, ical
ep ave settlement pattern of a Yanomamo population bloc: a behavioral ecologte
interpretation, by Raymond B. Hames,
14,
Village movement in relation to resources in Amazonia, by Daniel R. Gross.
. ° a hy i jam
15. The territorial dimensions of Siona-Secoya and Encabellado adaptation, by be
T. Vickers.
This book is im
but also to mathematical]
t and animal resource utilization patterns, such
ming, increasingly used in anthropological studies
w). ual
method
including
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 75
descriptions of their clearing, planting, weeding, and harvesting techniques, and estima-
tions of the amount of time the people allocate to each phase of this activity. This
energy expenditure calculation is then compared to the nutritional benefits incurred from
each crop produced. Also included in the article is a treatment of Machiguenga classifi-
cation of soil and land-use types.
Carneiro next discusses the cultivation of manioc (Manihot esculenta) by the Kui-
kuru, including the techniques used in clearing fields, planting, cultivating, and processing
the crop. He then estimates the amount of manioc produced by the village at 3.2 times
the amount actually consumed by the group, using more refined techniques than in
previous works, to correct an earlier estimate of 2.5 times (Carneiro 1957), and attempts
to account for the excess crop produced. He also includes a summary of the Kuikuru
dassification of forest types and lists the native names for 46 different cultivars of
manioc cultivated by the tribe.
The fourth article, by Hill and Moran, discusses the cultural mechanisms by which
the Wakuenai have adapted to soil conditions poor even by Amazonian standards. These
mechanisms include organization into patrilineal work groups and the establishment of
internal redistribution systems.
The next article, by Hill and Hawkes, uses optimal foraging techniques to analyze
hunting patterns among the Ache of eastern Paraguay. The authors discuss various
techniques used by the Ache in hunting (shotgun, bow and arrow, etc.), and the amount
of time allocated to each of several activities during the course of a typical week, along
with the caloric returns to handling time for each species hunted. They use this data to
postulate models from optimal foraging theory to explain differences in choices of prey
depending on the type of hunting technique as well as potential explanations for dif-
ferences in the sizes of hunting parties. Finally, they present and compare competing
hypotheses concerning which of several objectives for maximization under which the
Ache are Operating (maximization of individual return vs. maximization of average
turn of the entire party, etc.)
nd Soi Kelley subsequently compare the relative efficiency of shotguns Lee se
thtes « ih oe the Waorani of eastern Ecuador as their example. id zen oul
bin palais input/output ratios for each, and man weight per kill. y
Te in variation in hunting efficiency. oan
its. ext article, Werner analyzes the trekking phenomenon ee ere es
likely ex ‘f ‘specially the Mekronti-Kayapo of central Brazil. He conclu es Pe ee
a Sapa of this phenomenon is the quest for protein ee al
iiay © offset an otherwise temporarily short supply of protein, as
ie discusses fishing practices of the Cocamilla of northeast tee
fth from M ? e near their village with garbage, entrails, and human et Es
tictuatio ¢ lake during the season of highest water levels. This buffers environ this
Qs and sustain imal production throughout the year. The author cites
Phenomenon a si aren. gugcabiny *f: ation.” and states that
the Cocamilla Ee ble of Pyke et ai’s (1977) i ice pecan nem since they do
Not spend Sea. nearly fit Shoener’s (1971) “time-minimizer pea
€ ninth sopra = ey oe ae fee Bari of north-
om an optimal foraging perspective, concentrating on the central
(i.e. marginal value theorem) branches 0 : ‘ :
Of the .* prefaces this with a glaring misstatement of oS ne ae ae 4
1 * . t
: time and energy invested. He believes that
Y sin ‘ : eral times as
Much ce they continue to hunt despite the fact that they receive sev ae
from fishing, a discrepancy which the author feels he mu
; : to add
in fact, the diet choice model states that a foragers should continue to
76 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 5, No, 1
species to its diet, in declining order of foraging efficiency, so long as the overall rate of
return continues to increase (Pulliam 1974). Hence, diet choice depends not only on the
relative efficiences of the various potential prey types, but also on the relative abundan-
cies of prey items higher up on the list.
Berlin and Berlin, in the next article, evaluate various hypotheses to explain the fact
that the Aguaruna and Huambisa Jivaro of northern Peru possess an elaborate taxonomy
of a large number of zoological lifeforms while only utilizing a small fraction of these
species. They eventually reject several adaptationist explanations in favor of a cognitive
one, that the Jivaro, like modern taxonomists, are simply recording lexemically the varia-
tion and discontinuities present in the natural world.
The following two articles focus on nutrition. Dufour analyzes the dietary composi
tion and time- and energy-budgeting patterns among the Tatuyo of Colombia, concet
trating primarily on the caloric content of various wild and domesticated foods. The
author mentions protein and micronutrients in the discussion, but presents no new infor-
mation in this regard. Flowers presents a similar analysis of the Xavante, a group which
was primarily dependent on wild foods until approximately 15 years ago, adding data on
child nutrition and comparing these data to those gathered among other tribes such as the
‘Kung which have undergone similar transitions. The author concludes that the increased
reliance on agricultural means of production does not seem to add to the reliability of
food sources.
The final two articles deal with settlement patterns, Hames working with the Yano-
mamo of Venezuela and Gross with several tribes of central Brazil. Hames traces the
gradual migration of a certain population of Yanomamo eastward through the ates
of several decades, and analyzes the causes of the migration from several perspectives,
concluding that the primary reasons have to do with a shortage of mates rather than with
scarcity of food resources. Gross tabulates emic reasons behind village movements give?
by informants of four different tribes, pointing out that missionary inducement, etc., ae
far more important than resource depletion from the natives’ perspective. He then pre
sents data on the nutrient composition of soils underlying native gardens before, during,
and after swidden cultivation. me
kas sha sa part, the book is well written and well edited. The mine
ce, eae : oa important starting point not only for those pa din
the boss. M. as fens aah ia interested in the various theoretical ae aned, wil
geography ae ae Pere are that the subject matter seems a bit pert among the
vitioud papets “ oe approach being the only unifying simi arities eee
: me of the articles, particularly the more mathematically Orne cts
an percusory hints at more extensive treatments of the theoretical 7"
rg work published elsewhere (e.g., Johnson & Behrens 1982; Hames & Vickers
REFERENCES CITED
. dy ©
CARNIERO, Robert L. 1957. Subsistence in social structure: an ecological #057
the Kuikuru Indians. PhD di : ‘ nets
‘ issertation, University of Michigan. .
rae RAYMOND B., and WILLIAM T. VICKERS, 1982. Optimal det
cory as a model to explain variability in Amazonian hunting. Americ®
preadth
thnolo-
: iteria
, and CLIFFORD A. BEHRENS. 1982. Nutritional crit
. ymai
= atc ~ Production decisions: a linear-programming analysis. H
167-1
PULLIAM, a aturalst
‘ me
ao 1974. On the theory of optimal diets. American
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 77
PYKE, GRAHAM H., H. RONALD PULLIAM, and ERIC L. CHARNOV. 1977. Opti-
mal foraging: a selective review of theory and tests. Quarterly Review of Biology
52:137-154.
PYKE,GRAHAM H. 1984. Optimal foraging theory: a critical review. Annual Review
of Ecology and Systematics 15:523-575.
SCHOENER, THOMAS W. 1971. Theory of feeding strategies. Annual Review of
Ecology and Systematics 2:369-404.
SMITH, ERIC ALDEN. 1983. Anthropological applications of optimal foraging theory:
acritical review. Current Anthropology 24(5):625-651.
Joseph E. Laferriere
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
78 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 5, No. 1
Book Review
Voir, savoir, pouvoir: Le chamanisme chez les Yagua du Nord-Est peruvien. (Vision,
knowledge, power: shamanism among the Yagua of Northeast Peru). (1983) by
Jean-Pierre Chaumeil. Paris: Editions de l1’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences
Sociales. Paper, 352 pp.
This book represents an in-depth, multi-faceted analysis of shamanism as practiced by
the Yagua, a Native Amazonian people of Peru. The author adopts a holistic approach,
stressing the importance of using both psychological and sociological approaches to
understand this complex phenomenon.
n the introductory chapters the author reviews the history of anthropological
theories on shamanism and briefly discusses the geographical location and ecological
relationships of the Yagua. He then describes in some detail the ways in which shama-
nism is practiced in present-day Yagua communities. Numerous case studies of the
experiences of individual shamans are included, and an account of the process of initia-
tion of new shamans as related by one of the practitioners. This is followed by discus-
sions of Yagua cosmology and the role of the shaman in it, and of the sociological roles
played both by the shamans as individuals and by shamanism as an institutution. In-
cluded are analyses of ceremonies conducted by shamans, several of which are transcribed
verbatim both in Yagua and in French, and of the position of the shaman in the internal
hierarchy of the group and his role in violent confrontations.
The fourth chapter, entitled “Chamanisme et maladie (Shamanism and disease)”,
is particularly interesting because here the author discusses in some depth the Yagua
concepts of disease causation, the role traditional medicinal practices play in curmé
illness, according to Yagua ideology, and the uses to which each of over 100 plants 's
put by shamans in their curing processes.
The book is remarkable for its thoroughness and for the author’s willingness to
analyze the subject from a wide variety of angles. This holistic approach gives the study
a methodological importance far outweighing the empirical data alone.
Joseph E. Laferriere
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
Biology
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 79
Book Review
On the Trail of the Ancient Opium Poppy. Mark David Merlin, Associated University
Presses, London and Toronto, 1984. pp. 324. $45.00.
The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, source of the modified dipeptide we know
«morphine, has profoundly influenced western culture. Morphine was first isolated in a
cude form by Derosne, in 1803. The elucidation of its structure was a major goal not
ahieved until 1952, in the course of which new synthetic and degradative tools were
evolved that shaped the evolving science of organic chemistry. Indeed, a complete issue
of the prestigious Journal of the Chemical Society was devoted to the investigations of
just one man, Perkins, on the structure of morphine. Sir Robert Robinson’s acuity in
proposing the structure or morphine 29 years before the correctness of his deduction was
tstablished led to new stereochemical insights, opened for investigation the field of alka-
loidal biosynthesis, and fertilized the developing science of bio-organic chemistry. Within
the last ten years, the extensive pharmacology of morphine has burgeoned into a new area
of such vastness and importance that it threatens to swamp its parent: I am referring, of
“eurse, to the morphine-like peptides, the enkephalins and endorphins. These endo-
sous opioids exist in the brain (and gut), where the limits of their importance in central
“Nous systems functioning have yet to be defined.
Apart from their powerful analgetic activities, the opiates are addictive, this latter
*operty, perhaps, impacting society even more markedly than the former, spawning mas-
We social, legal and medical consequences. And let us not forget the literary heritage of
2 pale white poppy and its encapsulated metabolites. De Quincy’s ‘The Confessions of
a eh Opium Eater,’ Dicken’s ‘Edwin Drood,’ Cocteau’s ‘Opium, the Diary of a
e's ‘Kubla Khan’ and the bizarre Sherlock Holmes’ mystery of oe,
teal capil Lip’ are a few of the stories that spring immediately to mind. cia
- onds thought, and one would have a library sufficient to solace many a win
el capsule is Janus-faced, being a source of oil as well as peek igri
ls ereeey oil have economic consequence even today, and perhaps eat pees
me ea Be utory of the poppy, nutrition may have been of more importan
Bet, E © poppy that are so significant for modern man. fo ak alae
‘W extended € salience of opium, and the vast literature on the possi? 4 nship. ‘On
c Thal of eeeeerent publications on the origins of the man-popPy oe me oe a the
elf The e Ancient Opium Poppy,’ by Mark David Merlin, fills this spa nays
Prehistoric ie Provides the first overview on the possible origins lees Sk ns
= associations with man. he Medi-
i. Papaver contains around 100 species, most of them fonpe eee : ecies
O is it a Aged Poppy, the heavy-capsuled, narcotic Papaver somniferum, aW seful to
pred cultivar? Is it, like corn or cannabis, one of those plants so em
ad wha ed, so cultivated, so selectively bred by ahs, that where ee
ie € from, are no longer easily discernable? Merlin addrcens Itivated
nequivocally answering it. The differences between cultivated and one ai
g. The subject is intrinsically complex, and may be beyond the
: : é int, it is not possible
clarify. Practically, from the botanical viewpomn ide, but, despite
frum. These are the only poppies that contain morp i
mind the Mediterranean, Are these two poppies independent cs somnt-
1s the father, which the son? The different chromosome pinta : i. pro-
8 2n=22 ang Pp setigerum 2n=44, have led some, such as Goldblatt,
80 BOOK REVIEW Vol. 5, No.1
pose that the latter is simply a polyploid form of the former. Others, such as Knémer,
hypothesize the opposite. Knérzer defends the onetime popular idea that P. somniferum
was artificially selected from the wild P. setigerum, basing his position on the similarity of
P. somniferum seeds from Neolithic sites to the seeds of modern P. setigerum. One might
think it takes a brave man to draw major conclusions from two or three morphological
characteristics of seeds abused, buried, dehydrated and charred over a period of several
thousand years, particularly when the number of seeds available for analysis is low. But
fortune smiles on the brave. Recent work suggests that chromosome number is not fixed
for either of the ‘species,’ both producing diploid and polyploid plants.
Merlin’s summary of this particular problem, on page 84, is masterly, but too judi-
cial. He has a reluctance to impose his own viewpoint, his own conclusions, a virtue
which however much one may admire in the abstract makes for an absence of signposts
for the tyro. Being forced to draw one’s own conclusions can make for tiring reading.
It is made the more tiring by the delightful, but idiosyncratic, organization of the text, in
which subject flows into subject in a stream of consciousness technique, and in which
subheadings provide formal interruptions to the text but do not necessarily give informs
tion as to what is contained in it. Chapter 4, on ‘The Prehistoric Use of the Opium
Poppy’ provides an example of authorial technique that is repeated in all other chapters.
Here, despite the title, we meander through the structures of the alkaloids, their isolation
and their pharmacological properties. Merlin accurately points out that the analgetic
action of morphine is due to the lessening of apprehension rather than the abolishment
of pain. Then we learn of the abuse that followed the two fold introduction of pur
chemicals and hypodermic syringes. The significance of synthetic narcotics such as
demerol is then touched upon, followed by a disquisition on how to cut a poppy capsule
— a penknife. This, by some inexorable process, leads into a discussion of the found
ing of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology with extended accounts of the botanical dist
bution of mind-altering drugs and the use of cocoa, Psilocybe mushrooms, and the
beautifully-flowered Texas mescalbean, Sophora secundiflora. Copious quotations -
the appropriate authorities are interspersed. Then we find ourselves learning about ca
goddesses and the relationship between the Roman and Greek gods. The question
was the Ayur
traveling on no academic freeway, but hiking uphill through a thick forest.
pe draw breath during one of the occasional platitudes scattered within the und
“ information. ‘The opium poppy is one of the most widely known herbal drug plan’
him powerful modern opiate drugs and their chemical substituents were certainly a
available to early peoples.’ ‘A particular use of a specific plant substance today does n°
ergrowth
lication for similar purposes in antiquity.’ True, true, erin
antalized by every glimpse of movement. He wants eres
: The information comes pouring out. There are several au ference
© gasps, and then lists 29 references, plus an ‘etc.’. If the subtitles carry any Te se
to what comes under them, this appears to be due to chance rather than design. pe of
chapter 4 as example, ‘Ecological and Speculative Considerations’ immediately ene 5
into a full-scale discussion of Cannabis sativa, the various products of which chafe we
necks, promote good fellowship and small sesticlex: and provide an excellent edible
M4 * s detailed
Opium poppies are both t isa weed? A
definition follows. oth weeds, we are told. But what i
ies 1D
i 5, we have a full discussion of the archeological record ie pis of
Poppy eg Tatar satisfying drawing of Chenopodium album, @ P o
oh hi Pastry (and very nice it looks) complete with recipe, and “:
ee eee ane shore dwellers dwelt on lake shores rather than on wakes - s magni
Mie earian book reminds me of the comment of Marshall Bosquet: aie
Pee eithesays pas la guerre’, Merlin is an encyclopediac investigator, 4 P Thomp”
preanve scholarship, He is equally at home discussing etymology, criticizing
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 81
on’s tranlations of Assyrian texts, explicating bronze age trade or examining the cultural
underpinnings of Minoan civilization. He does not necessarily achieve coherence, but his
book is a storehouse crammed with delights, with the information density of a hard disc.
Was the opium poppy a creation of an eastern or western culture? I still do not
inow, and doubt if anyone does. Merlin, however, succeeds in demonstrating that shards
of fact can be used to create whole china shops of speculation in archeology and archeo-
botany. One of his few concrete suggestions is that the sea-trading Minoans introduced
the poppy into the eastern Mediterranean where the evolving Hellenic culture made the
plant its own, along with the grape and olive. Other authors (e.g. Daumas, la civilization
de Egypte pharonique, 1965) have suggested that opium was used in Egypt as early as
the 18th Dynasty (BC 1590-1340), and this could have provided a source for later cultures.
The style of the book varies from the condensed and expressive (‘It is an outstanding
feature of the Mycenean culture that we know so little about so many aspects of it.’) toa
standard, workmanlike prose that gets the job done. Jargon and the linguistic excesses of
the social sciences are eschewed, the compound nouns and polysyllabic backformations
maring so much academic prose being absent. Merlin’s allusive style, with his reluctance
'o draw conclusions for the reader, can be illustrated by an extended quotation:
‘An interesting point made by Greig and Turner concerns the rise and fall of
dlive cultivation and its relative importance in ancient Greece. During the
Peloponnesian Wars, the Spartan army attacked the Athenian olive groves:
“...and this may not have been the first time that olives had been a target of
hostilities,” It is important to remember that olives were most probably a major
oil source for the Myceneans as they were among the later Greeks. In this case,
what substitute could have replaced the oil extracted from olives? If importa-
ton of olive oil from an external source was precluded during the non-produc-
= replanting period, then perhaps a locally produced vegetable source was
ped and utilized. Even if the importation of organic oil resources was not
ad it may not have been olive oil that was imported. The pollen diagrams
ee, ie and Turner Indicate that olive cultivation in Macedonia was
Halfway ae two well-defined periods.’ pad
tivetsion, jg 3% ugh the paragraph, it begins to dawn on the reader yh gia
; ing the point that poppy seeds may have been a major source
*
clean Greece, This point is buttressed by appeal to data from an earlier culture, bes
the point explicitly
at this apparent
som
ai oe ny which tire the reader, in the generally accept a al
Source (import il); oil extracted from olives (olive oil); importation 2 eee
¥ the seven cn. iia of hostilities (target). A poor ear 1s suggested,
ut a . ing P'S In one sentence. fay th
"agnificent oe quibbles, cavils, inconsequential things.
TVEstigators a ae to a complex subject; a source that w :
Opious and € coming decades. The illustrations, although poor’ TT ogy
of the b well chosen. No review can hope to capture the complexity ae
At one point, Merlin refers to Heinrich Schliemann, the discoverer 0 y>
Umin
‘ ] . :
tistory in this nto history. I venture to suspect that Merlin, too,
Masterful and scholarly volume.
Ryan J. Huxtable, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmaco ogy
eal of Arizona Health Sciences Center
Tucson, Arizona 85724
Se Daa
=: hie, cree
oT) ae See
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 83
NEWS AND COMMENTS
SOCIETY OF ETHNOBIOLOGY CONFERENCE COORDINATOR
The Editorial Board, at its annual meeting on May 7, 1985, created a new positi
within the Society—Conference Coordinator. Jan Tim brook i asked to ante this
oom and the Board is pleased to announce that she has accepted. Part of the respon-
rid . is to assist the local committee in the planning of the annual
cen . - elines anda time schedule are in the final stages of development. Since
sone Ee nce with the local committee each year, she can be contacted
ete neiesty - in sia Department of Anthropology, Santa Barbara Museum
agate ; uesta Del Sol Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Telephone:
GUINDON
ONews America Syndicate, 1988
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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een, to scholars in anthropology
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84 NEWS & COMMENTS Vol. 5, No. 1
GENE SPLICING UPDATE
As noted in this column in the last issue, genetic engineering experiments are the
target of a crusade by Jeremy Rifkin, who fears that unexpected and unfortunate conse-
quences may result from the release of such “unnatural’’ organisms into the environment.
Rifkin sued the National Institutes of Health in 1983 to halt the field testing of geneti-
cally modified bacteria (designed to prevent frost formation on plants) by University of
California researchers. In May of 1984 Federal District Judge John Sirica enjoined NIH
from permitting the experiment until an environmental assessment was completed. The
U.S. Court of Appeals last February reviewed Sirica’s decision and upheld his ruling in
part. Notably, the Appeals Court noted that ‘NIH has not yet displayed the rigorous
attention to environmental concerns demanded by law, and that the deficiency rests in
NIH’s complete failure to consider the possibility of various environmental effects” if
the bacteria proved capable of dispersal and survival in nature. Still at issue is whether
each experiment should require a rather cursory ‘environmental assessment” or whether
a comprehensive environmental impact statement needs to be prepared covering the
potential impact of the release of altered organisms in general. In response, biotech-
nology firms are submitting their proposals directly to the Environmental Protection
Agency for review. (Marjorie Sun, Science, 15 March 1985, pg. 1321.)
ETHNOBIOLOGY IN THE NEWS
“Frog-leg Cuisine Blamed for Environmental Crisis”: this Seattle Post-Intelligencer
headline last March 31 caught my eye. I read further. It seems that the frogs’ legs con-
sumed by epicures in Europe, Australia, and the United States—from some 200 million
frogs annually—are not supplied by harvesting the bullfrogs that infest your local a
Rather, the preferred species are Rana tigerina and R. hexadactyla, most imported from
Bangladesh and India, with substantial imports as well from Indonesia. The World Wild-
s concerned at the prospects for ecological catastrophe that may result guy
this decimation of local anuran populations, ‘Their natural prey—insects—are pe
out of control... , triggering an ecological chain reaction and posing a serious threat a
agriculture 5 To combat the insects, farmers... are using more and more... peer
cides such as DDT, ... banned in the West.”
: Donald Ugent, specialist in ancient potato studies at Southern Illinois University,
claims to have discovered remains of cultivated potatoes 10,000 years old, equal in age
- bey earliest remains of domesticated wheat from the Near East. The discovery in sais
Chilca Canyon of Peru is from a desert area that was once fertile. (Seattle Post-Intellt-
gencer, 26 March 1985.)
Wade Davis
tating “unmasked [the] mystery behind zombies” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 24 March
is, “Zombies are not people who have risen from t
” Davis, whos
victed before a voodoo tribunal of violations of vo i
sophisticated religion with African roots.” Details to be pubs
nopharmacology
Prescribed by this «
in the Journal of Eth
EE _ EEE EE eee
aor Ee eeeeEeeeeeeooOorwT
Summer 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 85
CREATIVE APPLIED ETHNOZOOLOGY DEPARTMENT
From an ad in Alaska Magazine, April 1985, advertising “Dr. Juice One Drop Fish
Scent” (available from Blue Fox Tackle Company, 645 North Emerson, Cambridge, MN
55008): “In 1978 an American anthropologist named Dr. Gregory Bambanek, M.D., was
sudying the primitive people of Central America. They are the mixed blood descendants
of English pirates, Mayan Indians and African slaves. There is powerful magic there...
He befriended the medicine man, Dzacar, who not only healed the sick but kept the
healthy well-fed, In this meat-poor tribe, Dzacar was the number one fisherman .. .
Deacar’s magic was in his uncanny ability to catch fish on nothing but a hook, line and
ashred of cloth. With this unlikely rig, he would pole out into the tropical river and
retum with snook, tarpon and bandarootoo ... It was one such night that Dr. Gregory
Bambanek, himself a fisherman, went along with Dzacar and first got a whiff of the
potent stuff Dzacar had on that lure... What Bambanek brought home was a secret
formulation of scents derived from living jungle plants, fish and animals. Back in Amer-
ica, in his laboratory, he analyzed the chemical makeup of the potion .. . Kairomones
were the scientific base of the formula. To the gamefish, this hormonal substance indi-
cates a living organism such as live baitfish ... By dialing in other hormonal “communi-
ators” he found he could send other messages like a hot line to the fish’s brain... He
added Fear Pheromones, the smell of fear given off by prey species that attracts and
excites predators. He added Schooling Pheromones, the scent baitfish use to home in
register its powerfull
the desiréd
ton
ie aeyiane
Laem ee
The 9th Annual Meeting of the Society of Ethnobiology
will be held on the campus of the University of New Mexico
on March 20-22, 1986. Further details and the call for papers
will be mailed to the membership of the Society about the
1st of November, 1985. If you don’t receive yours, or need
more information, please write:
Castetter Laboratory
for Ethnobotanical Studies
Department of Biology
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
or call: 1-505-277-3348
NOW AVAILABLE
SOCIETY of ETHNOBIOLOGY
T= S HL Rae
Se
oe payable to: Society of Ethnobiology / 523 N. Grant, Fort Collins, CO 80521
seh cee nw eee ds es et es oes eg ek es |
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NOTICE TO AUTHORS
The Journal of Ethnobiology accepts papers on original research in ethnotaxonomy
and folk classification, ethnobotany, ethnozoology, cultural ecology, plant domestication,
noarchaeology, archaeobotany, palynology, dendrochronology and ethnomedicine.
Authors should follow the format for article organization and bibliographies from articles
in this issue. All papers should be typed doubled-spaced with pica or elite type on 8% x 11
inch paper with at least one inch margins on all sides. The ratio of tables and figures to
text pages should not exceed 1:2-3. Tables should not duplicate material in either the
text or graphs, All illustrations are considered figures and should be submitted reduced
toa size which can be published within a journal page without further reduction, Photo-
gaphs should be glossy prints of good contrast and sharpness with metric scales included
when appropriate. All illustrations should have the author(s) name(s) written on the back
with the figure number and a designation for the top of the figure. Legends for figures
should be typed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. Do not place footnotes
at the bottom of the text pages; list these in order on a separate sheet at the end of the
manuscript. Metric units should be used in all measurements. Type author(s) name(s)
at the top left corner of each manuscript page; designate by handwritten notes in the left
margin of manuscript pages where tables and graphs should appear.
If native language terminology is used as data, a consistent phonemic orthography
should be employed, unless a practical alphabet or a more narrow phonetic transcription
Sjustified. A brief characterization of this orthography and of the phonemix inventory
of the language(s) described should be given in an initial note. To increase readability
alive terms should be indicated as bold-face italics to contrast with the normal use of
‘alic type for foreign terms, such as latin binomials. If necessary, the distinction be-
‘ween lexical glosses, i.e., English language approximations of a term’s referential mean-
mg, and precise English equivalents or definitions should be indicated by enclosing the
#85 in single quotation marks.
fe sei must submit two copies of their manuscript plus Pigs si ie
sthae ads Papers not submitted in the correct format will be retu :
your manuscripts to:
DR. WILLARD VAN ASDALL, Editor
Journal of Ethnobiology
Department of General Biology
University of Arizona
NEW Tucson, Arizona 85721
: AND COMMENTS
— with information for the ‘““News and Comments
05 oa all appropriate material to Eugene Hunn, Departm
»“hiversity of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
” section of the Journal
ent of Anthropology,
fie Volume 8, Number 1, the editors of the Journal of Ethnobiology adc te a
a We welcome suggestions on books to review oF ach al ee ae
Miksice - of the Journal. Please send suggestions, comments, oF TeV ei soe sie 1.
Tic, ot Richard S. Felger, Office of Arid Lands Studies, UOPETEY (7
SUBSCRIPTIONS
sb co Saves
Ema TPtions to the Journal of Ethnobiology should be ee ee Met
Mee of Zoology, University of Florida, ane sae ne eal
Sigg : oy are $25.00, institutional; $15.00 regular members, og °F Ethno: .
biology. foreign subscribers add $6.00. Write checks payable pp coats gh ee oe
isteceiveg fective copies or copies lost in shipment will be replaced ! moe ) es : ae
- within one year of issue. a ee ae ee
CONTENTS
NS SS ee
PALEOETHNOBOTANICAL EVIDENCE FOR
DEFORESTATION IN ANCIENT IRAN:
A CASE STUDY OF URBAN MALYAN
. Naomi ee
a EDIBLE ANIMALS OF THE ITURI FOREST, AFRICA
ee ozoo1ocy OF THE EFE BAMBUTI
irene AND SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS
Soe AMONG THE P’-URHEPECHA INDIANS OF ME XICO
- Javier Caballero N. and Cristina MONS Be i ne
COTTONTAIL SPECIES IDENTIFICATION:
ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL. USE OF
MANDIBULAR MEASUREMENTS
_ Sarah W. Neusius and Wee PR ee eee
_ PROCESSING MAPLE SAP WITH
atone TECHNIQUES
et B. Holman and Kathryn C. Egan
.
ai et ees
a ee eae cen ee a I
ct OE Pe ells Bah Se meet Sate cae Ss
oe ee
ye on
- oo
sh gly he Me ahi uae UM See Mer So RA ee aie ee Gee ene ne ay eae Re Se Na
oe NEWS AND COMMENTS
eee 20, 29, 48, 49, 50, 59, 74, 78.
a a : com
fs
Journal of
Ethnobiology
Journal and Society Organization
EDITOR: Willard Van Asdall, Arizona State Museum, Building 26, University of Arizona,
Tucson, Arizona 85721.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Karen R. Adams, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology,
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
NEWS AND COMMENTS EDITOR: Eugene Hunn, Department of Anthropology, DH-05,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
BOOK REVIEW EDITOR: Charles H. Miksicek, Office of Arid Land Studies, University
of Ari , Tucson, Arizona 85721.
PRESIDENT: Steven A. Weber, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Steven D. Emslie, Department of Zoology, University of
Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611.
CONFERENCE COORDINATOR: Jan Timbrook, Department of Anthropology, Santa
Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta Del Sol Road, Santa Barbara,
California 93105.
: EDITORIAL BOARD
BRENT ’ BERLIN, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley,
California 94720; ethnotaxonomies, linguistics.
ROBERT A. BYE, JR., Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology,
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; ethnobotany, ethnoecology.
RICHARD I. FORD, Director, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan 48109, archaeobotany, cultural ecology.
™ MILES GILBERT, Box 6030, Department of Geology, Northern Arizona University,
, Arizona 86011; zooarchaeology.
TERENCE E. HAYS, Department of Anthropology and Geography, Rhode Island College,
: Providence, Rhode Island 02908; ethnobotany, ethnotaxonomies.
EUGENE HUNN, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle,
Washington 98195, ethnotaxonomies, zooarchaeology, cultural ecology.
HARRIET V. KUHNLEIN, Director, MacDonald College of McGill University, 21,11!
Lakeshore Road, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec H9X 1C0, Canada; ethnonutnton.
* L A. POSEY, Camegie Museum of Man, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15206;
ethnoentomology, tropical cultural ecology.
os EO M. REA, Curator of Birds and Mammals, San Diego Museum of Natural
History, P.O. Box 1390, San Diego, California 92112; ethnotaxonomies, zooarchae
ology, cultural ecology.
song S. WING, Department of Natural Science, Florida State Museum, University
: orida, Gainesville, Florida 32611; zooarchaeology. ;
S vag M. WISEMAN, Anthropology/Archaeology Program, Massachusetts
__ ite of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, palynology, tropical bioge”
Staphy, Mesoamerica.
| and Caact Ethnobiologyis published semi-annually. Manuscripts for publication and information oplate
Section should be sent to the appropriate editor on the inside back cover of this
© Society of Ethnobiology
ISSN 0278-0771
Journal o
Pe eearert
a
‘LUME 5, NUMBER 2
op
WINTER 1985
:
-
7 i
:
i A
i rr i Ly ;
i La : ~— : :
Naat — a we : i 7
in
ia) .
rrr {
Play is a necessary part of the creative process, and, we've been told that if you
cannot play with your material and resources, it’s unlikely that creative ideas will be
generated. Those of us living within reasonable driving distance of Albuquerque, New
Mexico who choose to “carpool” to the Ethnobiology Conference there have an oppor-
tunity to have fun—to play—with ethnobiological word games. Insight and new pattems
of information are likely to surface. Here are some games I have enjoyed in the past.
Twenty Questions. As a botanist I have most frequently played “Botanical”
Twenty Questions. It’s interesting to observe yourself becoming increasingly adept at
getting the most mileage out of a question. For example, it’s better to ask ‘Does your
plant require double fertilization?” than ‘Is your's a seed plant?” And, since variety is
the spice of life, it becomes more interesting to ask “Does your plant belong to a largely
wind pollinated family?” instead of “Is your plant in the Compositae?” With a little
thought, one can easily play Ethnobiological Twenty Questions.
Tom Swifties can be fun, and modified for ethnobiology, a challenge. Browsing
through recent issues of the Journal brought forth these rather obvious examples. Perhaps
You will find more exacting ones. Have you ever heard:
A tree ring? (Swetnam, 4:77-199, 1984).
i. A birch bark? (Holman and Egan, 5:65, 1985).
ve you ever seen:
ect use of a word, and in the from which the term was coined,
luite accomplished at this eect art—told her daughter that it was ne eae ROO
“na her mouth to be open like an allegory. As an editor, reeane ; er
: "eating the inappropriate use of “methodology,” which marene > aaa because
edo Ption of the methods used in a study. This malapropism is not 0U “Excuse me,
te Not preceive that it is illogical. It’s in the same category 48 ese ae chodology
, ake my medication,” and then swallowing a pill. Admittedly, bot t or more
vg: -¢ation sound more involved and hence, I suppose, ow ae ord is the
Pproprjat. than method and medicine, and, in most instances, the — England,
just i. one. (All of this reminds me of a friend who, . a recent a 8
tho Ty scones because the word sounded so elegant. HEC" | biscuits
ee i word may sound as it falls from the lips, they are, = enone I'm
sure yo 'S opinion, not all that pleasing to the palate.) Ea ie
"can find or think of many that are humorous. £ the amusements
sing limericks is, for some, a greater challenge than $7 oa with the thesis
arabe ecause of rhyme and meter requirements. ness from the
Muse of Rese arrington and Urry (this issue) and wi
A woman with pretty beans in her nose
Asked ‘“‘Why must I go where this grows?”
So she buried a seed
And before long indeed
She had enough for her fingers and toes.
Perhaps some of your efforts will be suitable for inclusion in Gene Hunn’s column,
News and Comments, in the Journal.
W.V.
Ethnobiol. 5(2):87-100
a ————__—_— Winter 1985
NUTRIENTS IN NATIVE FOO
D
OF SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA.
HELEN M. DRURY
Mt. Edgecumbe Native Hospital
Alaska Area Native Health Service
Indian Health Service
Mt. Edgecumbe, Alaska 99835!
ABSTRACT.—C
Ba .. ac eay health and ecological concerns have stimulated interest in
ne Daiueae coe of the foods of southeastern Alaska coastal Native
le fala! i=] + hy acter
Be sition, two mi igen 0 soul Alaska were analyzed for proximate
cian: ibe senna and five vitamins. Many traditional foods are still eaten by
‘Samer apa s the nutrient values determined in this study showed that these
“ae mak i ant aietary contributions. Seafoods such as seaweeds and marine
Bias are hich inj certain minerals and vitamins: eulachon, leather chiton
Ee io eden in iron; leather chiton, the seaweeds and hard dried sockeye salmon
Be iss male of calcium, eulachon has a high level of vitamin A. Other wild plant
e valuable nutritional contributions.
INTRODUCTION
ted on those foods indigenous
foods edible within a territory
t coast of North America
ate rain forest environment, wit
many kinds of
Throu: ;
totheir apa history Native populations have subsis
nvironments. Intimate knowledge of many
and freshwater li
1955), ater life. Game animals and birds were also available |
1700's flour and sugar were
“white man’s foods” was limited
an Eskimo , in 1933 a dentist working among
Mort s and Indians noted changes in their dental health (Price 1939). Since
i ller (1964) reported that in
from d its intake of carbohydrate
an estimated 2 to 11% in aboriginal days to approximately one-third of
© 4 comprehensi d fats. Schaeffer (1971) also
Canadian Eski. ensive report on the effects of similar major dietary © es among
Problems for ae Because these changes have apparently resulted in increasing health
prove the si aska’s Natives, consideration is being given to
MUttition edy ituation. Increased knowledge of traditional foods is 4 starting pomt for
cation programs suited to native people.
PRESENT DAY CONCERNS
_ Sout
the hig tern Alaska is a rugged island archipelago extending from Annette Island
10,000 are hg Yakutat in the north. Of a total population 0 approximately 50,000, nearly
“Pelling), of erie belonging to three groups: the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimpshean (tribal
Preference ich the Tlingit is the largest. Their foods are quite similar but variations
8 occur. Typical of most cultures, these people have high reg? d for their
88 DRURY Vol. 5, No. 2
traditional foods but have had feelings of inferiority about them for many years because
the Caucasian community has regarded many of them as strange.
Despite the large number of wild foods available, little is known about their nutrient
content. Researchers have cited the lack of nutritional information on the foods of other
Native groups (Benson et al. 1973, Kuhnlein et al. 1979). Regard should be given to the
resurgence of cultural pride which has intensified Native interest in obtaining such
information. In addition, health workers could frequently use such facts when treating
Native clients.
Because of a desire to stimulate recovery of old knowledge of their culture, as well
as to consider ways to decrease the incidence of obesity, coronary disease, hypertension
and diabetes, the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Corporation, a Native organization,
sought and obtained funds from the State of Alaska in 1980 to perform these nutrient
analyses of twenty southeastern Alaska Native foods.
Limited nutrition information for some of these foods can be found in USDA food
composition tables (Watt and Merrill 1983). However, the data are often incomplete.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has reported nutrient values of many marine
animals in the raw state (Sidwell et al. 1974, 1977, 1978a, 1978b). Heller and Scott (1967)
have reported information on foods utilized by Natives in the northerly regions of Alaska.
Tumer studied the plant foods of British Columbia Native, but a detailed nutrient analysis
for most southeastern Alaska Native foods has not be available.
METHODS
Eight southeastern Alaska Natives, from six different towns, and recognized by the
Native community to be knowledgeable about wild foods, were contacted for infor-
mation and suggestions about foods to be collected for the analysis. Most foods, so
identified, had a long history of use, although styles of preparation have changed over
the years. A list of 20 foods was made from the recommendations of these people.
Nomenclature for wild foods can be a problem because common names often vary
from one village to the next. The ten Native villages of this panhandle portion of Alaska
are 1n isolated locations on the numerous islands that characterize the study area. These
villages are seldom connected by roads so float planes or boats are the primary means
of transportation. Certain types or styles of food preparation may be more popular si
one Community or area than another. At the same time, there are also individual
differences within each community. Most common names used in this study are those
that have widest usage. In one instance, to avoid misunderstanding, the term “Jeather
chiton’ is used instead of “gum boots’, which is the name used by Natives. Scientific
identification of vascular plants was made by Mary Muller, U.S. Forest Service botanist
for the Tongass National Forest. .
Twelve of the foods analyzed were obtained in the Haida village of Hydaburg. Ln
remainder were provided by individuals in Sitka and Ketchikan. Remoteness, travel com
plications, communication problems, all peculiar to Alaska, caused collecting wae
P mai sample, except the eulachon fat, was prepared at the home of the donot *
“a y use. At the time of collection, all donors were queried about how the fo
— aia All donors were individuals with a good knowledge of sound food oe
ation techniques. All indicated that their foods had been prepared promptly a
ing harvested (Table 1)
COLLECTION AND PREPARATION OF FOODS
d
Each foods was collected by the author at the home of the donor. The donor an
tatoo frozen or otherwise preserved the food but the author did not participat
T observe any of the food preservation.
Winter 1985
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
TABLE 1.-Dates of harvesting, amount, shipment, analysis, preparation, and point of
wllection of 20 southeastern Alaska Native foods.
Point of
Date Amount Food Activity Preparation collection
Spring 85g ribbon seaweed harvested dried Sitka
1979
Spring 454g herring eggs harvested frozen Hy daburg
1980 (2 samples)
170g black seaweed dried Hy daburg
454g sea cucumber frozen Hydaburg
454 g eulachon dried, frozen Ketchikan
454 g eulachon fat fermented, Hydaburg
frozen
454 g octopus frozen Ketchikan
454 g cockles frozen Hydaburg
454 g salmonberry frozen Sitka
454 g blueberry harvested frozen Sitka
454 frozen Sitka and
8 huckleberry Hydabury
beach asparagus frozen Hydaburg
454 g salmon 3 canned, Hydaburg/
ea. (4 samples) 1 dried Retnaen
454 g venison frozen Hydaburg
ay 17 foods
: shipped to
laboratory
ow 17 foods
5 analyzed
me
fai 454 g leather chiton harvested frozen ss .
‘ 454 g fern fiddlehead freee _
prin
1981" leather chiton shipped
and
fern fiddlehead analyzed
85 g ribbon seaweed dried ike
454 g salmonberry —
itk
454 g blueberry cae ue
itk
454 g huckleberry sca il
ee
90 DRURY Vol. 5, No. 2
Herring eggs on kelp, herring eggs on hemlock branches, leather chiton and berries
were kept frozen in plastic bags with no other treatment before the nutritional analysis.
Since herring eggs which have been deposited on kelp are eaten with the kelp, the kelp
was included in this sample. This is not the case when the eggs have been deposited
on hemlock branches. In this instance the eggs alone were analyzed after being removed
from the branches at the lab. Sea cucumber, venison and octopus were eviscerated and
frozen. Fern fiddleheads and beach asparagus were blanched, then frozen. Cockles were
steamed, removed from the shell, then frozen. Seaweed was dried after collection and
stored in plastic bags in a cool, dry place. All other foods were in one pound (454 g]
amounts.
The samples of salmon were each prepared with a different variation. Most Native
women do not use measuring cups and spoons or check temperatures during drying and
smoking. Ingredient amounts are estimated. One donor estimated her smoking
temperatures varied from 48° to 74° C. The smoked, canned king salmon was prepared
using a brief immersion in a salt water solution that “contained enough salt to float a
potato’’ (355 ml/3.8 1 water, determined later by the author), then smoked 1.5 days
and canned
The “kippered” king salmon had been marinated for about ten minutes in a salt
solution which contained brown sugar and soy sauce. Sometimes soy sauce is substituted
for all or part of the salt solution. Brown sugar may be used with approximately equal
amounts of salt, ie. 118 ml salt, 118 ml brown sugar/.95 | water. After the marination
period the fish was hung for approximately six hours or overnight, until it had a glazed
appearance indicating the desired degree of dryness. The donor of the kippered king salmon
said the fish was smoked for two days, then put into cans and processed at 10 pounds
pressure for 60 min. :
Another donor used a considerably different procedure for her kippered sockeye. It
had been soaked for about three hours in a sugar-salt brine. She used a longer soaking
period because she used “less salt than many women.” She chose not to state amounts
used. After the marinating period the salmon was smoked at a “very controlled heat
to avoid overcooking the fish’, Following the smoking process it was canned.
_ The “hard-dried” sockeye was the only salmon sample not home canned. It was
briefly marinated in a brine solution, (“enough salt to float a potato”) followed by a very
slow alder and spruce smoke for a week. A long period of smoke was used because
smoking was to be the primary means of preservation with no further canning or
freezing anticipated. This salmon sample was frozen after it was received from the donor
and kept frozen until the lab analysis, simply because that was the most convenient
way to hold it. “Hard-drying” is the “old way” of preserving salmon. Fish prepared by
this method would normally be stored in a cool, dry location.
__ The dried eulachon had been eviscerated and left whole, marinated in the brine solu-
tion ("enough salt to float a potato”), then smoked and hard dried for four to five days.
Since eulachon are much smaller than salmon, “hard smoking” can be achieved in less
time than is required for salmon.
The donor of the eulachon oil had purchased the home canned oil from a friend,
then stored it in her home freezer. She thought the eulachon had been fermented first,
then cooked, in order to render the fat because “that was the way it was usually done.
ianews was the only information available regarding the sample. Instead of the routine
nutrient analysis done on all the other foods, a fatty acid analysis and vitamin A test
were performed on the eulachon oil.
‘ venison sample provided to the author had been ground then frozen for a home
high sh : pa unknown which parts were included in the sample. Because of a
gn shipping costs and limited storage facilities all the foods were collected and sto
a home freezer at -18°C in Sitka, then sent to the Columbia Laboratories n Corbett,
©g0n Via air express on two separate dates (Table 1).
Wi
inter 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
91
LABORATORY ANALYSIS
Analyses were
er ;
Oo cert ae pra ei Columbia Laboratories on foods as they were received
the persons prepari washing. Since these foods were considered read ee
oe preparing them, this seemed acceptable aa achat d
ost cases the
were visually “nae ge iy ae! with the use of a food processor until they
not done. . Except for berries, multiple tests and statistical tests were
Limits of detection were approximately:
Protein
Pat 0.2% Iron 0
DS ctvdrate 0.05% Vitamin A iis :
eal 0.5% Thiamin 0.01 mg/100 ;
th 0.5% Riboflavin 0.01 mg/100 :
——— 0.05% Niacin 0.1 mg/100 :
1.0 mg/100 g Ascorbic Acid 0.5 mg/100 :
Tests pe '
ind 13th -eepnamga Noe oe Laboratories followed procedures outlined by the 12th
Analytical Chemist re Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official
moisture (24.003) 2 OAC)(Horowitz, W. 1975, 1980). Taken from the 12th edition:
min A activity as . amen A (43.014-.017) (FAO/WHO distribution factors for Vita-
'43.024-43,038) and ribo ed in AOAC methods), vitamin C (43.056-3.062), thiamin
1.057), fat (14.019 - oflavin (43.039). Taken from the 13th edition: protein (2.055-
Meo calcium (7.091-7.094 (a), 7.095). The calcium deter
lanthanum added gd ashing the sample, dissolving the ash in dilute hydrochloric acid,
spectrophotomet ” sige apse interferences, final determination by atomic absorption
ashed, the ash = the iron analysis (7.091-7.094 (a), 7,095}, the sample was dry
atomic absorption solved in dilute hydrochloric acid, and the determination made by
AOAC Kjeldahl spectrophotometry. Carbohydrate values were calculated by difference.
De teestlenase procedure was used to estimate protein. Nitrogen was multiplied by
4, fat 9 keallg protein. Factors used to estimate calories were: protein 4, carbohydrate
Th '
Ee eaeapied reported Vitamin A as International
Conversion f ividual food content. Conversions to Retino
actors (Pike and Brown 1975):
Units of retinol or carotene,
] Equivalents by use of these
1 mg RE = 10 IU of beta carotene
Where foods | mg RE =3.33 IU of retinol
contained both retinol and beta carotene:
IU beta-carotene + IU retinol = RE
10 3.33
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
ative foods has provided data that show
trients. Table 2 shows the proximate
100 g of edible foods.
nts the fatty acid con-
The ;
these ah lage of twenty southeastern Alaska N
composition» valuable sources of important nu
Figure | sh and content of two minerals and five vitamins for
ows kilocalorite content of these foods. Figure 2 prese
ten:
t of eulachon fat.
Vol. 5, No. 2
DRURY
92
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WILD ANIMAL
FOOD / 100 GRAMS
pee ng eggs
‘aw, plain, frozen, thawed)
King Salmon*
(raw)
King Salmon
(kippered, canned)
King Salmon
(smoked, canned)
Sockeye
(kippered, canned)
Sockeye
(hard dried)
Octopus
(raw, frozen, thawed)
Cockles
(steamed, frozen, thawed)
Sea Cucumber, yane
(raw, eater thawed)
Eulachon
(smoked)
Leather Chiton
(raw, frozen, thawed)
Venison
(raw, frozen, thawed)
WILD PLANT
FOOT / 100 GRAMS
Beach Asparagus
(frozen, thawed
Fern moe
(frozen,
Black ie
(dried)
Ribbon Seaweed
(dried)
Blueberry
(frozen, thawed)
Huckleberry
(frozen, thawed)
almonberry
(frozen, thawed)
*Value
from oasis 8
DRURY Vol. 5, No. 2
T rm
8
8
8
8
8
S
NUMBER OF KILOCALORIES
- 1—Caloric values for native animal and plant foods.
Winter 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 95
PLANT FOODS
Of the seven plant foods tested, the two dried seaweeds, black seaweed (Porphyra
cf laciniata) and ribbon seaweed, (Palmaria sp.), were outstanding for their generally high
nutrient content. A 100 g sample of each contained nearly one-half the adult Recom-
mended Dietary Allowance (RDA) (Food and Nutrition Board 1980) for protein, almost
one-quarter the requirement for calcium, all the male requirement for iron and over half
the iron needed by a female. One hundred grams of black seaweed contained 100% of
the RDA for riboflavin, over half the allowance for niacin and vitamin A, one-third the
allowance for ascorbic acid. Japanese workers have made nutrient analyses on marine
algae, but there is little American literature on their nutrient content. They are
generally recognized as being excellent sources of many nutrients and some even con-
tain vitamin B } 9|(Madlener 1977, Arasaki and Arasaki 1983). Thiamin content was low
in both seaweeds (as well as in other foods). .
One hundred grams of dried seaweed equals about 590 ml (2% cups). Some Native
informants reported that eating dried seaweed is “like eating popcorn” and that this
amount could easily be eaten in a short period. Other Natives stated that they could
not eat much because it ‘swelled up” and satisfied them quickly.
Beach asparagus (Salicornia pacifica) and fem fiddlehead (Athyrium filix-femina) had
vitamin A values such that a 100 g portion would be adequate to meet one-fourth the
adult RDA. Beach asparagus, also called glasswort, is steamed or eaten raw, but can be
canned or frozen to be used later as the main ingredient of a salad. Fern fiddleheads may
be added raw to salad or steamed and eaten as a vegetable. i
Ascorbic acid values were tested for the three berries: blueberry (Vaccinium
alaskanese and V. ovalifolium), huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) and cana ake!
(Robus spectabilis). Values were lower than anticipated, and were therefore ap
for a second time using samples from the same (1980) time period. The two results yor
similar and were averaged. Subsequent analyses done in a different laboratory pant this
study, provided comparable values. Table 3 shows the results of each of these prea
Handbook 8 values for fresh raw blueberries is 14 mg/100 g and 7 mg/100 g if frozen
(Watt and Merrill 1963). or
Low ascorbic acid values could have resulted from the seven-month storage —
in the freezer before analysis. It should be noted that many people eat the gen "ate
such a storage period, so that these values could represent actual “at aes.
Possible influence may have been the many cloudy, rainy a 6
Studies have shown that ascorbic acid development in citrus fruit is — ens .
amount of sunlight reaching the fruit during maturation (Nagy 1980). ae et en acid
(1955) found that berries grown in drier Arctic areas had an increased ascor
content probably due to the 24-hour days.
TABLE 3,—Vitamin C content of berries from two separate analyses.
Berry 1st Analysis 2nd Analysis
Blueberry 3.5 mg/100 gm 0.8 mg/100 gm
Huckleberry 2.1 mg/100 gm 3.4 mg/100 gm
1.6 mg/100 gm
Salmonberry 3.1 m/100 gm
96 DRURY Vol. 5, No. 2
ANIMAL FOODS
The four salmon samples varied considerably in caloric content, with the “hard-
dried” sockeye being the most concentrated source of calories. King salmon is the salmon
species with highest fat content according to figures from Handbook 8 (Watt and Mer-
rill 1963). However, sockeye also contains a generous amount of fat which becomes more
concentrated with dehydration, so that all values for his hard-dried sockeye sample are
higher than for other salmon samples.
The salmon in these analyses contained significant amounts of calcium and iron.
However, Handbook 8 values are considerably higher, possibly because of a signifi-
cantly higher bone content. Calcium in canned salmon will vary with the amount of
bone left in any one piece.
All salmon samples were good sources of niacin. A 100 g portion of the sample with
the least, (smoked, canned king) met 50% of the adult RDA. Amounts ranged from
8.5 mg/100 g to 13.9/100 mg in the three samples which contained the lesser amounts.
It should also be noted that since these samples were subjected to a significant period
of high temperature during canning some loss of the B-complex vitamins may have
occurred. Handbook 8 shows higher values for thiamin in both raw king and sockeye
over canned and higher riboflavin values in raw king salmon. The sample with the highest
value for niacin (hard-dried sockeye) contained more than 100% of the RDA with a
content of 20.2 mg/100 g. Both samples of sockeye had higher values for riboflavin and
niacin than king salmon. Thiamin values were low in all foods analyzed but hard-dried
sockeye had better amounts than any others, again because of contentration. It is not
eeoiiay why there was considerable variation in the vitamin A content of the salmon
samples.
Plain herring eggs (Clupea pallasii) which had been removed from hemlock
branches (Tsuga heterophylla) showed no outstanding nutrient content. Those eggs 02
kelp (Macrocystis in tegrifolia) had somewhat higher scores. Herring eggs are eaten plain
or on the kelp on which they have been deposited and are always a special treat. When
available they may be consumed in large quantities. They may be eaten raw or cooked
by simmering in water briefly then dipped in seal or eulachon fat. Often they are frozen
raw to be used later for special occasions.
Each spring, when water temperatures rise sufficiently to stimulate the herring to
spawn, Native people will go to their favorite spots in bays and coves to collect the eggs.
In locations where there is no kelp, hemlock branches may be placed on the beach at
low tide and secured in place by string or with rocks. The herring deposit their eggs 07
the branches which, after several tidal changes, may have a sizeable concentration of
eggs of up to 7 or 8 cm in thickness. Eggs are 1 mm to 2 mm in size and the production
for one female may average about 20,000 eggs in a season.
Smoked eulachon ( Thaleichthys pacificus), leather chiton (Katharina tunicata) and
cockles (Clinocardium nuttallii) all were excellent sources of iron. A 100 mg amount
provides a minimum of two-thirds of the adult RDA for iron. Octopus (Octopus dofleini)
also provided a significant amount. In northem Alaska nutritionists have been com
cerned about a high incidence of iron deficiency anemia among the Native population
(Margolis et al. 1981). In southeastern Alaska this has not been reported to be a problem.
may be due, at least partially, to the ready availability of these foods. Cockles, which
are similar to clams, are frequently found and used, along with clams, in great numbers
on southeastern Alaska beaches.
Leather chiton was a good source of vitamin A. One hundred grams contained
of ee one-fourth of the RDA for both riboflavin and niacin and more than one-€
sale RDA of calcium. This nutritious member of the mollusk family, popularly _
oots, 1s very well liked by southeastern Alaska Natives. Chiton can be gatne
Winter 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 97
from the rocks of the rugged coastline during low tides. They are cooked briefly, below
the boiling point of water, and are eaten either warm or cold, with or without seal oil
or eulachon fat.
Sea cucumber (Stichopus californicus) was surpassed only by the two seaweeds for
riboflavin content with 100 g providing over half the adult RDA. The favorite way to
eat this is fried in butter or margarine after being dipped in egg and cracker crumbs.
Smoked eulachon, with its Vitamin A rich, high fat content, would more than meet
a day’s RDA for many adults for Vitamin A with a moderate portion of approximately
2-3 fish (100 g). As might be expected, the pure eulachon fat contained an even higher
Vitamin A content than the whole fish. Kuhnlein (1982) noted the high content of her
samples and the ease with which these Natives could meet their daily requirement.
The fatty acid analysis done on eulachon fat indicated a level of 32.5% saturated
fatty acids and a 3.5% polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content. Monounsaturates
comprised the largest amounts: oleic (18:1), 55% and palmitoleic (16.1), 5.5% (Fig. 2).
Kuhnlein et al. (1982) reports comparable figures for fatty acid content of eulachon fat.
She found that oleic fatty acid was the primary fatty acid with a mean content of 54.6%.
The second most prominent was the saturated fat, palmitic (16:0), with a mean content
of about 18%. This analysis showed a content of 20.5% for palmitic acid. Kuhnlein et
al. found the overall total unsaturated fat content to be 65% while these results showed
a close 64%,
SATURATED
FATTY ACIDS
(Total 32.5%)
Myristic 7.1%
Ci, Hee 0,
Palmitic 20.5% .
Cig Hy. 0,
Stearic 4.9%
Cig Hy, 0,
UNSATURATED
FATTY ACIDS
(Total 64.0%)
Palmitoleic 5.5%
Oleic 55.5%
Cis, Cis PUFA 3.5%
Linoleic 2.0%
Cie H320,
re 10 20 30 -
% FATTY ACIDS IN EULACHON FAT
FIG. 2.—Fatty acid content of eulachon fat.
98 DRURY Vol. 5, No. 2
Fish and marine mammals have attracted wide interest recently because many
contain fatty acids with long carbon chains of up to five and six double bonds and the
{2 -3 configuration. Eicosapentaenoic acid in particular has been cited (Dyerberg et al.
1975, Harris and Conner 1980, Bronsgeest-Schoute et al. 1981).
In this analysis, an AOAC procedure primarily intended to measure degree of
unsaturation was used. The procedure provided quantitation for linoleic acid which
amounted to 2%. The remaining 1.5% (of the total 3.5% PUFA) was not identified and
could possibly have included some eicosapentaenoic acid. Here again Kuhnlein et al.
(1982) results were very similar. In this report total percentage of all fatty acids does
not equal 100%. At the time of these analyses, little information on fatty acid content
of many marine species was available and no standard had been developed for eulachon
fat. For this reason laboratory procedures were not prepared to determine the possible
presence of odd numbered, long-chain fatty acids. It is possible there may have been some.
Also, there may have been unusually long-chain fatty acids present which would not
have shown up on the gas chromatogram in the anticipated time period (Fig. 2).
The venison (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) sample was provided by a hunter from
Hydaburg who said it contained more fat than most venison he had seen. However, when
one compares the 3.4 g per 100 g of ground venison with the Handbook 8 value of 10.0
8 per 100 g for lean ground beef one can see that the fat content of venison is signifi-
cantly lower.
Because the food samples for these anlyses were collected from a number of different
sources, and with the exception of berries, testing was limited to one sample, the data
probably should not be used for specific comparisons. However, there is a dearth of
nutrient information on foods indigenous to southeastern Alaska and these results do
provide basic information which has been urgently needed. If these data are used on a
Provisional basis until further clarification is available, this study will be of value to
those who use these foods.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
This nutrient analysis of twenty wild foods eaten by Native peoples of southeastem
Alaska provided information which has not previously been available. With the excep-
tion of ascorbic acid and thiamin, all nutrients were present in generous amounts.
Since a number of local wild foods remain untested, it is possible that these two nutrients
could be available from other sources,
With the prospect of increased nutritional information about foods of the area and
the ‘great local interest, every possible measure should be taken to ensure their
environmental protection. At the same time, it seems appropriate to encourage their
continued use by Native people.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
i. Sap research was funded by the Alaska Department of Health and social Services aa
ealth Project through a grant to the Southeast Alaska Region Health Corporation an
approved by the Indian Health Service whose staff conducted the work.
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assi Forest Service Botanist, Sitka, who provided valuable di
erat with botanical information; to others who assisted in the scientific i :
anc nomenclature: Natasha Calvin, National Marine Fisheries, Auke Bay Lab, Junaeu; Jill baie
Winter 1985
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 99
Cooperative Extension Agent, Sitka; Brad Sele, Area Biologist, Division of FRED, Alaska Depart-
ae of Fish and Game, Sitka; Mel Seifert, Director, Aquaculture Program, Sheldon Jackson
ollege, and Raymond RaLonde, Instructor, Fisheries and Biology, Sheldon Jackson College
44: . ce ee ee 1 ;
Sitka. The support, guidance an
1/o
Director, Community Health Services, Mt
ject by Dr. Lee Schmidt,
a aia) ci hg
. Edgecumbe Native Hospital, was invaluable.
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BENSON, E.M., J.M. PETERS, M.A. ED-
WARDS, and L.A. HOGAN. 1973. Wild
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BRONSGEEST-SCHOUTE, H.C., C.M. VAN-
GENT, J.B. LUTEN and A. TUITER.
1981. The effects of various intakes of
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DRUCKER, P. 1955. Indians of the Northwest
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DYERBERG, J., H.O. BANG and N. HIORNE.
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a aay Washington, D.C.
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aero H.V., D.H. CALLOWAY and
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KUHNLEIN, H.V., A.C. CHAN, J.N.
THOMPSON and S. NAKAI. 1982. Ooli-
gan grease: a nutritious fat used by
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bia. J. Ethnobiol. 2:154-161.
MADLENER, J.C. 1977. The Sea Vegetable
Book. Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., New
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MARGOLIS, H.S., H.H. HARDISON, T.R.
BENDER and P.R. DALLMAN. 1981.
Iron deficiency in children: The rela-
tionship between pretreatment labora-
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to iron therapy. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 34:
2158-2168.
NAGY, S. 1980. Vitamin C Contents of
Citrus Fruit and Their Products: A
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PIKE, R. and M. BROWN. 1975. Nutrition:
An Integrated Approach. John Wiley and
Sons, New York.
PRICE, W.A. 1939. Nutrition and Physical
Degeneration. Paul B. Hoeber, Inc.: Medi-
cal Book Department of Harper and
Brothers, New York.
RODAHL, K. 1955. Vitamin Content of
Arctic Plants, Part Ill. Trans. Bot. Soc.
Edin., Vol.
n the Eskimo
raw | |
fish, and mollusks. I. Protein, fat, mois-
ture, ash, carbohydrate, energy value, and
cholesterol. Marine Fisheries Review
36:21-35.
SIDWELL, V.D., DH. BUZZELL, P.R. FON-
CANNON and A.L. SMITH. 1977. Com-
position of the edible portion of raw
(fresh or frozen) crustaceans, fin-
fish, and mollusks. Il. Macroelements:
i chlorine, calcium,
phosphorus and magnesium. e
Fisheries Review 39:1-11.
Vol. 5, No. 2
LITERATURE CITED (continued)
SIDWELL, ip A.L. LOOMIS, R.P. FON-
: N and ieaauee ee en
mposition i f raw
re or 7 crustaceans, finfish and
mollusks. IV. Vitamins. Marine Fisheries
oS 40:1- Ms
SIDWELL, V.D., A.L. LOOMIS, K.J. LOOMIS,
P.R. FONCANNON and D.H. BUZ-
ZELL. 1978. Composition of the edible
portion of raw (fresh or frozen) crus-
taceans, finfish, and mollusks. II.
Microelements. Marine Fisheries Review
40:1-20.
—
TURNER, J.J. 1975. Food Plants of British
Columbia Indians. Part 1. Coastal
Peoples. British Columbia Provincal
Museum.
UNDERHILL, R. 1945. Indians of the Pacific
Northwest. United States Department
of the Interior: Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Washington, D.C.
WATT, B.K. and A.L. MERRILL. 1983. Com-
position of Foods—Raw, Processed, Pre-
pared. Rev. USDA Agriculture Hand-
book No. 8, Washington, D.C.
. Current address: 1011 Halibut Point Road, Sitka, Alaska 99835.
]. Ethnobiol. 5(2):101-107 Winter 1985
THE ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY OF
CENTELLA ASIATICA (L.) URBAN (APIACEAE)
WILLIAM A. EMBODEN
Professor of Biology
California State University, Northridge
Northridge, CA 91330
ABSTRACT.—Centella asiatica is a creeping, prostrate, perennial herb of both the Old
y of both herbal preparations and chemi-
act as a narcotic and induce comatose states.
Several plant species and genera have been confused with Centella asaiatica {L.)
Urban. The reasons are twofold: Chinese characters have been variously deciphered and
transliterated into Roman text and these derive from diverse provinces where the genus
has been used. Secondly botanists have attempted to use Chinese transliterations to
elucidate the plant in question and have implicated Conocephalus, Nepeta an
7 drocotyle. Beyond the issues of correct botanical nomenclature, marketing of Centella
asiatica under a variety of names that are registered or indicated as a trademark introduces
further complications. Some suppliers of herbal pharmaceuticals have used corruptions
of a Chinese name for Centella asiatica to introduce a combination of plant products.
” ig often presented as Fo-ti-
translates as “that which
found under the entry Chi-
hsueh-ts’ao, is the Pen Ts’ao of the Chinese herbalist Li Shih-Chen dating to 1578. The
stigation and as much
lied heavily upon an oral tradition exten-
herbal remedies already included in this giant compendium
“Tegistered F otitiens” often contain aitnses such as kola nut (Cola nitida or Cola
acuminata) and meadowsweet. Centella asiatica is also marketed in the United States
Under the trade name Gotu Kola and the ingredient is indicated as H. ydrocotyle asiatica.
Hydrocotyle is a different genus in the family Apiaceae and it has an upright riper
ome other synonyms in China are: P’o’t’ung-chien Siena ai nee ihe
ee lung, for which I have no translation. These ate but a few ais -
Werse areas of one country where the herb has found considerable popularity.
102 EMBODEN Vol. 5, No. 2
There is every reason to be suspicious of many of the eight thousand prescriptions
that appear in the Pen Ts ’ao; on the other hand, we have reason to be cautious in
pproaching the ever proliferating number of p iption and patent medicines that flood
our drug stores and supermarkets. Many of these are the same materials sold under a
variety of names. When apreparation is of herbal origin, it is unlikely that the buyer
will be able to find an indication of the genera and species involved. A case in point
is a popular laxative (one of America’s favorite medicants] that is composed of the seed
husk of Plantago psyllium that absorbs water, swells and releases mucilage. This
simple herbal seed husk is sold under a great number of patented names and without
generic or specific identification.
There is clarification needed with regard to the entry Chi-hsueh-ts’ao in the Pen-
ts’ao. While this entry in a reference to Centella asiatica, there is also a discussion in
the same place of ti-ch’ien-ts’ao, which is the mint Nepeta glechoma. A misunder-
standing of Bretschneider (1850) led to the subsequent popular belief that Chi-hsueh-
ts’ao (Centella asiatica) was Nepeta Glechoma which has no significant pharmacological
action. As a result, the herb Centella asiatica was ignored in the West for a considerable
period of time, and a serious consideration of it did not appear until the studies of
Bontemps (1942). In the interim it remained a popular folk remedy in China, Ceylon,
Java, India and elsewhere. As such, the entire leafy structure of the plant was eaten or
an extract of the plant juices was used both externally for dermatitis, wounds and sores,
and internally for a number of specific and non-specific diseases. Most commonly it was
thought to be a cure for leprosy, tuberculosis, mental retardation and general debilita-
tion of health (Table 1).
Centella asiatica is so inconspicuous that it is scarcely noticed unless searched out.
It creeps along the ground by means of numerous stolons that establish new plants in
moist soil adjacent to the progenitor forming dense mats in marshy or boggy areas.
Copious stands are found in tropical areas of India, Ceylon, and parts of China. It seems
to have few natural predators (excepting mealy bug) and requires no real cultivation.
The leaves, about the size of a quarter when well grown, are covered with a combina-
tion of glandular and sterile hairs. The flowers are barely visible to the naked eye as
are the two-parted fruits (schizocarps) that follow. The fruits are traversed with oil tubes
that carry an oil with fragrance characteristic of the leaf oils. Being a member of the
family Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae) it is related to parsley, celery, carrots and dill.
In China it was historically known as “snow plant” for reason of its cooling
Properties. It is also classified in Western herbal medicine as a refrigerant, that 1s t
say a botanical agent that has cooling effects and may be used to allay fevers. More
importantly the Chinese regarded the plant Centella asiatiaca {also known under ©"
hsueh-t-ao) as able to prevent both disease and senescence.
e term “adaptogen” is coming into prominence in the terminology of easte™!
Europe and especially the Soviet Union and Asia. An adaptogen (Brekhman 4D
Daroymov, 1969) is a naturally derived compound or plant that is non-toxic, has the abst)
to increase resistance to stress, and is effective against some bacterial agents, as
and toxins. Adaptogens have a normalizing effect by stabilizing blood pressure a0
endocrine imbalance. The question put before us is this: Is Centella asiatica aD at fi
togen? If so, what actual chemical properties does it exhibit, and what diseases 1S 1
effective against?
She ti to Leyel (1970) the Chinese referred to Centella asiatica as “el
as constituents as ‘‘vellarine, having the odor and bitter pee aks
mostly alkalin aes ses aromatic body, gum, sugar, meno. ae an alter-
native (c ne suip 0 and tannin.” She indicates the action to be that = Collec
tiotby xs ging a morbid state of being into one of health), diuretic and tonic. dak
y these suggest an adaptogen or in her terms, elixir of life. It is unfortuné
ixir of life”.
t taste of
Winter 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 103
she does not provide bibliographic references, for her suggestions regarding the plant as
a tonic and as a narcotic in large doses are most intriguing. Accounts of longevity and
virility are derived from Leyel’s treatment of the herb. She asserts that the Chinese
herbalist Chang-li-yun lived to the age of 256 years and married 24 times, attributing
this to his having drunk an infusion of Centella every day. Likewise the Indian sage,
Nanddo Narian, is alleged by Leyel to have lived to the age of 107, using the plant to
ward of disease.
Leyel’s account of Professor Menier of Paris discovering in the leaves an energizing
property which influences the brain, as well as vitamin G, operative on the endocrine
system, is most intriguing. It corresponds to the work of Jules Lepine, a biochemist who
had previously described these properties from his studies of the plant.
By 1933 the French government had established an agricultural and medical
experimental station in Algeria to study this herb. The English founded the Ayurvedic
College of Research in Colombo, Ceylon where similar studies have been conducted.
Leyel states that Dr. Menier of the Academie Scientifique in Paris reported vitamins
G and X as stimulators of the endocrine system (without any specific structural formulas
presented], and as detoxifiers of the body and stimulants of the central nervous system.
All are alleged to generally enhance metabolism.
Oliver-Bever (1983) has classified Centella asiatica as a plant having a stimulant
action on the autonomic nervous system. He notes also that the leaves and stems in
infusion have been used in India for the treatment of leprosy and other dermal diseases
(as recorded in the Indian Pharmaceutical codex.), while larger doses are said to have
a narcotic effect. ’
Reports on the effects of Centella as a tonic or stimulant differ with habitat. This
can be attributed to saponin content which is variable and is habitat dependent. The
most common condition is to find asiaticoside and medacanoside present. When arabinose
ide and brahminoside
(triglycoside and tetraglycoside of brahmic acid) are formed (Appa Rao et al., 1969). These
d
Plants (B _ However, the plants from Ceylon containe
see neeiaee maar neil d and centellic acid. This was
y Oliver-Bever, 1960. Dutta
ligosaccharide
and behavior among the children after
: dult “control group”
feeding the whole plant as a dietary supplement for 12 on _ . alpen en
levels of blood urea, serum
ced by these researchers] is that this
€ports on narcoses from the ingestion of large amounts catia
and are in need of substantiation via controlled experimentatio®
104 EMBODEN Vol. 5, No. 2
Rock (1920) believed the plant to be poisonous and suggested that it not be eaten,
at least not those growing in the Hawaiian Islands where it is known as “wild swamp
violet” for reasons unknown. The allegations that it causes gastritis and dermal irrita-
tion seem to be unfounded as regards the the general populace.
Arnold (1968) in writing on Poisonous Plants of Hawaii suggests that Rock is incor-
rect in his assertions of ‘dangerously poisonous.”’ Arnold cites de Grand Pre (1888) in
suggesting the plant is a stimulant and energetic (sic) in small doses, but produces
vertigo and a tendency to coma in large doses. He concludes, “ . . . It is obviously not
especially dangerous.”
Stigmasterol is an interesting isolate in that it is usually obtained from Glycine max-
imum (soy bean) or Physostigma venemosum as starting materials for hormone synthesis.
Most hormones obtained in a pure state and on a large scale must be synthesized by
combining chemical and microbiological processes. Starting with a preformed steroidal
nucleus is far more feasible than any attempt at total synthesis.
finding of mesoinosital (Inositol) by Dutta and Basu (1967) is intriguing. This
hydroxycyclohexane is widely distributed in both plants and animals and is a growth
factor for animals and for microorganisms. As such some have considered it a vitamin
and at least two p exist covering it. The chemical is classified also as a lipotrophic
agent enhancing fat metabolism (Sebrell-Harris, 1954). The previously mentioned com-
pounds are summarized in Fig. 1.
CH3
>
CH;
CH; OH OH
CH; Hf OH
ma C2Hs » ie
HO \\; 4 a
HO HOH
Stigmasterol. Inositol.
Betulin.
Asiaticoside.
FIG. 1.—Structural formulae of four compounds isolated from Centella asiatica.
Winter 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 105
Dwayne Ogzewalla, Professor of Pharmacognosy at the University of Cincinnati and
his student Prakongsiri Boonkong (pers. comm. 1984) have convincing data that skin
damage from podophyllin (Podophyllum peltatum resin) is ameliorated and healed by
applications of Centella in a neutral cream base as a carrier. The same did not hold true
when the Centella cream was applied to lesions caused by Toxicodendron. Mice fed for
three months with 10% dry weight of Centella added to their diet showed no difference
in weight or activity from the control group. This study continues and was at the time
of communication hampered by the inability of the researchers to get relatively pure
asiaticoside or asiatic acid.
TABLE 1.—Centella: Crude plant material.
Region of Utilization or
Derivation Author-Researcher Properties
India, Ceylon Indian Leprosy
& Madagascar Pharmaceutical Diuretic
Codex Narcotic
India, Ceylon, Oliver-Bever, ANS Stimulant
Madagascar & 1983 Bitter Tonic
Tropical West Analeptic
Africa
India Jain, 1981
Khasi & Dysentery
Jaintia Boils
Tumors
Orissa Cough Syrup
Dysentery
Diuretic
China (Fide Leyel, 1970) Tonic/Narcotic
Alternative
Chang-li-yun “Adaptogen
Narian “Adaptogen” —
Menier Endocrine Tonic
Vitamins G and X
Detoxification
Rehabilitation of onan
India Retardation in Children:
Appa Rao et al., Decrease in blood urea,
si serum acid and phosphatase
Hawaii De Grand Pre, 1888 Stimulant, Nerve Tonic
Energetic
a eee
106
EMBODEN
Vol. 5, No. 2
In summation it may be stated that Centella asiatica is a plant with potential in
medicine. It has been ignored in the United States and is seldom seen in cultivation.
As the uses outlined in Tables 1 and 2 suggest, there are a number of known diseases
for which it may be a remedy or cure and in addition it may serve as an adaptogen allay-
ing stress and retarding or eliminating the development of diseased states.
TABLE 2.—Effects of isolates of Centella Asiatica (L.) Urb.
Regional Researcher(s} Isolate(s} Uses
Source
Madagascar Bontemps, 1942 Asiaticoside Anti-Leprosy Drug
(Madecassol]} (Mycobacterium
leprae capsule
dissolved)
Madagascar Boiteau et al., Oxyasiaticoside Tubercule Bacilli
1949 Inhibited in vivo
Sri Lanka Bhattacharya & Centelloside Not indicated, but
(Ceylon) Lythgoe, 1949 Centoic acid Centelloside is
Centellic acid related to
(Asiaticoside Asiaticoside
absent)
Arabinose Ascites and
India Appa Rao et al., Brahmic acid Rheumatism
1969 Brahmoside
Brahminoside
Isobrahmic acid
Betulic acid Hormonal Nucleus
Stigmasterol
India Dutta and Basu, Asiatic acid
1967 Asiaticoside
Centellose
Medacanoside Growth Factor
Mesoinosital Lipotrophic Agent
(Inosital)
India Rao and Seshadri, Flavonoids Chemical
1969 Sapogenins Confirmation:
Presence of these in
all chemical variants
OO
Winter 1985
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 107
LITERATURE CITED
APPA RAO, M.V.R., S.A. RAJAGOPALAN,
V.R. SRINAVASAN, and R. SARANGAN.
1969. Study of Mandookaparni (Centella
asiatica) for the anabolic effect on normal
healthy adults. Nagarjun, 12:33.
APPA RAO, M.V.R.., J. SRINIVASAN, and
K.T. RAO. 1973. The effect of Centella
asiatica on the general mental ability of
mentally retarded children. J. Res. Indian
Medicine. 8-12.
ARNOLD, H.L. 1968. Poisonous Plants of
Hawaii. C.E. Tuttle Co., Rutland, VT.
K., and B. LYTHGOE.
1949. Derivations of Centella asiatica used
against leprosy. Triterpenic Acids. Nature,
163:258-259.
BOITEAU, P., M. DUREUIL, and R.R. RAT-
SIMAMANGA. 1949. Contribution a
l'etude des proprietes antituberculeuses
de V’oxyasiaticoside de Centella asiatica.
Comptes Rendus de l’Academie des
Sciences, Paris, Serie D, 228: 1165-1167.
OITEAU, P., and A.R. RATISMAMANGA
1956. Asigticoside isole de Centella asia-
tica et ses emplois therapeutiques.
Therapie, 11:125-150.
BONTEMPS, J. 1942. Gazette Medicale Mada-
gascariensis, 5:29,
RE _ LL and LV. DAROYMOV. 1969.
New substances of plant origin which
increase non- -specific resistance. Ann. Rev
Pharmacology, 9:419-430.
BRETSCHNEIDER, E. 1850. On the Study and
Value of Chiteen Botanical Works, With
Notes on the History of Plants and Geo-
enon Botany From Chinese Sources.
00
DE GRAND PRES, C.C. 1888. Nouvr. Rem.
April 8, no pagination.
DUTTA, T. and D.K. BASU. 1967. Terepenoids
IV. Isolation and identification of asiatic
acid from Centella asiatica L. Indian J.
Chem., 5:586.
HU, S. 1980. An Enumeration of Chinese
Materia Medica. Chinese Univ. Press,
Hong Kong.
JAIN, S.K. 1981. Glimpses of Indian Ethno-
botany. Oxford and I.B.H. Publ. Co., New
Delhi.
LEYEL, C.F. 1970. Elixirs of Life. Samuel
Weiser, Inc., New Yor
OLIVER-BEVER, B. 1960. Medicinal plants
in Nigeria. Nigerian College of Arts,
Science and Technology.
OLIVER-BEVER, B. 1983. Medicinal plants in
Tropical West Africa, II. Plants Acting on
the Nervous System. J. Ethnopharma-
cology. 7:45-46.
RAO, P.S. and SESHADRI, R.R. 1969. Varia-
tions in the Chemical Composition of
Indian Samples of Centella asiatica, Cur-
rent Science. 38, 77-79.
ROCK, J.F. 1920. Hawaiian Forester and Agri-
culturalist, March, 60
SEBRELL-HARRIS, M. 1954. Pp. 321-386 in
The Vitamins, II. Academic Press,
New Yor.
STUART, C. ‘ and F. PORTER-SMITH.
1973. Chinese Medicinal Herbs. (a trans-
lation with annotations of the Pen Ts’ao
of Li-Shih-Chen, 1578).
J. Ethnobiol. 5(2):109-122 Winter 1985
SAVANNA WOODLAND, FIRE, PROTEIN AND SILK
IN HIGHLAND MADAGASCAR
DANIEL W. GADE
Department of Geography
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
tree, preadapted to surviving periodic burning, provides edible fruit, firewood an
medicinal bark, but it is most important as a host plant to several useful lepidop-
teran insects. Borocera madagascariensis has been a source of silk made from its
wild cocoons in tapia groves. Use of this fabric, still made on hand looms, is largely
confined to shrouds for the elaborate reburial ceremony of the Merina and Betsileo
ethnic groups. In addition, the pupae of Borocera and Tagoropsis are gathered and
eaten by rural folk. Caterpillars that live on tapia leaves belonging to three different
genera are also consumed, and the adult male of still another species is avidly sought
for sale to butterfly collectors. A major shift in burning practice, fuelwood demand,
mortuary ritual, or dietary custom could spell the end of this man/plant/animal
symbiosis.
INTRODUCTION
‘agi (1956:55) once called them, go far back enough in time to be
the natural order. It is in the tropics that the cultural ecology f
Vasive and od and controlled | rt
eS panne forest has affected in both positive
ified its primeval vegetation.
inhabitants, who came from Southeast Asia probably by ye - secs em
described as an evergreen forest of endemic species. Future hanged
8eneralization, but ari seems clear is that human m cation br polation
the original vegetation. The highland interior, where half of oi
— lives, is the most transformed part of the island. Burning, an
“utting and overgrazing have removed all but tiny re d
on the plateau, Slash and burn agriculture has long been oe le still regularly burn
‘lon in the valley bottoms. It is the grass-covered hills that Pe ate in the dry season
. Permit tender green shoots to replace the unpalatable witheree ¢ eliminate grass and
fore onset of the rains. Land may also be torched at any en
ub species which are not palatable to cattle. In addition, aa EO For whatever cause,
ver Madagascar as a way of expressing political oe ‘
or social discon 4
Hy: son, has create
nthropogenic fire, favored by the ready combustibility of a long dry sea
110 GADE Vol. 5, No. 2
vast expanses of grass or tree savanna. The original highland forest of rich endemic diver-
sity has not regenerated even in areas no longer burned. As on many other islands, evolu-
tion of the flora in isolation did not adapt native species to successfully cope with
outside disturbances. The human ecology of Madagascar is attuned to the cultural
inevitability of periodic fire, a process that highlights the futility of classifying phenomena
attributable to culture from those considered to be “natural.”
THE FIRE-DEPENDENT WOODLAND
In many places only one tree species, tapia (Uapaca bojeri) comprises this savanna
woodland. Tapia is in the family Uapacaceae which includes only one genus, Uapaca,
comprised of 62 species, 50 of them in Africa and 12 in Madagascar. Before human
intervention, tapia was but one among many arborescent species that comprised the
highland vegetation. Its heliophily suggests an ecological position in open habitats in
the otherwise dense forest created by natural disturbances. Unlike most other forest
components, tapia was able to survive burning and even thrive in the much reduced
competition of its new habitat. Its thick, deeply fissured bark shields the cambium from
fire, and a woody endocarp inside a fleshy drupe offers double protection to the seeds
within. Vegetative reproduction is at least as important as seed germination. Suckers
from underground meristems or stumps can develop into trees, an origin betrayed by
multiple twisted trunks.
Low species diversity is another indication that savanna woodlands are an ecological
response to periodic fire. Tapia is often the sole tree, although such stands are less
homogeneous in areas with negligible human population (Fig. 1). Other tree species if
present tend to mimic tapia in structural adaptation as a result of burning that has
eliminated those that are fire-intolerant. These occasional cohorts include Sarcolaena
oblongifolia, Cussonia bojeri, Leptolaena bojeriana and Asteropeia densiflora (Koechlin
et al., 1974). Uniformity of size is also characteristic: the vast majority of tapia trees
are from 8 to 10 m high with a diameter of 20-40 cm. Tapia cannot regenerate in Its
own dense shade, yet small saplings are rare even on the sunny margins where competl:
tion for light is less. Such an even-age pattern reflects burn periodicity. Ground fires
systematically kill the tapia seedlings and sprouts, a suppression that results in the
eventual eclipse of tapia groves as the old individuals die off. Bosks of full-sized tapia
specimens reflect the absence of an intense fire for at least a decade. Many flourishing
trees grow between rock outcrops where fire cannot easily spread. Fire also accounts
for the lack of leaf litter. Instead grasses in the genera Aristida, Loudetia, Trachypogon
and Isalus cover the ground under the trees. During fires, these herbs become the com
bustible material that spreads to and kills any tapia seedlings.
Tapia woodland covers about 130,000 ha in the two highland provinces of Antana-
narivo and Fianarantsoa. The former is the homeland of the Merina, the dominant
Malagasy ethnic group; the latter is occupied primarily by the culturally similar ae
sileo people. The Bara tribe, preeminently cattle herders, occupies southern Fianar
antsoa province. A few small tapia groves also occur in the higher portions of Toliara
(formerly Tuléar) Province. Distribution of tapia falls into three major and one neroe
zones within which individual groves, large and small, are surrounded by pure grasslan
\Fig. 2). Tapia copses range from 800 to 1,600 m above sea level and receive between
900 and 1,400 mm of yearly rainfall. Sclerophyllous leaves that reduce evapotranspiT
agp a spreading root system that garners soil moisture over a wide area help tapi4
to cope with the long dry season that extends from May to November. f
In view of the rampant forest destruction on Madagascar, the sheer persistence 7
these woods is remarkable, especially given the status of the land and trees as eet
held property to which is attributed so much irresponsible land use. Both negative a”
— aeceaaetataeemeemaas ll a |
Winter 1985
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
lll
oe Kr 2 j +
; J : - . : Ak
V .
B tbacatra region of Ant ) bordered by rice terraces in the
SS aliw-onowitin tenia 4 ananarivo Province. With very little competition from other
g tapia is able to spread its rounded crowns.
FIG. 1
Plo. pe
pure grove of tapia trees (Uapaca bojeri
Positive factors h
a .
“Ae and its low ce gael tapia groves from total destruction. The slow growth of tapia
sewhere on M. yield have made this species
of remaining pr adagascar, charcoal makers and ironsm
Metal goods Lenard forest in response to the insatiable dem:
is their affirmati orcing the salvation of tapia grove’ on this ot
ive value to man who has had an ethnobiologic
just th
e plants
, but also several resident invertebrate animals.
al relationship with not
THE SILKWORM CONNECTION
madagascariensis, placed in
kworm Borocera
t closely related to the
Tapia ;
is the host plant of a native sil
the fami
ily Lasi
ae eee eapap (La Jonquiere, 1972). It is thus no
ese silkworm (Bombyx moti) which belongs t the Bombycidea, lives
£ the world’s silk. Collecting Boro-
nm
ing that in e ‘n into thread, and
toasi the filaments to spin into t read, and weav
a silk called Jandibe have been part-time a ighland rice-growing
ctivities of h
one of the mo e than a dozen fibers
112 GADE Vol. 5, No. 2
a
Fengarivo, lal ivo
ty
29 Arivonimamo
IMAMO EE.
ZONE ~ & By Behenjy
fo ff
jm 15"s
o
L vay
COL DES TAPIAS;"\
~ ZONE “?
tofjhandrahana
BED 2) remo TRE MO
BreSIL RE, off arek
Do TH £o Sa — © gM Fengarivo
My Ny Ono B
IN« C G0 @ Alarobia~ Vohiposa
Nor Fanjakanag Ambohimahasoa
Ikalamavony ®
@Tsarafidy
#® Alakamisy
® Fianarantsoa
Ambalavao
Ambohimand rosa
’s OLIARA
“A (Tulear)
* Kilometers
TAPIA WOOOLAND
TOWN WITH SILK WEAVING TRADITION
FORMER OR PRESENT COCOON MARKET
Ws HISTORIC PIGEON-PEA GARDEN ZONE
—
MAJOR ROAD
sdosbiaue ETHNIC BOUNDARY een
FIG. 2.—Location of tapia groves in Highland Madagascar and towns associated with
landibe cocoon processing and native silk production.
used in the Malagasy weaving tradition which pre-dates European contact but which
was later affected by Western influences.2 Landibe owes nothing to the silk of ra
and Europe, called landikely in Madagascar. Under impetus of the French colo
administration, the domesticated Chinese silkworm was raised on the island, but Bom
Winter 1985 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 113
byx sericulture has now disappeared from most of its former sites except in several towns
near Antananarivo.
Like all lepidopterans, Borocera goes through a multiphased metamorphosis from
egg to larva (caterpillar) to pupa (chrysalid) and finally to the adult moth (imago). Unless
fire intervenes, two generations ensue in a year, one that hatches in April-May, the other
in November-December. Reproduction and growth are favored by periods of sunshine
mixed with frequent rains. The female moth, three times larger than the male, lays
400-500 eggs which hatch after ten days and develop into hairy reddish-gray caterpillars
with black and white spots. In their thirty-day feeding phase, they voraciously consume
tapia leaves which are fleshy, high in water content, and slightly salty in taste. During
this period, they undergo four molts after which they fashion cocoons either on a tapia
branch or nearby tufts of grass. Before the pupa emerges to become a moth, large numbers
of cocoons are collected as the raw material for native silk. Unlike the domesticated
Chinese silkworm, the lifecycle of Borocera requires no human intervention, though
informants indicate that the process has been facilitated in various ways. People have
sprinkled tapia trees with water during dry spells; transplanted grass to certain locations
near the trees on which larvae can spin their cocoons; and dug small trenches to form
a barrier to caterpillar rambling. Emerging moths have been caught and tied to tiny sticks
on which they deposit their eggs; the sticks are then hung from tapia trees. Tapia woods
without the silkworms have been periodically restocked with eggs or cocoons brought
from elsewhere. During the larval stage, children sometimes patrol the grove to scare
away caterpillar-eating birds.
The native Malagasy silkworm is not exclusively dependent on tapia. Its caterpillars
will feed on the leaves of other plants, among them Dodonaea madagascariensis, a native
shrub which was occasionally cultivated in the past to serve as larval host, and three
Introduced crops: pigeon pea (Cajanus Cajan), guava (Psidium Guajava) and loquat
(Etiobotrya japonica). Pigeon pea, called ambarivatry in Malagasy and gallicized to
ambrevade, was the most successful of these alternatives to tapia. Fields of this
leguminous perennial, grown in other countries primarily for its edible seeds, were
established for its leaves as caterpillar fodder. It was grown quite widely since at least
the eighteenth century, but most intensively by Betsileo peasants in the Ambalavao
$10n. Unlike other host species, pigeon pea grew fast enough to accept larvae only six
Months after planting, Cultivation of this crop allowed native silk production in populated
ones in the Betsileo region where there was an abundant labor supply but no nearby
‘apia woods. As described by elderly informants who remember this activity from their
Youth, the female moth (samoina) was tied by her wings to a pigeon pea stalk until she
ha her eggs on it. The eggs clusters were carried into their dwellings until they
tched, after which the young caterpillars—handled gingerly because of pare ed
fa retuned to the fields to feed on their own. A ditch dug ire aa a
ce tiged the roving caterpillars to spin their silky cases on ferns or grass p
8c places within the perimeter. oo
he COO harvests a year, efficiently gathered from > eo eeyiseos
a Sage this indigenous silkworm raising. —— peanidl ielded darker and
somewh were only half the size as those from tapla | epasde voachind is
Deak in