Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The tropical rain forest: Is it a productive environment for human foragers?

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A recent debate in ecological anthropology concerns the availability of wild foods for human foragers in tropical forests. This article is a response to the five essays in this same issue of Human Ecology that examine the hypothesis that hunter-gatherers could never have lived in tropical rain forest without direct or indirect access to cultivated foods. We clarify the hypothesis and assess the evidence offered to date. Archeological evidence suggests foraging without cultivation in Malaysia. We propose a program of ecological studies and archeological research which, if undertaken, should provide the evidence necessary to falsify the hypothesis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Anthropological Association (1991a). Program: American Anthropological Association 90th Annual Meeting, Chicago. American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Anthropological Association (1991b). Abstracts: American Anthropological Association 90th Annual Meeting, Chicago, American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alcorn, J. B. (1981). Huastec noncrop resource management: Implications for prehistoric rain forest management.Human Ecology 9: 395–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, M. S. (1985). The rain forest of northeast Luzon and Agta foragers. In Griffin, P. B., and Estioko-Griffin, A. (eds.),The Agta of Northeastern Luzon: Recent Studies. San Carlos Publications, Cebu City, Philippines, pp. 45–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahuchet, S. (1990). Food resources of the rain forest. In Hladik, C. M., Bahuchet, S., and de Garine, I. (eds.),Food and Nutrition in the African Rain Forest. UNESCO, Paris, pp. 19–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C. (1990). Exciting opportunities in tropical rain forests: A reply to Townsend.American Anthropologist 92: 747–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C. (1991).The Behavioral Ecology of Efe Pygmy Men in the Ituri Forest, Zaire. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C., and Peacock, N. R. (1988). Efe Pygmies of northeast Zaire: Subsistence strategies in the Ituri forest. In de Garine, L, and Harrison, G. A. (eds.),Coping with Uncertainty in the Food Supply. Clarendon, Oxford, pp. 88–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C., Head, G., Jenike, M., Owen, B., Rechtman, R., and Zechenter, E. (1989). Hunting and gathering in tropical rain forest: Is it possible?American Anthropologist 91: 59–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C., Jenike, M., and Rechtman, R. (1991). Reply to Colinvaux and Bush.American Anthropologist 93: 160–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balée, W. (1987). Cultural forests of the Amazon.Garden 11(6): 12–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balée, W. (1989). The culture of Amazonian forests. In Posey, D. A., and Balée, W. (eds.),Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies. Advances in Economic Botany (Vol. 7). New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, pp. 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood, P. (1985).Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago. Academic Press, Sydney.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brosius, J. P. (1986). River, forest and mountain: The Penan Gang landscape.Sarawak Museum Journal 36 (No. 57, New Series): 173–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brosius, J. P. (1990). Penan hunter-gatherers of Sarawak, East Malaysia.AnthroQuest 42: 2–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A. H. (1965). Elementary food production by the Australian Aborigines.Mankind 6: 206–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charnov, E. (1976). Optimal foraging: The marginal value theorem.Theoretical Population Biology 9: 129–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colchester, M. (1984). Rethinking stone age economics: Some speculations concerning the pre-Columbian Yanoama economy.Human Ecology 12: 291–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colinvaux, P. A., and Bush, M. B. (1991). The rain-forest ecosystem as a resource for hunting and gathering.American Anthropologist 93: 153–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, J. H. (1978). Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs.Science 199: 1302–1310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dounias, E. (1989). Esquisse de l'economie de predation d'une communaute de Chasseurs-Cueilleurs Kubu-Sumatra-1989. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Ecologie Générale, 4, Avenue du Petit Chateau, 91800 Brunoy (Essonne), Paris (unpublished report).

  • Dounias, E. (1991). Cultural relations of Baka hunter-gatherers to wild yams (East Cameroon rainforest). Poster session presented at the International Symposium, “Food and Nutrition in the Tropical Forest” (sponsored by UNESCO), Paris, France, September 10–13, Résumés des Communications/Abstracts, Unesco/CNRS, Paris, p. 103.

  • Dwyer, P. D., and Minnegal, M. (1990). Yams and megapode mounds in the lowland rain forest of Papua New Guinea.Human Ecology 18: 177–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellen, R. (1988). Foraging, starch extraction and the sedentary lifestyle in the lowland rain-forest of central Seram. In Ingold, T., Riches, D., and Woodburn, J. (eds.),Hunters and Gatherers 1: History, Evolution and Social Change. Berg, Oxford, pp. 117–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endicott, K. (1983). The effects of slave raiding on the aborigines of the Malay Peninsula. In Reid, A. (ed.),Slavery, Bondage and Dependency in Southeast Asia. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, pp. 216–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endicott, K. (1984). The economy of the Batek of Malaysia: Annual and historical perspectives.Research in Economic Anthropology 6: 29–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, I. H. N. (1937/1968).The Negritos of Malaya. Frank Cass and Co., London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flenley, J. (1979).The Equatorial Rain Forest: A Geological History. Butterworths, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodland, R., and Irwin, H. (1975).Amazon Jungle: Green Hell to Red Desert? Elsevier, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman, C. (1971). The Hoabinhian and after: Subsistence patterns in Southeast Asia during the late Pleistocene and early recent periods.World Archaeology 2: 300–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, P. B., and Estioko-Griffin, A. (eds.). (1985).The Agta of Northeastern Luzon: Recent Studies. San Carlos Publications, Cebu City, Philippines.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, D. R. (1975). Protein capture and cultural development in the Amazon basis.American Anthropologist 77: 526–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallsworth, E. G. (1982). The human ecology of tropical forest. In Hallsworth, E. G. (ed.),Socioeconomic Effects and Constraints in Tropical Forest Management. Wiley, New York, pp. 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hames, R. B. (1979). A comparison of the efficiencies of the shotgun and bow in neotropical forest hunting.Human Ecology 7: 219–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, M. (1988).Culture, People, Nature (5th Ed.). Harper and Row, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, T. B., and Hart, J. A. (1986). The ecological basis of hunter-gatherer subsistence in African rain forests: The Mbuti of eastern Zaire.Human Ecology 14: 29–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes, K., and O'Connell, J. F. (1981). Affluent hunters? Some comments in light of the Alyawara case.American Anthropologist 81: 622–626.

    Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N. (1986). Why Foragers Do Not Become Farmers: A Historical Study of a Changing Ecosystem and Its Effect on a Negrito Hunter-Gatherer Group in the Philippines. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N. (1987). The wild yam question: How well could independent hunter-gatherers live in a tropical rain forest ecosystem?Human Ecology 15: 463–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N. (1988). Ecosystemic change in a Philippine tropical rainforest and its effect on a Negrito foraging society.Tropical Ecology 29: 121–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N. (1992). What did the Tasaday eat? In Headland, T. N. (ed.),The Tasaday Controversy: Assessing the Evidence. Special Publication No. 28 (Scholarly Series), American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N., and Reid, L. A. (1989). Hunter-gatherers and their neighbors from prehistory to the present.Current Anthropology 30: 43–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N., and Reid, L. A. (1991). Holocene foragers and interethnic trade: A critique of the myth of isolated independent hunter-gatherers. In Gregg, S. A. (ed.),Between Bands and States. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, pp. 333–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hecht, S. B., and Posey, D. A. (1989). Preliminary results on soil management techniques of the Kayapo Indians. In Posey, D. A., and Balée, W. (eds.),Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies. Advances in Economic Botany (Vol. 7). New York Botanical Garden, New York, pp. 174–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, K., and Hawkes, K. (1983). Neotropical hunting among the Ache of eastern Paraguay. In Hames, R. B., and Vickers, W. T. (eds.),Adaptive Responses of Native Amazonians. Academic Press, New York, pp. 139–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, A., Bahuchet, S., Ducatillion, C., and Hladik, C. (1984). Les plantes a tubercule de la foret dense d'Afrique Centrale.La Terre et la Vie 39: 249–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, C. M., and Hladik, A. (1990). Food resources of the rain forest. In Hladik, C. M., Bahuchet, S., and de Garine, I. (eds.),Food and Nutrition in the African Rain Forest. UNESCO, Paris, pp. 14–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huffman, C. (1986).The Punan: Hunters and Gatherers of Borneo. UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmberg, A. (1969).Nomads of the Lang Bow. Natural History Press, Garden City, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbel, S. P. (1979). Tree dispersion, abundance and diversity in a tropical dry forest.Science 203: 1299–1308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurtado, A. M., and Hill, K. (1989). Experimental studies of tool efficiency among Machiguenga women and implications for root-digging foragers.Journal of Anthropological Research 45: 207–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutterer, K. (1983). The natural and cultural history of Southeast Asian agriculture: Ecological and evolutionary considerations.Anthropos 78: 169–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, K. T., and Madsen, D. B. (1989). Calculating the cost of resource transportation: A Great Basin example.Current Anthropology 30: 529–534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kedit, P. M. (1982). An ecological survey of the Penan.Sarawak Museum Journal 30(5) (Special Issue No. 2): 225–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lathrap, D. W. (1968). The “hunting” economies of the tropical forest zone of South America: An attempt at historical perspective. In Lee, R. B., and DeVore, I. (eds.),Man the Hunter. Aldine, New York, pp. 23–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lathrap, D. W. (1970).The Upper Amazon. Thames and Hudson, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. B. (1979).The !Kung San: Men, Women and Work in a Foraging Society. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung, W. W. (1968).Food Composition Table for Use in Africa. FAO, Rome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loung, J-F. (1991). Cameroonian Pygmies facing the insufficient food plant standing crop available in the rain forest. Paper presented at the International Symposium, “Food and Nutrition in the Tropical Forest” (sponsored by UNESCO), Paris, France, September 10–13; Résumés des Communications/Abstracts, Unesco/CNRS, Paris, p. 74.

  • Meggers, B. J. (1985). Aboriginal adaptation to Amazonia. In Trance, G. T., and Lovejoy, T. E. (eds.),Key Environments: Amazonia. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 307–327.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, E. (1989). Models of native and folk adaptation in the Amazon. In Posey, D. A., and Balée, W. (eds.),Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies. Advances in Economic Botany (Vol. 7). New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, pp. 22–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Needham, R. (1972). Punan-Penan. In Lebar, F. M. (ed.),Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast Asia (Vol. 1). HRAF Press, New Haven, pp. 176–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheimer, J. R., and Lang, G. E. (1969). Cebus monkey: Effect on branching of Gustavia trees.Science 165: 187–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, J. T. (1978). Hunter-gatherer/farmer exchange.American Anthropologist 80: 335–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson, D. W. (1985).African Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Bush, M. B., and Colinvaux, P. A. (1990). Paleoenvironments and human occupation in late-glacial Panama.Quaternary Research 33: 108–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posey, D. A. (1985). Ethnoecology and applied anthropology in Amazonian development.Human Organization 43: 95–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Priest, P. N. (1987). A contribution to the comparative studies in the Guarani linguistic family.Language Science 9(1): 17–20 (Originally published in Spanish inNotas Linguisticas de Bolivia, No. 10, 1980, Instituto Linguistico de Verano, Riberalta, Bolivia).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodman, P. S., and McHenry, H. M. (1980). Bioenergetics and the origin of hominid bipedalism.American Journal of Physical Anthropology 52: 103–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roosevelt, A. (1989). Resource management in Amazonia before the Conquest: Beyond ethnographic projection. In Posey, D. A., and Balée, W. (eds.),Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies. Advances in Economic Botany (Vol. 7). New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, pp. 30–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, J. (1990).Central Borneo: Ethnic Identity and Social Life in a Stratified Society. Oxford, Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schebesta, P. (1927/1973).Among the Forest Dwarfs of Malaya. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoener, T. (1971). Theory of feeding strategies.Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11: 369–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sponsel, L. E. (1986). Amazon ecology and adaptation.Annual Review of Anthropology 15: 67–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearman, A. M. (1984). The Yuquí connection: Another look at Siriono deculturation.American Anthropologist 86: 630–650.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearman, A. M. (1987).No Longer Nomads: The Siriono Revisited. Hamilton Press, Lanham.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearman, A. M. (1989a).Yuquí: Forest Nomads in a Changing World. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearman, A. M. (1989b). Yuquí foragers in the Bolivian Amazon: Subsistence strategies, prestige, and leadership in an acculturating society.Journal of Anthropological Research 45: 219–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearman, A. M. (1990). The effects of settler incursion on fish and game resources of the Yuquí.Human Organization 49: 373–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, P. K. (1990). On the possibility/impossibility of tropical forest hunting and gathering.American Anthropologist 92: 745–747.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, W. H. (1969). Stone and steel tool use in a New Guinea society.Ethnology 8: 199–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner, D. (1983). Why do the Makranoti trek? In Hames, R. B., and Vickers, W. T. (eds.),Adaptive Responses of Native Amazonians. Academic Press, New York, pp. 225–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, J. P., and O'Connell, J. (1982).A Prehistory of Australia, New Guinea and Sahal. Academic Press, Sydney.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yost, J. A., and Kelley, P. M. (1983). Shotguns, blowguns, and spears: The analysis of techbanological efficiency. In Hames, R. B., and Vickers, W. T. (eds.),Adaptive Responses of Native Amazonians. Academic Press, New York, pp. 189–224.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, UCLA, 90024, Los Angeles, California

    Robert C. Bailey

  2. Summer Institute of Linguistics, 7500 West Camp Wisdom Road, 75236, Dallas, Texas

    Thomas N. Headland

Authors
  1. Robert C. Bailey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas N. Headland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bailey, R.C., Headland, T.N. The tropical rain forest: Is it a productive environment for human foragers?. Hum Ecol 19, 261–285 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00888748

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00888748

Key words

Search

Navigation