The Ecology of the Barí Rainforest Horticulturalists of Latin America |
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Author:
| Beckerman, Stephen Lizarralde, Roberto |
ISBN: | 978-0-292-74819-4 |
Publication Date: | Nov 2013 |
Publisher: | University of Texas Press
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Book Format: | Hardback |
List Price: | USD $55.00 |
Book Description:
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Inhabiting the rainforest of the southwest Maracaibo Basin, split by the border between Colombia and Venezuela, the Bar#65533; have survived centuries of incursions. Anthropologist Roberto Lizarralde began studying the Bar#65533; in 1960, when he made the first modern peaceful contact with this previously unreceptive people; he was joined by anthropologist Stephen Beckerman in 1970. The Ecology of the Bar#65533; showcases the findings of their singular long-term study.
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More DescriptionInhabiting the rainforest of the southwest Maracaibo Basin, split by the border between Colombia and Venezuela, the Bar#65533; have survived centuries of incursions. Anthropologist Roberto Lizarralde began studying the Bar#65533; in 1960, when he made the first modern peaceful contact with this previously unreceptive people; he was joined by anthropologist Stephen Beckerman in 1970. The Ecology of the Bar#65533; showcases the findings of their singular long-term study.
Detailing the Bar#65533;'s relations with natural and social environments, this work presents quantitative subsistence data unmatched elsewhere in anthropological publications. The authors' lengthy longitudinal fieldwork provided the rare opportunity to study a tribal people before, during, and after their aboriginal patterns of subsistence and reproduction were eroded by the modern world. Of particular interest is the book's exploration of partible paternity--the widespread belief in lowland South America that a child can have more than one biological father. The study illustrates its quantitative findings with an in-depth biographical sketch of the remarkable life of an individual Bar#65533; woman and a history of Bar#65533; relations with outsiders, as well as a description of the rainforest environment that has informed all aspects of Bar#65533; history for the past five hundred years. Focusing on subsistence, defense, and reproduction, the chapters beautifully capture the Bar#65533;'s traditional culture and the loss represented by its substantial transformation over the past half-century.