The Origins of Agriculture in the Lowland Neotropics [Hardcover]

Dolores Piperno (Author), Deborah M. Pearsall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0125571801 | ISBN-13: 978-0125571807 | Edition: 1st

This first modern, full-bodied study of early horticulture and agriculture in the Neotropics unites new methods of recovering, identifying, and dating plant remains with a strong case for Optimal Foraging Strategy in this historical context. Drawing upon new approaches to tropical archaeology, Dolores Piperno and Deborah Pearsall argue that the tropical forest habitat is neither as hostile nor as benevolent for human occupation and plant experimentation as researchers have suggested. Among other conclusions, they demonstrate that tropical forest food production emerged concurrent with that in the Near East, that many tropical lowland societies practiced food production for at least 5,000 years before the emergence of village life, and that by 7000 B.P. cultivated plots had been extended into the forest, with the concomitant felling and killing of trees to admit sunlight to seed and tuber beds. Piperno and Pearsall have written a polished study of the low-lying regions between southwestern Mexico and the southern rim of the Amazon Basin. With modern techniques for recording and dating botanical remains from archaeological sites and genetic studies to determine the relationships between wild and domesticated plants, their research pulls together a huge mass of information produced by scholars in various disciplines and provides a strong theoretical framework in which to interpret it. Key features include: arguments that tropical forest food production emerged at approximately the same time as that in the Near East and is earlier than currently demonstrated in highland Mexico and Peru; and contends that the lowland tropics witnessed climatic and vegetational changes between 11,000 BP and 10,000 BP, no less profound than those experienced at higher latitudes. It appeals to anyone concerned with Latin American prehistory. It offers coverage of the development of slash and burn (or swidden) cultivation and, focuses on low and lower mid-elevations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the book is handsomely illustrated and features a complete scholarly apparatus."-J.R. McNeill, Georgetown University, HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW (2003)

From the Back Cover

"Piperno and Pearsall provide insight and depth to the origins of agriculture from Southern Mexico to northern South America, and a brief review of the effects of El Nino. There are 14 color photographs, 22 black-and-white plates, and numerous figures and tables. Indexes of common and scientific names and subjects. Essential reading for students of tropical agriculture, ethnobotany, and economic botany." (--S.L. Timme, Pittsburg State University in CHOICE, November 1998)

"Our understanding of the origins of agriculture in the tropical lowlands has traditionally been limited by narrow theoretical and methodological approaches. This provocative book presents an up-to-date review of the direct and indirect evidence for early cultigens, a history of ideas, and the intense contemporary debates on the origins and development of agriculture in the tropical regions of the Americas. Piperno and Pearsall propose a bold theoretical perspective on the priority and importance of early crop domestication by the inhabitants of the Neotropics." (--CLARK L. ERICKSON, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANNIA, PHILADELPHIA)

"Dolores Piperno and Deborah Pearsall have produced the first comprehensive treatment of agricultural origins in the American tropical lowlands since Carl Sauer's landmark publications in the early 1950's. This book will be required reading for all serious students of the development of agriculture and tropical human ecology. It highlights the important role which humans occupying the American tropics played in the domestication and dispersal of important crops and helps redress the dearth of literature available on that subject." (--J. SCOTT RAYMOND, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA)

"The authors are active, well-known investigators with decades-long commitment to tropical forest agriculture and archaeology in Latin America. Their book is essential reading for everyone concerned with agricultural origins and the Neotropics." (--PATTY JO WATSON, EDWARD MALLINCKRODT DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing; 1st edition (January 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0125571801
• ISBN-13: 978-0125571807
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,706,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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