Women, Horticulture, and Society in Tropical America

Abstract

908AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [79, 19771 ing sociocultural integration. We must train ourselves to identify patterns of agglomeration without being forced to rely upon questionable methods of population estimation.I wish to make these points: (1) The Central Place model remains of undemonstrated utility to anthropologists in other than economic analyses, and it must be used (if at all) in conjunction with other models; (2) To explain urban phenomena more successfully, we must not hesitate to alter our models to fit the data, rather than reanalyzing the data until they conform to the ideal model; (3) The constructive critical discussion of locational models is now underway. It is particularly important to scrutinize the model most frequently chosen by anthropologists in order to determine its appropriateness to anthropological inquiry; overwhelmingly, the most pervasive choice is the CP model. Central Place is, in fact, in danger of becoming, in Clarke's (1972) sense, a "controlling model" in the anthropological analysis of regional systems. In an otherwise highly stimulating and cogent paper, Lancaster (AA 78:639-664, 1976) errs somewhat when he departs from the African material with which he is obviously most familiar to cite corroborative evidence from the New World. References Cited

Gender and social dynamics in swidden and homegardens in Latin America

“…Generally, men formally control swidden garden land and allocate it to women Goldman, 1963;Posey, 1984). However, neither of these phenomenon is pervasive -for example, "The Cubeo always speaks of a particular manioc plot as belonging to a woman, the only instance of individual possession of land in Cubeo society" (Thompson, 1977).…”

“…Among Amazonia Amerindians, male prestige is often related to ceremonial exchange of food products such as manioc beer Heckler, 2004;Thompson, 1977). Women may also gain prestige as producers of the crops that men exchange as occurs among the Cubeo (Goldman, 1963), the Achuar and the Piaroa (Heckler, 2004).…”