Michael S. Chibnik

The Value of Subsistence Production

Most anthropologists and economists examining peasant agriculture have either not attempted to place a monetary value on crops consumed at home or have valued such production at market (selling) price. This article argues that this can lead to incomplete or erroneous analyses of agricultural behavior, since a sensible farmer should often value subsistence production near retail (buying) price. Theoretical problems associated with assigning monetary values to subsistence production are discussed, some evidence on how farmers actually value crops consumed at home is presented, and suggestions for future research are made.

The Evolution of Cultural Rules

Increased attention to how individuals and groups collect and evaluate information in changing environmental and sociopolitical situations can greatly improve our understanding of the evolution of cultural rules. Ethnographic evidence suggests that when people first confront an unfamiliar environmental or sociopolitical problem, they conduct a variety of low-cost experiments designed to gather information about the probable consequences of alternative responses. After assessing many such experiments, humans develop cultural rules that guide decision making in similar situations. These folk rules of thumb concerning appropriate behavior in familiar, recurring situations commonly prescribe low-cost information collection as an integral part of the decision-making process.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of Chayanov's Theory

Salk 1970, 1973). Although it is unlikely that the leftward holding bias is caused by neonatal head-position biases or maternal manual preferences, there is at least one other human asymmetry which could form a part of the basis of holding preferences: Weinstein (1963) has shown that the left female breast is more sensitive to pressure than the right breast; like the holding bias, the pressure asymmetry is biased to the left in both rightand left-handed females. It is noteworthy in this respect that there are higher norepinephrine concentrations on the right than on the left in the somatosensory regions of the human thalamus (Oke et al. 1978); these areas mediate tactile sensation on the left side of the body. We are currently entertaining the hypothesis that the leftward holding bias is embedded within a somatosensory gradient of this nature (also, see Lockhard et al. 1979). A potentially viable hypothesis should also mention possible motor contributions to the lateral holding bias. Because holding is a tonic postural configuration, it seems likely that part of an underlying neural asymmetry would be located at the level of the extrapyramidal system. Animal studies (see Pearlson and Robinson 1982 for a review) have demonstrated a number of neurobiochemical asymmetries at this level of the nervous system; however, data for the human brain are still lacking.

The Life and Times of Bursera glabrifolia (H.B.K.) Engl. in Mexico: A Parable for Ethnobotany

The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation has announced that Nathaniel Bletter of the City University of New York Graduate Center and the New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY was awarded a 2003 Lindbergh Grant for his project entitled, ‘‘Quantitatively Analyzing the World’s Collective Knowledge of Medicinal Plants to Discover Those with the Most Potential to Treat Disease.’’ Diseases such as malaria, diabetes, and dysentery, among others, are prevalent and deadly in Third World countries because affordable treatments are not available. Yet, many of these diseases can be treated effectively and affordably using traditional plant-based medicine. With limited resources and thousands of plants to evaluate, Mr. Bletter has developed a mathematical method that combines traditional plant knowledge with high-speed computational and chemical analyses to discover which plant groups have the most potential to improve human health. With this information, low-cost medicinal plants or plantderived drugs can be distributed to areas where the diseases are common and current pharmaceutical [or western-drug] treatments are unaffordable. Cultural and wildlife conservationists could also use this information to help them focus their preservation efforts on those plants with the greatest benefits to individual populations. Bletter received one of nine Lindbergh grants awarded this year, and was chosen from more than 160 applicants from around the world. Grants are made in amounts up to

Quantification and Statistics in Six Anthropology Journals

10 580, a symbolic amount representing the cost of building Charles Lindbergh’s plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, in 1927. To date, more than

Bovine Sex and Species Ratios in India [and Comments and Reply]

2.25 million has been awarded to 242 researchers. According to Clare Hallward, Chairman of the Selection Committee, ‘‘Lindbergh grants often support innovative ideas at an early stage in their development, young researchers, and provide dollars to establish pilot projects, which often subsequently receive extensive funding from other sources, making it a highly sought-after award.’’ The annual deadline for Lindbergh Grant applications is in mid June. Those who are interested in receiving an application for funding in 2005 should contact The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, 2150 Third Avenue North, Suite 310, Anoka, MN 55303-2200; 763/576-1596. Information is also available on the Internet at www.lindberghfoundation.org.Bursera glabrifolia, a dominant component of the tropical dry forests in southwestern Mexico, is used to illustrate the importance of a broader contextual framework for ethnobotanical studies. The species is currently used as a carving wood to produce small, painted figurines known as alebrijes. Over the past hundred years, however, B. glabrifolia also has been exploited commercially for resin and essential oil, and over-harvesting has pushed the species to the brink of local extinction several times. The destruction of tropical dry forests threatens the ability of the species to recover from the current wave of exploitation. Eight years of study have highlighted two major aspects of the life and times ofB. glabrifolia. First, the ethnobotany of the species is extremely complex and, in addition to local artisans and collectors, involves pre-Columbian tributes, resource substitution, NAFTA duty exemptions, and the spread of cattle pastures. Second, a concerted effort to manage the species in its natural habitat would bolster the thriving alebrije market and provide a much-needed incentive for conserving tropical dry forests in MexicoRésuméBursera glabrifolia, un componente dominante de los bosques secos tropicales del sureste de México, se utiliza aqui para ilustrar la impotancia de adoptar un marco conceptual amplio en los estudios etnobotánicos. La madera de esta especie se usa actualmente en la zona de Vallés Centrales de Oaxaca para elaborar figuras talladas conocidas comoalebrijes. Sin embargo, durante los últimos cien años, B. glabrifolia ha sido también explotada por su résina y su aceite essecial, y la sobrexplotación la ha colocado cerca de la extinction local. La destructión de los bosques secos tropicales pone en riesgo la capacidad de la especie para recuperarse al ritmo actual de explotación. Ocho años de investigatión interdisciplinaria nos han permitado reconocer dos aspectos importantes de la historia deB. glabrifolia. Primero, que la etnobotdnica de la especie es extremadamente compleja, ya que además del uso actual por artesanos e colectores locales, involucra tributos prehispánicos, sustitución de especies, exención de impuestos en el marco del TLC y la expansion de la ganadería. Y Segundo, que un esfuerzo concertado por manejar esta especie en su hábitat natural, le danía un impulse al mercado de losalebrijes y significaría un incentivo, muy necesario, para la conservatión de los bosques tropicales secos en México

Risky Rivers: The Economics and Politics of Floodplain Farming in Amazonia

The prominence of interpretive, literary, self-reflexive, and hermeneutic approaches in sociocultural anthropology in recent years has led some commentators to argue that the field has taken a humanistic turn. This article examines quantification and statistics in articles about sociocultural anthropology over the past several decades in six U.S. journals, assuming that the proportion of articles using these methods at any given time is a rough indicator of the balance between humanistic and scientific approaches. Although there has been a reduction in recent years in the proportion of articles using quantification and statistics in these journals, the overall drop has not been nearly as marked as many writers suggest. A notable shift away from quantification has occurred in the American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist, and Ethnology. The proportion of articles using quantification and statistics, however, has increased greatly in the Journal of Anthropological Research and remained about the same in Current Anthropology and Human Organization.

Quasi-ethnic groups in Amazonia

Despite religious sanctions against the slaughter of cattle, bovine age, sex, and species ratios in all India and Kerala are systematically adjusted to demographic, technological, economic, and environmental conditions. While it is not denied that the apotheosis of cattle has influenced the management of Indias bovine stocks, religious beliefs cannot account for the most important regional and local variations in the utilization of these animals.