Wet season vegetable protein use among riverine tropical American cultures: A neglected adaptation?

Abstract

It has been thought that throughout the South American tropical lowlands sources of vegetable protein such as maize and beans have been unimportant to the subsistence economies of Amerindian cultures. Such cultures subsist upon a binary economic system based on cultivated carbohydrates and protein obtained from hunting and fishing. This model is called into question by evidence from fieldwork carried out among the Macusi Indians of northern Amazonia. The Macusi depend on maize, beans, and other vegetable proteins during the rainy season when water levels are high and fishing is unproductive. For the Macusi and many other riverine groups, fishing heavily outweighs hunting as an animal protein source. In an examination of several cultures in the South American tropical lowlands, it is found that vegetable proteins enter the diet during the rainy season. Wet season vegetable protein use may represent a selective adoption of maize and other Mesoamerican crops by tropical lowland groups, who use them to overcome seasonal scarcities of animal protein. Interpretations of the culture history of the South American tropical lowlands assuming an unimportant role for maize and other vegetable protein sources are challenged. The diversity of environments suitable for maize cultivation in the tropical lowlands of South America is stressed, along with the complex patterns of human adaptation to the tropical environment