nukak mobility politis

http://www.jstor.org

Moving to Produce: Nukak Mobility and Settlement Patterns in AmazoniaAuthor(s): Gustavo G. PolitisSource: World Archaeology, Vol. 27, No. 3, Hunter-Gatherer Land Use, (Feb., 1996), pp. 492-511Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/124938Accessed: 07/06/2008 14:29

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancis.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We enable thescholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform thatpromotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Moving to produce: Nukak mobility and settlement patterns in Amazonia

Gustavo G. Politis

Abstract

This paper presents original information on the mobility and settlement patterns of the Nukak, who live between the Guaviare and Inirida rivers in the Colombian Amazon. The objective of this paper is to provide a better understanding of how egalitarian societies produce spatial arrangements in order to organize their settlements and to exploit the tropical rain forest resources.

Traditional Nukak subsistence is based on hunting and the gathering of plants and animal products such as honey, turtle eggs and palm grubs; fishing and small-scale horitculture are also practised. High residential mobility is practised in both the rainy and the dry season; it is estimated that bands make between seventy and eighty residential moves per year. Residential camps comprise two to five domestic units and usually cover under 130m2. The Nukak case shows that forager mobility in tropical rain forests is not exclusively the consequence of avoiding over-exploitation of an easily depleted environment. On the contrary, mobility is partly a complex way of concentrating forest resources in patches: the Nukak 'move to produce'. Sanitation, abandonment due to a death, social/ritual activities, and inter-band marriage also play a role. Therefore we must seek historical and socio-ideological reasons as well as environmental ones for the high mobility and low population density of tropical hunter-gatherers.

Keywords

Nukak; Colombia; rain forest; mobility; campsites; hunter-gatherers.

Introduction

The influential group of papers published in Man the Hunter (Lee and DeVore 1968) made two basic assumptions about hunter-gatherers. The first is that 'they live in small groups', the second that 'they move around a lot' (Lee and DeVore 1968: 11). Since then, the study of mobility has become a key issue in hunter-gatherer studies and a focus of ethnoarchaeological research, particularly in relation to foraging behaviour and ecology. These studies have provided important information on technological and spatial aspects, intersite

World Archaeology Vol. 27(3): 492-511 Hunter-Gatherer Land Use ? Routledge 1996 0043-8243

Nukak mobility and settlement patterns in Amazonia 493

variability, and site formation processes (Binford 1980, 1982, 1990; Kelly 1983; Kent and Vierich 1989; Gamble and Boismier 1991), but only limited data on the kind of sites produced by hunter-gatherers in tropical rain forest settings have been obtained.

In this paper original information about mobility and the settlement patterns of the Nukak people, a highly mobile Amazonian hunter-gatherer group, will be summarized and discussed. The social and economic implications related to landscape use will also be explored. The objective is to provide new information to better understand how egalitarian band societies organize their settlements and exploit natural resources in the tropical rain forest. These data will be useful to test the models of forager mobility which are widely used to interpret the archaeological record of prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

This article is the result of a wider ethnoarchaeological project directed by Gerardo Ardila (Universidad Nacional, Colombia) and the author. Three aspects of Nukak society were addressed in the project: settlement, mobility patterns, and subsistence. A large amount of original data has been obtained, part of which has been recently published (Ardila and Politis 1992; Politis 1992; Ardila 1992; Politis and Martinez 1992; Politis and Rodriguez 1994; Politis and Gamble 1994) while another part is still in press (Politis et al. n.d.; Politis and Martinez n.d.). The data summarized in this article were collected between 1990 and 1995 during five field seasons, led by the author and with the participation of Julian Rodriguez (Universidad Nacional, Colombia) and Gustavo Martinez (CONICET - Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Pcia. de Buenos Aires, Argentina). The total period of field-work was 135 days.

Background

The Nukak began regular contact with Colombian colonists only in 1988, when a band of forty-three people reached the small village of Calamar, without any western products in their possession and with no knowledge of Spanish whatsoever (Wirpsa and Mondrag6n 1988; Reina 1990). They attracted attention because television depicted them as the 'last primitive Indians of the Amazon'. Several cultural aspects still remain quite traditional, but the fact that contact with Western society has begun only very recently does not mean that the Nukak were previously completely isolated. They are not, and should not be presented as, 'pristine' or 'intact' (see summary of the 'revisionist' debate in Stiles (1992), and Lee (1992)). Undoubtedly they were involved in complex exchange networks which included horticulturalist neighbours.

The Nukak belong to a heterogeneous group called Maku which includes several hunter-gatherer groups of the northwestern part of the Amazonian Basin (Koch- Grunberg 1906; Metraux 1948; Correa 1987). Most Maku peoples such as the Bara and Jupdu have changed their way of life in recent decades and are nowadays settled in villages and, although they still hunt and gather, their subsistence depends to a great extent on yucca and industrialized products (Silverwood-Cope 1972; Reid 1979; Milton 1984). However, although the Nukak have some horticultural practices, their subsistence is still overwhelmingly based on hunting and gathering.

The Nukak occupy an area of about 10,000 km2 between the Guaviare and Inirida rivers in the Colombian sector of the Amazonian Rain Forest. The western limit is defined by an

494 Gustavo G. Politis

Figure 1 Map showing the Department of Guaviare where the Nukak territory is located.

advancing line of colonization south of San Jose del Guaviare, while Cerro de las Cerbatanas marks the eastern limits (Fig. 1). It is still not clear if there are Nukak bands south or west of this area. The area is tropical rain forest with a short dry season. Annual precipitation fluctuates between 2500 and 3000 millimetres, and annual average tempera- tures are high (25? to 27?) (Dominguez 1985). For most of the year precipitation is abundant, with a winter rainy season from April to mid-November with a monthly rainfall peak of approximately 400 mm from June and August. The dry season, or summer, is in January and February and has the lowest rainfall (monthly average 50-100 mm).

Strong solidarity and sharing patterns and a lack of hierarchy characterize Nukak sociopolitical organization, which can be labelled as band (in the sense of Lee 1992: 31). During our field-work, bands usually consisted of ten to twenty-seven individuals in up to five nuclear families. Band composition is not fixed, due to movement of individuals and intermarriage. However, some families frequently live together for at least a few years, as we have observed in the band studied in 1992, 1994 and 1995. This band has consisted of the same five families at least since the middle of 1992. Neighbouring bands are part of a


larger group, within which take place marriages, social visits and rituals. There are at least six such larger groups, referred to as 'regional groups'.

In contrast to other Maki groups, the Nukak maintained a traditional way of life until very recently. They were wary and evaded contact with colonists, moving deeper into the forest as tree clearing advanced. A mission was established at Laguna Pav6n 2 in 1987, and medical and trade contacts were established. Nevertheless, the missionaries failed in their intention to settle the Nukak since they usually stay for only a few days until treatment is completed and then leave. At the end of the 1980s the missionaries estimated a total Nukak population of between 700 and 1000 individuals, with 350 of whom they have had direct contact. Reina (1992: 63) has provided a larger population estimate, placing it at about 2000 individuals.

Monkeys of several species are the most commonly hunted game. During our field-work the Nukak hunted monkey on two out of every three days (Politis and Rodriguez 1994), using blow guns and darts with curare-poisoned tips. Portions of butchered monkeys are distributed among the members of the band. Other hunted animals include in particular the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), which occur in herds and are hunted communally using a wooden spear. Land turtles are frequently consumed and birds are also regularly hunted. Most of the larger local animals are taboo to all band members: tapir (Tapirus terrestris), deer (Mazama sp.), and jaguar (Panthera onca).

The other pillar of Nukak economy consists of the gathering of wild and 'manipulated' plant species, collected daily within one or two hours' walking distance. The majority of the fruits have a low nutritional content and are collected in great quantities. The variety of edible fruits provides high quality nutritional components which permit the Nukak to maintain a good nutritional state throughout the year (see Politis and Martinez 1992; Politis and Rodriguez 1994; Cabrera et al. 1994; Mondragon n.d.).

The Nukak also have three other important seasonal resources. During the rainy season palm grubs ('mojojoy', insect larvae of the genus Rhynchophorus) are collected by all members of the band almost daily, while during the dry season fishing with poison ('barbasco') and the collection of honey make a significant contribution to their diet.

Finally, another subsistence component is cultivated in gardens or 'chagras' which are dispersed throughout the forest. There are three fundamental types of gardens. The first seems to be the most traditional and is very small, usually consisting of a few 'chontaduro' palms (Bactris gasipaes). These have been utilized for many generations, and their importance, in addition to being economic, is also symbolic. In or around them the dead are buried, significant events are said to occur, and rituals such as the 'chontaduro feast' take place. The second type is larger, with a greater variety of species including sweet yucca, sugar cane, plantains, pepper, tavena potato, flame, and papaya, which have been introduced through contact with colonists. The third garden type is very recent and is obviously an adoption of colonist practices. This is characterized by a large slashed and burned area and usually consists of more than one hectare. Slash-and-burn fields are generally located very close to colonists' settlements and are used by the bands which have become semi-sedentary; in addition to spending most of the time near the colonists, they are frequently employed by them.

In spite of the use of domesticated species, it seems clear that the Nukak economy still revolves around the exploitation of non-domesticated plants and animals (Politis and


Rodriguez 1994; Politis and Martinez n.d.; Cabrera et al. 1994). These greatly exceed in quantity and variety the resources obtained from cultivation.

The five dimensions of Nukak territory

There are five territorial dimensions in which the Nukak people perceive their landscape. The first is the band territory, the area habitually exploited by the band. The limits are not rigidly fixed: the territory is not exclusive, but is preferentially and habitually exploited by the members of the band. The great majority of the band residential camps are constructed here, and are linked by well-known paths. In most cases each territory borders the floodplain of the Guaviare and Inirida rivers. However, it is likely that a few territories are located in the inner interriverine lands. Average size has not yet been determined, although it can be estimated to be a few hundred square kilometres.

The second type of territory is that which is exploited by the regional group. Within this territory, band members can move with very few restrictions, visit other camps (in the same regional group), and exploit local resources during their movements. The main objective in travelling through these territories is social, and involves gathering information about other bands to plan rituals and meetings. Visits to other camps are also necessary to monitor potential wives, which subsequently brings about relocalization of individuals due to inter-band marriages. Movements again follow known paths. Again, the size of these territories is unknown and surely varies from one regional group to the other. However, it can be estimated that the area of each regional group territory is probably between 1000 and 2000 km2.

Beyond the band and regional group territories, the Nukak also travel to distant regions occupied by bands with whom they have rarely or never had contact. Some of these trips are logistically organized, since the residential camp (with most band members) remains in the band territory while small task groups move considerable distances beyond the normal regional group territory. Examples of this are the small groups of men which periodically travel to Cerro de las Cerbatanas (Blow Pipe Hill) to obtain a type of cane used to make blowpipes. Each individual collects a number of canes which are later used for the better part of the year. The small parties have to cross the territories of other bands and regional groups. In other cases, social tension between bands can bring about the displacement of individuals or families who travel beyond the regional group territory. The present pressure of colonization has brought about a re-accommodation or reorganization of territories, which has certainly increased inter-band tension, and has provoked some Nukak to move great distances in search of ancestral territories, such as in the case of the trip to Calamar in 1988. Finally, the Laguna Pavon 2 mission is an important attraction visited by sick Nukak or those who wish to trade. The area covered by these trips is the annual range in the sense of Binford (1981).

The fourth dimension of territory is distant places whose existence is known to the Nukak, but where none or very few of them have ever been. This comprises land occupied by non-Nukak people. The fifth dimension is the mythical or ideological territory, which exists in the Nukak cosmological framework.

Nukak mobility is embedded within these five dimensions of territory, although


Table 1 Frequency of residential camp construction

Bands Month Number of Days of Number of individuals observation camps

1990 (savannah) September 16 7 1 1990 (forest) October 25 3 2 1991-A June-July 10/15 32 7 1991-B July 26/22 16 3 1992 Aug-Sept 24/18 26 3 1994 Jan-Feb 27 15 5 1995-A Jan-Feb 14/16 16 7 1995-A and B February 46/41 10 4

effectively the movement and location of residential and transitory camps takes place within the first three. A very high percentage of residential camps is established in the band territory, as well as some transitory camps. All these camps are linked by main paths.

Mobility and settlement

One of the main characteristics of the Nukak. bands is high residential mobility (in the sense of Hitchcock 1982: 258). In the Nukak case, residential camps or bases (in the sense of Binford 1982) have three main characteristics: a) they are occupied by nuclear families for at least one night, b) they have at least one domestic hearth per household and c) they have a cross-beam from which hammocks are hung.

There are other types of settlements which include a) transitory camps established by a few people during travel (these camps are rare and we recorded only one of them during our field-work); b) small shelters, usually built by a few young men, located near the residential camp of a band they have visited; c) rectangular structures built in the 'chagras'. Very few observations of these were made during our field work.

Residential camps are much more frequent than these other camp types. Table 1 summarizes data obtained during five field seasons. The first three were during the rainy season, the others during the dry season. The fourth column of Table 1 gives the time of observation, while the fifth gives the number of camps built and occupied during the observation period. The relation between the fourth and the fifth column gives a good idea of the high frequency of residential base relocation, which can be completed with the information in column four of Table 2.

Each time the Nukak move their residence a completely new camp is built. A typical residential camp is made up of between two to five domestic units. The domestic units have a very uniform design among the traditional bands. A winter domestic unit consists of a central cross-beam supported on trees and posts, with rows of 'tarriago' (Phenakosper- mum guianensis) leaves placed obliquely against it. The leaves form the roof, under which are the only dry areas in the camp (Fig. 2). Secondary cross-beams support the end of the


Table 2 Residential camp surface areas

Construction Number of Number of Length of occupation Surface area (m2) date domestic units individuals (in days)

Rainy season 25-6-91 10-7-91 14-7-91 15-7-91 16-7-91 17-7-91 19-7-91 21-7-91 17-7-91 27-7-91

28-8-92 10-9-92 13-9-92

Dry season 21-1-94 24-1-94 26-1-94 29-1-94 1-2-94

19-1-95 21-1-95 24-1-95 26-1-95 4-1-95 5-2-95 6-2-95 8-2-95 10-2-95 16-2-95

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4

5 5 4

10 10 10 12 12 12 12 12 26 22

24 24 18

5 5 5 5 5

4 3 4 4 4 4 8 7 6 6

27 27 27 27 27

14 14 14 14 16 16 46 46 41 41

14 4 1 (night) 1 (night) 1 (night) 2 2

more than 2 10 more than 2

14 3

more than 6

3 2 3 3

more than 3

2? 3 2 8 1 1 2 2 2 6

32.5 43.5 42.6 37.6 47.2

33.7 36.3 85

100 (approx) 114 105 104

129.9 108.6 111.5 103.8 114

60 78

68

45 130 112 99

leaf rows as well as any additional hammocks of children or relatives. A central hearth is placed by the hammocks of the family couple. Extra hearths may be placed by the other hammocks. The axis of each domestic unit is the hearth. All the hammocks are hung and a variety of daily domestic activities performed around it. Summer camps have the same post and cross-beam structure but do not have the leaf roof.

The shape and design of the residential camp is related to the number of domestic units or nuclear families, and also to season. In our field seasons we observed thirty-one living camps and some forty abandoned ones. The smallest comprised two units, the largest eight.

During the winter, the residential camps have a more clear cut-shape (Plate 1), a result of the wall of leaves. In two-unit camps, the units face each other without any space between

Nukak mobility and settlement patterns in Amazonia

Figure 2 Schematic cross-cut of a winter domestic unit, showing the area covered by the leaf roof.

them. From the outside it appears to be one large hut, but from the inside the binary structure is clear, with the two primary hearths and the hammocks around them. The three-unit camp is rectangular with one open side. The four-unit camp is pentagonal with an open side (Fig. 3) or square with one unit detached. Five-unit camps maintain a closed pentagonal-shaped floor, with small entrances in the corners. Base camp layout is different during summer, with no geometrical pattern and no 'central' space (Fig. 4). Each family builds their own unit. The construction of a winter camp takes one to two and a half hours (Politis 1992), summer camps less.

Camp area is summarized in Table 2 which shows that domestic units form small, compact camps. In most cases each dwelling is in contact with the next, sharing posts and trees. These data accord with studies of other tropical forest hunter-gatherers which also have small residential camps, although slightly larger (Fisher and Strickland 1991: 228). Tight internal camp spacing has recently been discussed as the product of several factors: much sharing of goods and food, communal hunting, fear of predators, storage patterns, kinship ties, etc. (Gould and Yellen 1987; Binford 1991; Fisher and Strickland 1991).

Distances between residential camps are summarized in Table 3. This reveals different seasonal patterns. In winter mean distance between camps was 3.85 km (n = 12) and mean camp occupation was five days (n = 13). During summer, mean distance between

499


Plate 1 Rainy season residential camp formed by four domestic units.

residential camps was 8.94 km (n = 13) and mean occupation 3 days (n = 15). The Nukak thus occupy camps for longer and move shorter distances in the rainy season (Fig. 5), while in the dry season they occupy camps for less time and move further. It can be estimated that traditional bands make between seventy and eighty residential moves per year, among the highest when compared with other foragers (Kelly 1983: Table 7) although the average distance between camps is less (Kelly 1983: Table 8).

Discussion

It is clear that the Nukak practise residential mobility with very limited logistical movement. Duration of occupation is not a factor which determines the shape and constructional quality of the residential camp. Whether they spend one day or a couple of weeks in a site, camps are always built in the same way. The only slight difference is that some 'seje' (Oenocarpus batava) leaves are used to reinforce the roof when a longer occupation is expected. The implication for archaeology is that the shape and structure of residential camps do not reflect the length of occupation. This contradicts other studies among recent hunter-gatherers, e.g the Basarwa (Kent and Vierich 1989: 124-6).

There is little doubt that the mobility of foragers is affected by the distribution of resources in both space and time (Hitchcock 1982:248), and that residential mobility positions consumers relative to food resources (Kelly 1983:294). However, mobility among foragers is not only the result of techno-economic decisions or energetic variables (Kelly 1992: 48); it is also the consequence of a myriad factors, psychological, social,


REFERENCES TRTREE

O POST :=:CROSS-BEAM

AHEARTH ---- ROOFED AREA

I

0 1 2 3 SCALE IN M SCALE IN M

Figure 3 Plan of a rainy season residential camp formed by four domestic units.

historical and ideological. Nukak mobility must be understood as a combination of energetic and non-energetic factors.

The Nukak move their camp to a new exploitation area (or foraging radius in the sense of Binford 1982: 7-8) before there is an observable decline in the available resources

N I

I )i L

I


REFERENCES

-2!TREE

O POST C.-.CAMP LIMIT C=:CROSS-RBEAM

'W HEARTH

N

SCALE IN M

I

Figure 4 Plan of a dry season residential camp formed by five domestic units.

(Politis and Rodriguez 1994: Tables 1 and 2). This observation contradicts a common view in neo-functionalist forager studies summarized by Bettinger (1991: 66): 'when the resources within this zone, termed site exploitation area or (incorrectly) site catchment, are exhausted the base camp is moved to a new location, and the cycle just described is repeated'; and by Kelly (1992: 46): 'many ethnographic cases demonstrate that foragers

r ff f~~~~~~~'

/pc~bB// w~~

fl//~

repeated'; and by Kelly (]9932' 46)' "many ethnographic cases demonstrate that foragers

I

II

i

If


Table 3 Distances between residential camps

Band Camps Distances (in km)

Rainy season 1990 (forest) 1991a 1991a 1991a 1991a 1991a 1991a 1991a 1991b 1991b

1992 1992

Dry season 1994 1994 1994 1994

1995a 1995a 1995a 1995a 1995a 1995a 1995a and b 1995a and b 1995a and b

1 to2 al to 1 1to2 2 to 3 3 to 4 4 to 5' 5' to 6' 7 to 8 a to 5 5 to 6

1 to2 2 to 3

1 to2 2 to 3 3 to 4 4 to 5

I to2 2 to 3 3 to 4 4 to 5 5 to 6 6 to 7 7 to 8 8 to 9 9 to 10

1.5 3.0 6.4 4.5 7.2 5.3 5.2 1.7 0.9 1.0

5.4 4.2

1.3 3.1 5.7 9.7

5.4 7.1

16.7 12.5 18.1 8.9 7.3 7.1

13.4

move not when all food has been consumed within reach of camp but when daily returns decline to an unacceptable level'. The Nukak have a well-balanced and varied diet and there is nothing which would prevent longer camp occupations or a higher population density. They have access to a great variety of reliable resources, which produce high quality nutrients for all members of the band on a year-round basis (see Politis and Martinez 1992; Politis and Rodriguez 1994; Cabrera et al. 1994).

The Nukak could therefore stay longer in each camp, reducing the 'cost' (time, effort and risk) involved in movement and camp construction. So, why are they so mobile? In economic and energetic terms, Nukak mobility can be understood as a response to two principal factors.

First, mobility results from the need not to over-exploit the foraging radius. Residential moves are therefore made well before any resource depletion is observed. Camps are moved towards abundant resources available at particular times of year; thus, during the dry season, moves are made towards streams where fish are abundant and areas with many bees' nests. In January and February, during the harvest, chontaduro orchards are also a


Figure 5 Residential mobility of two bands during July 1991 (rainy season).

focus of attraction. In winter, access to patches of certain palms seems to influence the decision to move.

Second, Nukak mobility is a consequence of a sophisticated strategy of management and use of forest resources. The orthodox view of plant domestication has recently been challenged (Hecht and Posey 1989: 185-6; Harris 1989: 18). The dichotomy between domesticated and non-domesticated plants is no longer clear, since there is a wide spectrum of plants which are humanly modified or manipulated without being domesticated in the classic sense of the term (Posey 1984; Rindos 1984; Harris 1989). In the Nukak case several species are managed or manipulated. This means that a species becomes concentrated in certain forest sectors, but there is no modification of its phenotype or genotype. Within this spectrum, palms such as 'seje', 'tarriago', and the popere and guana trees are found in unusually dense concentrations throughout the rain forest - something also noted by other authors (Cabrera et al. 1994).

It is not immediately clear how the Nukak could have caused the concentration of these species, altering the normal diversity and low concentration of species that characterizes tropical forests. 'Seje', 'tarriago', guana and popere have never been observed being intentionally planted or used in horticulture. However, the manipulation of these and perhaps other species may be associated with activities related to Nukak mobility. One is the cutting of trees and plants during residential camp movements or during hunting or gathering trips. Discriminatory 'thinning' of the forest as a way of favouring some species


Plate 2 Residential camp floor after abandonment. Note the high concentration of 'seje' seeds. (Scale measures 20 cm.)

over others in the long term has been recognized in other tropical groups like the Efe Pygmies in the Ituri Forest (Bailey and Headland 1991: 266).

The other activity that favours the concentration of some species is residential camp movement. When the Nukak abandon a camp, the ground is covered with large quantities of seeds of the fruits they have consumed (Plate 2). This high concentration of seeds favours some species in the tropical rain forest environment, which is typically highly competitive for sunlight and nutrients. These favoured species are precisely those which the Nukak consume, and have become staples in their diet: 'seje', 'tarriago', guana, popere, and possibly a few others. The frequent movement of residential camps thus generates food sources in the form of patches or 'wild orchards', which the Nukak frequent in their cycles of mobility. In other words, the Nukak leave a future resource patch behind them when they abandon a camp.

The building techniques and structural characteristics of residential camps are linked to the generation of these wild orchards. Camps are compact and vary between 32 and 130 m2, depending on the number of dwellings and the season of occupation (see Table 2). To build the shelters the herbaceous layer, shrubs, small and occasionally medium-sized trees are cut and removed. Most of the medium-sized and all the large trees are left, so that the camp area remains covered by the forest canopy, with below it a filtered shade typical of tropical rain forests. Since the camp area is not a clearing (Plate 3), it is not invaded by the vines and shrubs which grow quickly and aggressively in areas exposed to direct sunlight (Kricher 1989: 81), and which would successfully compete with 'seje', 'tarriago', and the other plants commonly consumed by the Nukak. Thus the abandoned camps do


Plate 3 Area of abandoned camp below the intact forest canopy.

Plate 4 Area of an abandoned camp with a high concentration of growing edible plants.


not became a 'jungle' of tangled vegetation; on the contrary, they are a good environment for the growth of the palms whose seeds are there in very high concentrations (Plate 4). Abandoned camps are not reoccupied, which ensures that the edible species are not destroyed by subsequent human activity.

The complex system of Nukak mobility therefore continually creates high concentrations of edible plant species. Some sectors of the forest are recurrently occupied, which results in an expanding system of wild orchards, since ancient camp sites are never reused. This is a 'virtuous circle': as the concentration of useful trees and plants increases, the area becomes increasingly attractive to the Nukak. This creates patches without disturbing the natural stratification of the rain forest. For archaeology there is an obvious connotation: residential camps are not established at resource patches; the patches are 'created' by the establishment and subsequent abandonment of residential camps. This is also a way to alter the density and distribution of edible resources without the domestication of plants and the clearing of climax forest (see also Brosius 1991: 131-2). In terms of archaeological visibility, these camp clusters, produced by a redundancy of occupation of certain areas within a very short chronological span, could easily be confused with larger complex sites located in areas of high density of plant resources.

Various modes of hunter-gatherer exploitation of former living places and high concentrations of edible plants have been discussed (Rindos 1984; Chase 1989; Harris 1989). The ecological relationship between foragers and plants has been a subject of recent debate in relation to the origin of domestication, and has been explained by the concept of incidental domestication (Rindos 1984) or 'domiculture' (Chase 1989: 43). However, neither the strong relationship with mobility patterns nor the territorial dimension of the practices has previously been explored.

In the Nukak case, it is clear that, beyond the economic aspect of the determination to move, other equally important factors contribute to the mobility pattern. Although these cannot be analysed here due to space limitations, it is important at least to mention them and insist that they be taken into account. The movement of a residential camp is a type of sanitation control, since after a few days' occupation the camp and surrounding area becomes littered with domestic and human waste. From another point of view mobility has to be understood in close relation to the kinship network and within the socio-political framework. Residential mobility among the Nukak is a means of promoting contact between bands which provides opportunities for information exchange, marriage, and ritual activities. Is it also a way of avoiding conflict between bands of the same regional group.

Final remarks

The Nukak data summarized in this paper show that mobility among tropical rain forest foragers cannot be seen exclusively as a consequence of avoiding over-exploitation of an easily depleted environment. On the contrary, mobility can be partially understood as a complex way of concentrating resources in forest patches. In this sense, 'move to produce' seems to be the key slogan for the Nukak. Other, non-economic factors must also be considered: sanitary control, promotion of social and ritual activities, and encouragement


of inter-band marriage. Therefore, in order to understand their high mobility and low population density we have also to seek historical and socio-ideological reasons, rather than purely environmental limitations. The simplistic assumption widely used in archaeological interpretations, that resource structure and food constraints determine the mobility pattern of forager groups, is not sustained by this study.

The results support the assertion that past human impact on tropical rain forest has been grossly underestimated (Alcorn 1981; Balee 1989; Bailey and Headland 1991: 366). The constant effect of the Nukak, although unimpressive in the short term, would, during several generations of managing the natural resources, certainly modify the structure of both flora and fauna. In the light of this the Nukak have to be considered as sophisticated managers of their landscape, in possession of a deep knowledge of the environment which allows them to manipulate and concentrate resources.

If we assume that South American tropical rain forest was occupied by humans at least 9000 years ago (Barse 1990; Roosevelt et al. 1991), the idea of classic 'primary', 'pristine' or 'undisturbed' forest as it is used in both biology and archaeology has to be redefined. Moreover, the archaeological implications of the relationship between the hunter- gatherer mobility and resource use in Amazonia must be rethought, since it is possible that Holocene (and probably late Pleistocene) foragers developed complex adaptations which transformed the forest for their own benefit.

Acknowledgements

Field-work was funded by two grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropo- logical Research. Logistical (and residential!) support was given by Corporaci6n para el Desarrollo de la Amazonia - Araracuara, Universidad Nacional de Bogota, Fondo de Promoci6n de la Cultura (Bogota) and Divisi6n de Asuntos Indigenas del Ministerio de Gobierno de Colombia. An early draft of this paper was written in the Department of Archaeology of the University of Southampton thanks to a grant given by The British Council and the Fundaci6n Antorchas. I am grateful to each for making my research possible. Gustavo Martinez and Julian Rodriguez (who led the 1995 field-work) were excellent companions during field seasons. Many points made in this article were refined and clarified in the course of discussion with them. Valuable comments were made by Gerardo Ardila and Clive Gamble whom I would like to thank very much. I also thank Karina Obreg6n for drawing the illustrations. All statements made herein are, however, my own responsibility.

Universidad Nacional del Centro and Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Argentina

References

Alcorn, J. B. 1981. Huastec noncrop resource management: implication for prehistoric rain forest management. Human Ecology 9: 395-417


Ardila, G. 1992. Los Nukak-Maku del Guaviare: mi primer encuentro con la gente de las palmas (etnografia para la arqueologia del poblamiento de Am6rica). America Negra, 3: 171-89. Ardila, G. and Politis, G. 1992. La situaci6n actual de los Nukak de la Amazonia Colombiana: Problemas y Perspectivas. Revista de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 26: 2-6.

Bailey, R. and Headland T. 1991. The tropical rain forest: is it a productive environment for human foragers? Human Ecology, 19(2): 261-85. Balee, W. 1989. The culture of Amazonian forest. Advances in Economic Botany; 7:1-21.

Barse, W. 1990. Preceramic occupation in the Orinoco River Valleys. Science, 250 (7-12-1990). Bettinger, R. L. 1991. Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory. New York: Plenum.

Binford, L. 1980. Willow smoke and dogs' tails: hunter-gatherer settlement systems and archaeological site formation. American Antiquity, 45: 4-25.

Binford, L. 1981. Long-term land-use patterning: some implications for archaeology. Paper delivered at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Diego, California, April 1981.

Binford, L. 1982. The archaeology of place. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 1(1): 5-31. Binford L. 1990. Mobility, housing and environment: a comparative study. Journal of Anthropologi- cal Research, 46(2): 119-448. Binford, L. 1991. When the going gets tough, the tough get going: Nunamiut local groups, camping patterns and economic organization. In Ethnoarchaeological Approaches to Mobile Campsites (ed. C. S. Gamble and W. A. Boismier). International Monographs in Prehistory, pp. 25-139. Brosius, J. P. 1991. Foraging in tropical rain forest: the case of the Penan of Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo). Human Ecology, 19(2): 123-50. Cabrera, G., Franky and Mahecha D. 1994. Aportes a la Etnografia de los Nukak y su lengua: Aspectos sobre Fonologia Segmental. Trabajo de Grado para optar al titulo de Antrop6logo. Universidad Nacional, Bogota. Chase, A. K. 1989. Domestication and domiculture in northern Australia: a social perspective. In Foraging and Farming. The Evolution of Plant Domestication (eds D. Harris and G. Hillman). One World Archaeology Series. London: Unwin Hyman, pp. 42-54.

Chaves, M. and Wirpsa, L. 1988. Aparecen los Nukak. Noticias Antropologicas, 89. Sociedad Antropol6gica Colombiana, Bogota. Correa, F. 1987. Maku. In Introducci6n a la Colombia Amerindia (ed. F. Correa). Bogota: ICAN, pp. 123-34.

Descola, Ph. 1994. In the Society of Nature. A Native Ecology in Amazonia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dominguez, C.A. 1985. Amazonia Colombiana. Bogota: Banco Popular. Dufour, D. 1987. Insect as food: a case study from the northwestern Amazon. American Anthropologist, 89(2): 383-97. Fisher, J. and Strickland, H. 1991. Dwelling and fireplaces: keys to Efe Pygmy campsites structure. In Ethnoarchaeological Approaches to Mobile Campsites (eds C. S. Gamble and W. A. Boismier). Ann Arbor, Michigan: International Monographs in Prehistory, pp. 215-36. Gamble, C. and Boismier, W. A. (eds) 1991. Ethnoarchaeological Approaches to Mobile Campsites. Ann Arbor, Michigan: International Monographs in Prehistory. Gould, R. A and Yellen, J. 1987. Man the hunted: determinants of houshold spacing in desert and tropical foraging societies. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 6: 77-103.


Harris, D. 1989. An evolutionary continuum of people-plant interaction. In Foraging and Farming: The Evolution of Plant Exploitation (eds D. Harris and G. Hillman). London: Unwin & Heyman, pp. 11-24. Hecht, S. B. and Posey, D. A. 1989. Preliminary results on soil management techniques of the Kayap6 Indians. Advances in Economic Botany, 7:174-88. Hitchcock, R. 1982. Pattern of sedentism among the Basarwa of Botswana. In Politics and History in Band Societies (eds E. Leacock and R. Lee). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 223-67. Kelly, R. L. 1983. Hunter-gatherer mobility strategies. Journal of Anthropological Research, 39(3): 277-306. Kelly, R. L. 1992. Mobility/sedentism: concepts, archaeological measures and effects. Annual Review of Anthropology, 21: 53-66. Kelly, R. and Todd, L. C. 1988. Coming into the country: early paleoindian mobility and hunting. American Antiquity, 53: 231-44. Kent, S. and Vierich, H. 1989. The myth of ecological determinism - anticipated mobility and site spatial organization. In Farmers as Hunters: The Implication of Sedentism (ed. S. Kent). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 96-130. Koch-Grunberg, T. 1906. Die Makd. Anthropos 1: 877-906. Kricher, J. 1989. The Neotropical Companion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Lee, R. 1992. Art, science or politics? The crisis in hunter gatherer studies. American Anthropolo- gist, 94: 31-54. Lee, R. and DeVore, I. (eds) 1968. Man the Hunter. Chicago: Aldine. Metraux, A. 1948. The hunting and gathering people of the Rio Negro Basin. Handbook of Southamerican Indians, Vol. 3. (ed. Julian Steward). Washington, pp. 861-7. Milton, K. 1984. Protein and Carbohydrate Resources of the Mak6 Indians of Northwestern Amazonia. American Anthropologist, 86: 7-25. Mondrag6n, H. 1991. Estudio para el establecimiento de un programa de defensa de la comunidad indfgena Nukak. Informe final presentado al programa de Rehabilitaci6n Nacional (PNR) de la Presidencia de la Repuiblica de Colombia. Politis, G. 1992. La Arquitectura del Nomadismo en la Amazonia Colombiana. Proa, 412:11-20. Politis, G. and Gamble C. 1994. La Colonizaci6n de la Foresta Tropical Amaz6nica en relaci6n con el poblamiento de Amdrica del Sur. Revista del Museo de Historia Natural de San Rafael (Mendoza), XIII(1/4): 43-7. Politis G. and Martinez, G. 1992. La Subsistencia Invernal de un Grupo de los Nukak Nor-Occidental del Guaviare. Paper presented at 6to. Congreso Nacional de Antropologfa de Colombia. Simposio Pasado y Presente de los Cazadores Recolectores en America del Sur. Bogota, July 1992. Politis, G. and Martinez, G. in press. Adaptacion de cazadores-recolectores de Forestas Tropicales: la subsistencia de los Nukak de la Amazonia Colombiana. In Pasado y Presente de los Cazadores-recolectores de America del Sur (ed. G. Ardila). Bogota: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional. Politis, G. and Rodriguez J. 1994. Algunos aspectos de la subsistencia de los Nukak de la Amazonia Colombiana. Colombia Amaz6nica, 7(1-2): 169-207. Politis, G., Martlnez, G. and Rodriguez, J. in press. Caza y recolecci6n como estrategia de explotaci6n de recursos en ambientes de Forestas Tropicales: los Nukak de la Amazonia Colombiana. Revista Espafiola de Antropologia Americana. Posey, D. 1984. A preliminary report on diversified management of tropical forest by Kayap6 Indians. Advances in Economic Botany, 1: 112-27.


Reid, H. 1979. Some aspects of movement, growth, and change among the Hupdu Maku Indians of Brasil. Ph.D. dissertation. Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.

Reina, L. 1990. Actividades relacionadas con los Nukak. Mopa-Mopa, 5:17-25. Instituto Andino de Artes Populares. Pasto.

Reina, L. 1992. Los Nukak: caceria, recolecci6n y nomadismo en la Amazonia. Diversidad es riqueza. Bogota: Instituto Colombiano de Antropologia, pp. 62-4.

Rindos, D. 1984. The Origins of Agriculture: An Evolutionary Perspective. Orlando, Florida: Academic Press.

Roosevelt, A. C., Housley, R. A., Imazio da Silveira, M., Maracana, S. and Johnson, R. 1991. Eighth millennium pottery from a prehistoric shell midden in the Brazilian Amazon. Science, 254: 1621-4.

Silverwood-Cope, P. 1972. A Contribution to the Ethnography of the Colombian Maku. Ph.D. Dissertation. Cambridge: Cambridge University. Stiles, D. 1992. The hunter-gatherer 'revisionist' debate. Anthropology Today, 8(2): 13-17. Wirpsa, L. and Mondragdn, H. 1988. Resettlement of Nukak Indians, Colombia. Cultural Survival Quarterly, 12(4): 36-40.

Cover PageArticle Contentsp.[492]p.493p.494p.495p.496p.497p.498p.499p.500p.501p.502p.503p.504p.505p.506p.507p.508p.509p.510p.511

Issue Table of ContentsWorld Archaeology, Vol. 27, No. 3, Feb., 1996Volume Information [pp.531-533]Front MatterThe Transient Village in Southern New Zealand [pp.359-371]The Use of Ethnographic Analyses for Researching Late Palaeolithic Settlement Systems, Settlement Patterns and Land Use in the Northwest European Plain [pp.372-388]Hunter-Gatherer Landscapes and Lowland Trade in the Prehispanic Philippines [pp.389-410]Regional Patterns of Folsom Mobility and Land Use in the American Southwest [pp.411-426]Coast/Inland Relations in the Mesolithic of Southern Norway [pp.427-443]Archaeological Investigations of Anadromous Salmonid Fishing in Japan [pp.444-460]Settlement Pattern and the Spatial Organization of Subsistence and Mortuary Practices in the Mesolithic Ganges Valley, North-Central India [pp.461-476]From Laugerie Basse to Jolivet: The Organization of Final Magdalenian Settlement in the Vezere Valley [pp.477-491]Moving to Produce: Nukak Mobility and Settlement Patterns in Amazonia [pp.492-511]Testing the Models: Hunter-Gatherer Use of Space in the Gulf of Maine, USA [pp.512-526]Books Received from Publishers as at 1 November 1995 [pp.529-530]Back Matter [pp.527-528]

nukak mobility politis

Documents

nukak mobility

high mobility

conditions of use

forager mobility

noncommercial use

high residential mobility

nukak case

jstor archive