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why hunters gather: optimal foraging and the Aché of eastern Paraguay
Author(s) -
HAWKES KRISTEN,
HILL KIM,
O'CONNELL JAMES F.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1982.9.2.02a00100
Subject(s) - foraging , subsistence agriculture , hunter gatherer , optimal foraging theory , variation (astronomy) , geography , speculation , ecology , economics , biology , archaeology , agriculture , finance , physics , astrophysics
The determinants of food choices made by hunter‐gatherers have long been a topic of speculation and controversy. In this paper, we analyze the foraging behavior of the Aché of eastern Paraguay and conclude that it is consistent with predictions derived from optimal foraging models. We infer that these very general models will continue to prove useful in explaining variation in hunter‐gatherer subsistence patterns throughout time and space. [Aché, hunter‐gatherers, optimal foraging theory, South America, tropical forest]