This paper takes the position that changing perspectives on ecological pattern and process in tropical forests on a worldwide as well as regional scale must be taken into consideration. Human disturbance is also proposed as a cause of dependence on agriculture by modern human foragers rather than as a necessary precondition for successful exploitation of the tropical forest. A recent debate in ecological anthropology concerns the availability of wild foods for human foragers in tropical forests. This article is a response to the five essays in this same issue of Human Ecology that examine the hypothesis that hunter-gatherers could never have lived in tropical rain forest without direct or indirect access to cultivated foods. We clarify the hypothesis and assess the evidence offered to date.
Archeological evidence suggests foraging without cultivation in Malaysia.
We propose a program of ecological studies and archeological research which, if undertaken, should provide the evidence necessary to falsify the hypothesis. Reference Cited Headland, Thomas N., and Robert C. Bailey, editors. Human Foragers in Tropical Rain Forests. Page Design by Robert B. Reed.