Paraculture
Edmund Dounias came up with this concept - tending wild resources, but not domesticating them - in:
Management Of Wild Yam Tubers By The Baka Pygmies In Southern Cameroon
at:
http://tinyurl.com/dlt5u where the pygmies harvest wild yams, but deliberately leave a part to regenerate
I have found one other example, quoted by Gareth Barkin, of Penan hunter/gatherers tending sago palms in Borneo, leaving trees to regenerate in "their" clumps.
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/courses/361/barkin.htmlI've also heard that Australian aborigines do something similar with their yams.
These could be analogies for the early development of coconuts, bananas and taro.
Does anybody know of any other similar practices, preferably with quoted URLs where I could go straight to source on the net (no library access) ?
There may also have been (or still are) similar practices regarding animals, such as, possibly:
- Desert kites - funnel/corral antelope traps in Syria/Jordan (many visible from the air) - any evidence of selective culling and release? Anything similar found elsewhere?
- Stream, lake, or reef modification to form fish ponds ?
- Tending certain wild trees/plants as source of caterpillars - mopane worms, witchetty grubs ?
- Ditto for fruits or nuts ? Honey?
- Something similar for grass seeds ?
Such practices may well have engendered such concepts as 'ownership' and 'guardianship' of wild resources long before the idea arose of sedentary growing of fully-domesticated crops.
Any references greatly welcome.
regards
Richard
