Ephemeral work group formation of Jenu Kuruba honey collectors and late 19th Century Colorado silver prospectors

摘要

Humans frequently form short-lived cooperative groups to accomplish subsistence and economic tasks. We explore the ecological and cultural factors behind ephemeral work-group formation in two disparate cultural contexts: groups foraging for wild honey in present day South India and groups prospecting for silver ore in the Elk Mountain Mining District of Colorado in the late 19th century. Contrary to traditional economic foraging predictions, we find little evidence that per capita yields are the most important factor in determining size and composition of ephemeral work groups. We explore factors in each of these cultures that may be of importance for group formation such as kinship, reputation, and pleasure. Models that only incorporate economic parameters will make poor predictions of how humans interact with their environments.C1 [Demps, Kathryn] Boise State Univ, Dept Anthropol, Boise, ID 83725 USA. [Demps, Kathryn] French Inst Pondicherry, Dept Ecol, Pondicherry 605001, India. [Klemetti, Susan M. Glover] Denison Univ, Dept Environm Studies, Granville, OH 43023 USA. [Klemetti, Susan M. Glover] Rocky Mt Biol Labs, Crested Butte, CO 81224 USA.RP Demps, K (reprint author), Boise State Univ, Dept Anthropol, 1910 Univ Dr, Boise, ID 83725 USA.EM kathryndemps@boisestate.eduFU NSF-Cultural Anthropology Program [BSC-0726612]; ANR-French National Research Agency Project [ANR-05-PADD-0XX]FX This project would simply not have been possible without the devotion of our tireless research assistants in India and the USA; M.G. Jenukalla, Mary King, Devin Snyder, Jessica Rockwell, Charles Kelada, Emily Bergmann and Colin Cannell. We received copious logistical aid from the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab and the Karnataka Forest Department via Dr. C.G. Kushalappa. Special thanks also goes to Dr. Mark Grote for statistical advice. We also appreciate the time Drs. Bruce Winterhalder, Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, and Richard McElreath devoted to improving this project. Thank you to the Jenu Kuruba communities of Chottepare, Bassavanhalli, Diddali, Diddali Colony and Thathalli, as well as the founders of Gothic, CO, USA. Research with the Jenu Kuruba was funded by NSF-Cultural Anthropology Program (BSC-0726612) and ANR-French National Research Agency Project (ANR-05-PADD-0XX Public Policies and Traditional Management of Trees and Forests-POPULAR). The work in India was part of the project Managing Biodiversity in Mountain Landscapes (http://www.ifpindia.org/Managing-Biodiversity-in-Mountain-Landscapes.ht ml).NR 56