The authors apply genetic tests and new approaches to archaeological and phytological research to the origin and development of crops in the region between Mexico and the southern rim of the Amazon Basin. The result is the first modern examination of early horticulture and agriculture in this region, which has traditionally been overlooked in favour of the more accessible Near East.
Background of Tropical Agricultural Origins. The Neotropical Ecosystem in the Present and the Past. The Phytogeography of Neotropical Crops and Their Putative wild Ancestors. The Evolution of Foraging and Food Production. From Small-Scale Horticulture to the Formative Period: The Development of Agriculture. The Relationship of Neotropical Food Production to Food Production from Other Areas of the World. References. Index of Common and Scientific Plant Names. Subject Index.
Dolores Piperno works at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Her research includes the study of Late Pleistocene and Holocene environments and subsistence in tropical biomes through the analysis of micro-botanical remains (phytoliths and pollen), with emphasis on adaptations to the Neotropical forest. Deborah Pearsall, who received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois, is head of the American Archaeology Division's Paleoethnobotany Laboratory, which offers facilities for the processing and analysis of archaeological botanical remains and phytoliths and maintains comparative collections from North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Her current research is focused on the evolution of agricultural systems in Ecuador and on refining phytolith classification and processing procedures.
Their approach is deeply informed by evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology...the book is handsomely illustrated and features a complete scholarly apparatus.-HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW (2003) This volume and the two volumes Spectral Analysis and Time Series (Priestley, 1981), constitute an indispensable reference set for time series analysts as well as forecasters...For those economists who study time series, this book should serve as a basic introduction to essential material that has previously been scattered in various works. This book probably represents the most general analytical treatment of the ARMA type approach to non-linear analysis currently available...Priestley, as usual, is clear and succinct. The space he gives to sharing institutions (especially when relating these topics to optimal control problems) and to explanation in both time and frequency domains will be much appreciated by economists. There are detailed subject and author indices, and extensive use of bibliographical references. --MARJI LINES, University of Udine, Italy, in RICERCHE ECONOMICHE