Ethnobiology is the study of relationships between particular ethnic groups, or cultures, and their plant and animal environments. This is the single authoritative source on ethnobiology, from the leading members of the Society for Ethnobiology. It covers the entire field, including laboratory biology, medical anthropology, archaeological, ethnological, and linguistic approaches. This unique text allows students to begin doing guided research in any area of ethnobiology, from archaeoethnozoology to ethnomycology. It is suitable for advanced-level ethnobotany, ethnobiology, and archaeologically related courses, as well as research institutes.
List of Contributors vii
Acknowledgments ix
1. Ethnobiology: Overview of a Growing Field 1
2. History of Ethnobiology 15
3. Ethics in Ethnobiology: History, International Law and Policy, and Contemporary Issues 27
4. From Researcher to Partner: Ethical Challenges and Issues Facing the Ethnobiological Researcher 51
5. The World According to Is'a: Combining Empiricism and Spiritual Understanding in Indigenous Ways of Knowing 65
6. Ethnozoology 83
7. Ethnobiology, Historical Ecology, the Archaeofaunal Record, and Interpreting Human Landscapes 97
8. Ethnobiology as a Bridge between Science and Ethics: An Applied Paleozoological Perspective 115
9. Ethnobotany: The Study of People-Plant Relationships 133
10. Reconstructing Past Life-Ways with Plants I: Subsistence and Other Daily Needs 149
11. Reconstructing Past Life-Ways with Plants II: Human-Environment and Human-Human Interactions 173
12. History and Current Trends of Ethnobiological Research in Europe 189
13. Ethnomycology: Fungi and Mushrooms in Cultural Entanglements 213
14. Ethnoecological Approaches to Integrating Theory and Method in Ethnomedical Research 231
15. Assessments of Indigenous Peoples' Traditional Food and Nutrition Systems 249
16. Ethnoecology and Landscapes 267
17. Traditional Resource and Environmental Management 285
18. Ethnobiology and Agroecology 305
19. Linguistic Ethnobiology 319
20. Cognitive Studies in Ethnobiology: What Can We Learn About the Mind as Well as Human Environmental Interaction? 335
21. The Symbolic Uses of Plants 351
22. Learning Ethnobiology: Creating Knowledge and Skills about the Living World 371
Index 389
Featured are clear, distinctive treatments of areas such as ethnozoology, linguistic ethnobiology, traditional education, ethnoecology, and indigenous perspectives. (Environment Guru, 29 September 2011)