Subsistence Productivity and Hunting Effort in Native South America

The question of why people work more or less at various activities is an old one in anthropology and recently has surfaced in studies of native South American societies. Growing out of debates about protein scarcity, arguments have arisen over the reasons why people spend time on hunting and fishing. Some authors suggest that labor allocation and other societal features can be explained with reference to absolute minimum requirements for specific nutrients (e.g., protein). This study presents data from four native Central Brazilian societies on the time spent at various subsistence tasks and the productivity of those tasks. The evidence suggests that decisions to allocate labor to hunting and fishing are influenced more by the overall possibilities for production in an area than by the availability of animal proteins alone. Satisfaction of calorie requirements appears to take precedence over satisfaction of protein requirements. In those societies in which gardening is highly productive, people can spend more time on hunting and fishing and improve the overall quality of their diet.