In this article, I document contemporary highland Maya use of traditional tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) preparations among the highland Maya (Tzeltal-Tzotzil) of Chiapas, Mexico. Among the Ancient Maya, Nicotiana was considered a sacred plant, closely associated with deities of earth and sky, and used for both visionary and therapeutic ends. The contemporary Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya of Highland Chiapas are bearers of this ethnobotanical inheritance, preserving a rich and varied tradition of Nicotiana use and folklore. The entire tobacco plant is viewed as a primordial medicine and a powerful botanical “helper” or “protector.” Depending on the condition to be treated, whole Nicotiana leaves used are used alone or in combination with other herbs in the preparation of various medicinal plasters and teas. In its most common form, fresh or “green” leaves are ground with slaked lime to produce an intoxicating oral snuff that serves as both a protective and therapeutic agent. Despite its historical and cultural significance, traditional tobacco use is declining in favor of smoked tobaccos. The article closes with a discussion of the social transformations responsible for this decline, reviewing research that suggests tobacco powder snuffs may be less dangerous to health than smoked tobaccos, despite their addictive potential.

Present-day small-scale farmers near Ocampo, Tamaulipas, Mexico demonstrate behaviors that have broader implications for prehistoric human ecology. Common incidences of casual, informal cultivation of squashes and gourds take place around routine seasonal activities, often kilometers away from homes and conventional agricultural plots. These observations elucidate prehistoric subsistence behaviors in a region known for archaeological evidence of low-level food production. Such activities may serve as analogies for behaviors characterizing the extended period following the arrival of cultigens in Ocampo about 6,500 years ago, until the establishment of the first settled agricultural villages around 3,500 years ago. They demonstrate that domesticated squashes and gourds are sufficiently resilient to be left unattended for months at a time and still produce viable fruits to be collected and used when the cultivators return. Thus their use is compatible with a nomadic settlement system, and their adoption did not necessitate a drastic reduction in mobility. Contemporary cropping strategies illuminate how some plants that were fully domesticated by the time they arrived in Ocampo could have been successfully integrated into an otherwise hunter-gatherer lifestyle without major economic disruptions.

Results from field experiments in New York establish realistic yield levels for the Three Sisters, a polycultural cropping system of inter-planted corn, bean, and squash which was used by Iroquoian farmers in the 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th centuries. A traditional open-pollinated white flour corn yielded from 22 to 76 bu/acre (1155 to 4127 kg/ha); the higher yields were obtained in New York's Lake Plain region with its fertile soils and long growing season. Corn grain yields were also higher at increased plant densities and closer spacing. We argue that these grain yields, which are significantly higher than other scholars have reported, are an accurate reflection of the yield potential of the productive soils of this region. Other researchers have failed to account for the complex and critical ways that soil organic matter and agronomic practices determine corn yields. Our yield estimates are further supported by eyewitness accounts that describe a highly productive agriculture practiced by Iroquoian farmers in the 16^th through 18^th centuries. Using Land Equivalency Ratios, we also demonstrate that the three crops grown as a polyculture were more productive than monocultures of individual crops. Corn grain yields were little affected by competition from bean and squash, but these two crops yielded much less in the polyculture compared to monocultures. We suggest that the Three Sisters, while widespread, was not universal across Iroquoia.

Barnacles are a delicacy in some parts of the world, but are seldom recognized as a potential food source by English-speaking archaeologists. Pollicipes pollicipes, a species of peduncular barnacle, is widely eaten along the Atlantic coast of Europe today, and is also common in some archaeological sites in the region. Recognizing and properly recording this barnacle can deepen our understanding of prehistoric coastal adaptations in Europe and other parts of the world where related species are found. With an example from the Neolithic site of Rocha das Gaivotas, Portugal, this article explores the potential usefulness of barnacle remains in answering larger questions about the context of social and economic change in southwestern Europe.

Zootherapy is the treatment of human ailments with remedies derived from animals and their products. Despite its prevalence in traditional medical practices worldwide, research on this phenomenon has often been neglected in comparison to medicinal plant research. Interviews regarding zootherapeutic traditions were conducted with informants from Albania, Italy, Nepal and Spain. We identified 80 species used in zootherapeutic remedies, representing 4 phyla in the animal kingdom: Annelida, Arthropoda, Chordata, and Mollusca. Remedies were ranked by consensus indices. Our studies show that the selection of medicinal fauna is mediated by human subsistence patterns. Concepts of health and disease differ among our study sites in the Mediterranean and Asia, and these differences also play a substantive role in the selection and use of animal-based remedies.

Paleozoology (zooarchaeology and paleontology) depends on natural history collections, or comparative collections, of skeletons of known taxonomy. These skeletons permit taxonomic identification of paleozoological specimens, facilitate identification of taphonomically (perimortem and postmortem) modified and abnormal or pathological specimens, and provide metric data for monitoring clinal variation across space and through time. Multiple collections are mandatory to guard against catastrophic loss or destruction of a collection, to provide samples that are sufficiently large to be representative of a species, and to reduce the cost of a single curation facility. As the expense of maintenance and building of a natural history collection increases, it will become increasingly important to have strong warrants for their continued curation.

Food insecurity is a chronic problem for much of East Africa and especially among Turkana pastoralists of northern Kenya. Uncertain physical and social environments, high seasonality of rainfall with cyclical droughts, human and animal diseases and civic insecurity contribute to food insecurity. Researchers often paint the environment as harsh, unforgiving and desolate, yet also acknowledge that the Turkana use wild food resources. This research explores the persistence of wild food knowledge using methods drawn from both cognitive and ethnoecological anthropology and the possible implications among the Turkana. Wild food resources are a strong domain of knowledge that crosses boundaries of age, sex and location. I assess differences in cultural salience between sexes. Follow up questions suggest that cultural practices related to division of labor explain some of these differences. Wild food resources are clearly important to Turkana livelihoods, yet they are infrequently addressed in development programs and only marginally addressed in food security research. More research needs to be conducted on the nutritional contributions of these resources, specific management practices of the resources and how they could be incorporated into policy and development programs for the region.

Chelonians (turtles and tortoises) of the Amazon Basin have constituted a source of food for native populations since pre-Columbian times and have continued to be an important product for subsistence and cash income. Little is known about current levels of exploitation and pressure on natural stocks, despite observations of declining populations of the larger and most valued species. This study investigates how people living in the Negro River area use Amazonian chelonians, including issues of consumption, preferences, restrictions, segmentary taboos, harmfulness, medicinal use, and sale. We conducted interviews with fishing families in the city of Barcelos and in Jaú National Park, both located in the Rio Negro basin, in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. All chelonian species are used by these riverine people, especially for food. Peltocephalus dumerilianus is caught year round, whereas the capture of other species is more frequent during the dry season. Terrestrial species are collected whenever found in the forest. Herbivorous species are preferred as food; omnivorous or carnivorous species are subject to food taboos. Two species are largely used as medicines, mainly to treat swelling and hemorrhages. Fat and epidermal scutes (scales) are widely used. At least four species are exploited commercially.