Description: From Gustavo Politis, one of the most renowned South American archaeologists, comes the first in-depth study in English of the last "undiscovered" people of the Amazon.
Review Quotes:
Politis has written a book that shows that the Nukak choose to emphasize foraging for symbolic and sociocultural reasons and that horticulture and foraging are not pure types...The Nukak are the way they are because they prefer to live as such. Just as there are different ways of making a living in Amazonia, so too there are different ways to define and practice "the good life," the imagined pragmatics of what it means to be fully human....Politis's rich ethnography provides good data for the Nukak, who are an extremely interesting and creative group of people. Overall, I recommend this book for specialists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates.
-Michael A. Uzendoski, Current AnthropologyThis volume forms an informative and stimulating book for a broadaudience with interests in archaeology, anthropology, history, materialculture, indigenous peoples, Colombia, and the Amazon in general....Politis shows to a great extent that the incorporation, as Ingold and Lucas (2007) argue, of archaeology, anthropology, architecture, and arts...is plausible and indeed contributes to a remarkable detailed account and deeper understanding of life.
-Anthropology Review Database