This proposal is a comparative study of the Guaja Indians of Maranhao state of Brazil, a people who, until recently, have little to no contact with local Brazilians. The doctoral candidate will study three different communities which vary in their commitment to a n agricultural way of life. If successful, this study will help us to better understand the costs and benefits (health, diet, and resource usage) involved in the transition from a foraging way of life to a settled agricultural mode of existence. In addition, the research will shed important data on the stability and adaptiveness of a foraging mode of existence in the tropics which has recently become a contentious topic in ecological anthropology with important implications for our understanding of hominid evolution.
