Beyond Verticality: Fuelscape Politics and Practices in the Andes

This paper analyzes the material, discursive, and biophysical dimensions of fuelscapes, or energy landscapes. Ethnographic and ecological fieldwork was conducted in the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, Peru. Andean land use studies have focused on agricultural patterns such as vertical production zones. Fuelscapes are an important, energy-based means of producing and representing landscape. They show how uncultivated lands fit into livelihood strategies and reflect historic sedimentation of landscape. Fuelscapes are shaped by ecological characteristics, historic settlement patterns and property rights, gendered and intergenerational divisions in household labor, and state conservation policies. Conservation policies delimit fuelscapes to privilege live trees, but the resultant denudation of dead wood may carry implications for ecosystem health. This study elucidates how official policies intersect with household and communal resource use strategies to produce Andean fuelscapes. It provides insight into how uncultivated ecosystems fit into land use politics, practices, and representation.     

Natives Making Nation: Gender, Indigeneity, and the State in the Andes

Natives Making Nation: Gender, Indigeneity, and the State in the Andes. Andrew Canessa, ed. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2005. 201 pp.     

Ethnicity, Markets, and Migration in the Andes: At the Crossroads of History and Anthropology

Ethnicity, Markets, and Migration in the Andes: At the Crossroads of History and Anthropology. Brooke Larson and Olivia Harris. eds., with Enrique Tandeter. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995 428 pp.     

Coastal,valley, and oasis interaction: Impact on the evolution of ancient populations in the South Central Andes

The existing biocultural links are analyzed among ancient inhabitants of the Cochabamba valleys (Bolivia) from the Formative and Tiwanaku periods, coastal and inland Azapa region (Chile) from the Late Archaic to the Late periods, and the Atacama Desert oases (Chile) from the Formative period to the time of European contact. Craniometric information obtained from a sample of 565 individuals from different sites of the studied regions was evaluated using methods derived from quantitative genetics and multivariate statistical analysis techniques. It is shown that during the Formative and Tiwanaku periods inhabitants of the Cochabamba valleys maintained contact with the population of northern Chile. This contact was more fluid with the people from the interior valley of Azapa than it was with the settlers of San Pedro Atacama (SPA). An important biological affinity in the Late Period between the inhabitants of the Azapa valley and the late SPA groups is also examined. The Late‐Inca Catarpe SPA sample shows a broad genetic variability shared with the majority of the groups studied. The results reaffirm the differences between the coastal and interior Azapa valley groups and strengthen the hypothesis of two pathways to populating the south central Andean area. The divergence observed among subpopulations can be explained by the spatiotemporal dispersion between them, genetic drift dispersion compensated by the action of gene flow, and cultural norms that regulate within group mating. Am J Phys Anthropol 155:591–599, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Regulating Mobility in the Peruvian Andes: Road Safety,Social Hierarchies and Governmentality in Cusco's Rural Provinces

Significant developments in road safety regulation have taken place in Peru during recent years, reflecting international efforts to reduce worldwide fatalities and injuries. A series of measures has sought to bring about transformations in governmentality among passengers on public transport. Seen ethnographically, these have had uneven success on the ground. In rural provinces of Cusco, situated histories and sociologies of mobility have sometimes led to ambivalence, unobtrusive resistance or reinforcement of discriminatory attitudes. This article explores how reception of the regulations has been refracted through class, ethnic and geographical divisions within Peruvian society, and argues for both the applied and theoretical utility of anthropological study of road safety governance.     

Diversification in the Andes: age and origins of South American Heliotropium lineages (Heliotropiaceae, Boraginales)

The uplift of the Andes was a major factor for plant diversification in South America and had significant effects on the climatic patterns at the continental scale. It was crucial for the formation of the arid environments in south-eastern and western South America. However, both the timing of the major stages of the Andean uplift and the onset of aridity in western South America remain controversial. In this paper we examine the hypothesis that the Andean South American groups of Heliotropium originated and diversified in response to Andean orogeny during the late Miocene and a the subsequent development of aridity. To this end, we estimate divergence times and likely biogeographical origins of the major clades in the phylogeny of Heliotropium, using both Bayesian and likelihood methods. Divergence times of all Andean clades in Heliotropium are estimated to be of late Miocene or Pliocene ages. At least three independent Andean diversification events can be recognized within Heliotropium. Timing of the diversification in the Andean lineages Heliotropium sects.Heliothamnus, Cochranea, Heliotrophytum, Hypsogenia, Plagiomeris, Platygyne clearly correspond to a rapid, late Miocene uplift of the Andes and a Pliocene development of arid environments in South America.     

Household Archeology: Testing Models of Zonal Complementarity in the South Central Andes

Defining ethnicity in archeological settlements is a major methodological problem in the South Central Andes. In this region, pre-Hispanic political and economic organization has been understood within the theoretical framework known as zonal complementarity or verticality. Due to a process of direct colonization by independent polities in key ecological zones, these models are characterized by a striking regional ethnic heterogeneity in space and time. The use of the household as an analytical unit is proposed as the most successful means of defining ethnically distinct populations in pre-Hispanic contexts. This methodology is applied to Late Intermediate period (ca. A.D. 1000–1475) sites in the Osmore Drainage of southern Peru. Two domestic architectural types are defined that are hypothesized to correspond to ethnically distinct groups. Excavation data are analyzed to further differentiate these household types and provide a framework for addressing the dynamics of pre-Hispanic cultural process in the South Central Andes.     

Diversity and distribution of small mammals in the South American Dry Andes

The Andean mountain range has played an important role in the evolution of South American biota. However, there is little understanding of the patterns of species diversity across latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. In this paper, we examine the diversity of small mammals along the South Central Dry Andes (SCDA) within the framework of two contrasting hypotheses: (a) species richness decreases with increasing elevation and latitude; and (b) species richness peaks at altitudinal midpoints (mid‐domain). We explore the composition of the species pool, the impact of species–area relationships and the Rapoport effect (i.e. size of geographic ranges) along latitudinal and elevational gradients. First, we constructed a database of SCDA small mammals. Then, species richness patterns were analysed through generalized models, and species–area relationships were assessed by log–log regressions; the curvilinear method (c = S/Az) was use to compute richness corrected by area size. Lastly, the Rapoport effect was evaluated using the midpoint method. Our results show: (1) a richness of 67 small mammals along the SCDA, of which 36 are endemic; (2) a hump‐shaped pattern in species richness along elevation and latitudinal gradients; (3) a species–area relationship for both gradients; (4) endemic species corrected by area present a strong and positive relationship with elevation; (5) a Rapoport effect for the latitudinal ranges, but no effect across the elevational gradient; and (6) a major species turnover between 28° and 30° south latitude. This is the first study quantifying the diversity of small mammals encompassing the central Andean region. Overall, our macrogeographic analysis supports the previously postulated role of the Andes in the diversification of small mammals (i.e. in situ cladogenesis) and highlights some basic attributes (i.e. anatomy of geographic ranges; species–area relationships) when considering the consequences of climate change on biodiversity conservation of mountain ecosystems.     

Beyond "the State" and Failed Schemes

In this article, I propose five ways to move beyond the analytical scheme of James Scott's Seeing Like a State (1998). I question the spatial optic that posits an "up there," all-seeing state operating as a preformed repository of power, spread progressively outward to "nonstate" spaces beyond its reach. I highlight the role of parties beyond "the state" that attempt to govern—social reformers, scientists, and the so-called nongovernmental agencies, among others. I look beyond authoritarian high modernism to the more general problematic of "improvement" emerging from a governmental rationality focused on the welfare of populations. I explore the recourse to mētis (contextualized, local knowledge and practice) situated beyond the purview of planning. Finally, I reframe the question posed by Scott—why have certain schemes designed to improve the human condition failed?—to examine the question posed so provocatively by James Ferguson: What do these schemes do? What are their messy, contradictory, conjunctural effects?     

Beyond the state: policing precariousness in South Africa and Palestine/Israel

This short comment on Loïc Wacquant's ‘Marginality, Ethnicity, and Penality’ begins by highlighting three of Wacquant's most important interventions. It then extends the analysis by drawing on research about urban marginality in South Africa and Palestine/Israel. Whereas Wacquant focuses on the state response to urban marginality, I suggest that it is important to look beyond the state to consider how other actors have responded to the growth of precarious populations. Specifically, I point out that private security companies and residents' associations are at the forefront of efforts to police poor black South Africans, while an imperial network of security forces polices the Palestinian precariat.     

Altitude, migration, and fertility in the Andes

In order to examine the relationship between hypoxia and reduced fertility of high Andean populations, a sample of 241 females living in the low-altitude Tambo Valley of Peru was studied. 63 of the subjects were born in the low-altitude valley, 121 were migrants from high altitudes, and 57 were migrants born in low altitudes. The rate of abortion was low among high-altitude subjects before they migrated, but became greater after migrating. It was found that the high-altitude populations had almost twice as long parity intervals than the low-altitude populations. Compared to migrants born at low altitudes, the high-altitude-born subjects who migrated to low altitudes had higher fertility rates. The results of the study are consistent with the hypothesis that high altitudes, through anoxia, have a lowering effect on fertility. Of the several possible explanations which might account for the increase in fertility of downward migrants on migration from high to low altitude (migration, socioeconomic factors, acculturation, seasonal male emigration from high altitude, and removal of hypoxia stress), altitude appears to be the most significant.     

Environmental History and the Desertification of the Karoo,South Africa

Abstract

This paper reviews the desertification debate in South Africa and emphasizes the methods that have been used to understand the environmental history of the semi–arid rangelands in the eastern Karoo during the last 500 years. These mixed grass/dwarf shrub rangelands, with mean annual rainfall totals typically between 300–400 mm, are described and the main driving variables discussed. A brief historical account of the European settlement of the region is also presented. The desertification debate has focussed on three main issues. Firstly, because arid and semi–arid lands appear to be heavily influenced by climate, the changing climatic regime during the Holocene and particularly during the last two hundred years has been the subject of intensive investigation. While all studies conclude that there is no evidence in the historical record to support the popular perception that rainfall totals have decreased this century, the question of changing rainfall seasonality has not been adequately explored. Although mean annual temperatures over the last 50 years have not changed there have been significant increases in mean monthly maximum temperatures and significant decreases in mean monthly minimum temperatures for some of the stations investigated. The second issue of great interest in the South African desertification literature is that of the nature of pre–colonial environments. A wide variety of archaeological, historical and ecological techniques have been used, including analyses of fossil mammal bones in owl pellets, fossil pollen in hyrax middens, notes from traveller's accounts of the region and stable carbon isotopes in soil as well as fossil mammal bones. While all authors agree that the eastern Karoo was more grassy at some stage in the past there is disagreement as to both the timing and cause of the changes to a more shrubby vegetation. The final issue of great concern to the desertification debate in South Africa concerns the rate of change during the last 100 years. Satellite imagery, matched ground and aerial photography, survey data and an analysis of historical stock records cannot agree as to whether the Karoo is degrading or not. Certainly, the classic view of an annually expanding desert margin has been replaced in recent years by a more realistic understanding of the seasonal dynamics of the vegetation. The recent trend to detailed modelling of the demographic process in key species holds much promise for our understanding of the degradation process. The vibrant community of researchers, employing a range of archaeological, historical and ecological techniques, will make important contributions to South Africa's National Action Plan to Combat Desertification.     

Numbers of Small Mammals in Fields,Stacks, and Ricks in the South Central Chernozem Region

Biology Bulletin - Abstract—The results of studies conducted by the sanitary and epidemiological service in the Voronezh oblast from 1959 to 2013 were analyzed. Records of small mammals (SMs)...     

Gender,Migration and HIV in Rural KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

Objectives

Research on migration and HIV has largely focused on male migration, often failing to measure HIV risks associated with migration for women. We aimed to establish whether associations between migration and HIV infection differ for women and men, and identify possible mechanisms by which women''s migration contributes to their high infection risk.

Design

Data on socio-demographic characteristics, patterns of migration, sexual behavior and HIV infection status were obtained for a population of 11,677 women aged 15–49 and men aged 15–54, resident members of households within a demographic surveillance area participating in HIV surveillance in 2003–04.

Methods

Logistic regression was conducted to examine whether sex and migration were independently associated with HIV infection in three additive effects models, using measures of recent migration, household presence and migration frequency. Multiplicative effects models were fitted to explore whether the risk of HIV associated with migration differed for males and females. Further modeling and simulations explored whether composition or behavioral differences accounted for observed associations.

Results

Relative to non-migrant males, non-migrant females had higher odds of being HIV-positive (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.72; 95% confidence interval [1.49–1.99]), but odds were higher for female migrants (aOR = 2.55 [2.07–3.13]). Female migrants also had higher odds of infection relative to female non-migrants (aOR = 1.48 [1.23–1.77]). The association between number of sexual partners over the lifetime and HIV infection was modified by both sex and migrant status: For male non-migrants, each additional partner was associated with 3% higher odds of HIV infection (aOR = 1.03 [1.02–1.05]); for male migrants the association between number of partners and HIV infection was non-significant. Each additional partner increased odds of HIV infection by 22% for female non-migrants (aOR = 1.22 [1.12–1.32]) and 46% for female migrants (aOR = 1.46 [1.25–1.69]).

Conclusions

Higher risk sexual behavior in the context of migration increased women''s likelihood of HIV infection.     

Arthropod and helminth parasites of the wild guinea pig,Cavia aperea,from the Andes and the cordillera in Peru,South America

As part of an ongoing research project concerning the diversity and distribution of parasites of Caviidae in South America, 143 wild guinea pigs (Cavia aperea) were collected from 3 localities in the Andean Highlands of Peru. Samples were collected between November 1996 and May 1999 and included representatives of arthropods, nematodes, and trematodes. Seven species of arthropods: Leptopsylla segnis (27.3%), Tiamastus cavicola (6.9%), Gliricola porcelli (55.2%), Hoplopleura alata (6.9%), Polyplax spinulosa (12.6%), Myobia musculi (1.4%), and Eutrombicula bryanti (49.6%); 4 species of nematodes: Capillaria hepatica (6.9%), Graphidioides mazzai (18.8%), Trichuris gracilis (3.5%), and Paraspirudera uncinata (37%); and a single trematode, Fasciola hepatica (4.2%), were identified.