A Knowledge-Based-Systems Model of Native Soil Management

Abstract

This paper describes the use of a knowledge-based-system to model aspects of native soil management in a Peruvian highland village. Itfocuses on the steps taken in the construction of the model: the formulation ofprototypes, the development of a knowledge vocabulary, building the knowledge base, and validation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the relative merits of knowledge-based-systems as compared with other representations of decision processes. [economic anthropology, expert systems, Andes, ecological anthropology, soil management]