Abstract
This chapter discusses the factors that govern the settlement pattern of native Amazonians. The size, mobility, and location of settlements have been interpreted as a means for adapting to the distribution of scarce subsistence resources. These interpretations assume that the Amazonian populations are constrained by the distribution of strategic resources and as a result, a settlement pattern is an adaptation designed to maintain a population's demographic equilibrium in relation to environmental constraints. The chapter presents an integrated model of settlement and evaluates it with data collected on the Yąnomamö of Venezuela. A culture adapts to the physical and biological components of its environment as well as to its human components. The neighboring settlements are important factors to which a settlement must adjust. The trend in cultural ecology has been to focus on various forms of subsistence adaptation while paying scant attention to the effects of neighboring settlements. Yąnomamö settlement pattern can be understood in terms of human and non-human factors in the environment. Another trend in cultural ecology has been the assumption that adaptation, competition, and limiting factors relate to subsistence or material objects, which enhance survival or system stability.
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