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Rainfall Variability and Subsistence Systems in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific

Bibliographic Data

ID7740876
AuthorsRobert E Dewar (corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume44
Issue3
Pages369-388
Publication date2003-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCurrent Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0011-3204 • E-ISSN: 1537-5382
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/368348
OpenAlexW2155631567
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited44

Subsistence systems in insular Southeast Asia and the western Pacific are geographically patterned: from west to east, grain crops disappear while root and tree crops become more important, and south of the Torres Strait no crops are grown. Previous explanations for these patterns have assumed either a historical cause (the expansion of root and tree crops before grain crops) or some form of environmental filter. Paralleling the agricultural pattern is a westtoeast pattern of increasing variability in interannual rainfall variation. I propose that this variability limited the utility of annual crops and increased reliance on longlived plants whose food production averages across longer periods. The range of human responses to these difficult conditions is illustrated by discussion of the anomalies represented by the unique qualities of the agricultural regimes of Botel Tobago and eastern Melanesia and by the distribution of crops and subsistence systems across the Torres Strait

Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Distribution (mathematics · Geography · Physical geography · Range (aeronautics · Subsistence agriculture · Subsistence economy · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

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Unique citing works13
Citations per year0,62
Citation span2005 - 2026 (22)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 13
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