T Huanca
Biographic Data
| ID | 90993 |
|---|---|
| NAME | T Huanca |
| GIVEN NAMES | T |
| FAMILY NAME | Huanca |
| SIGNATURE | HUANCA T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Brandeis University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3268-5601 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 67 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 658 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 67 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Love Components in Free-Choice and Arranged Marriages Among Five Non-Western Populations From Africa, Amazonia, and Himalayas
Two main ways to enter a marriage are through free choice and through an arrangement between families, known as an arranged marriage. In this study, we compared differences in three dimensions of love (Intimacy, Passion, and Commitment) between spouses in love-based marriages and arranged marriages among five non-Western societies: Bhotiya from the Himalayas, Igbo from Nigeria, Kimeru from Kenya, Meru from Tanzania, and Tsimane’ from Bolivia. Whe…
Love as a universal phenomenon: Data from nine non-Weird societies
Adult knowledge of wild plants associated with limited delayed health and nutritional benefits for children or adults in the face of external change: A yearly panel (2003−2010) study among Tsimane’, a…
Cross-sectional studies suggest that local ecological knowledge (LEK) helps humans cope with their environment. Among the forms of LEK, adult knowledge of wild plants has been associated with better child and adult health. We assess if the concurrent links between i) LEK and ii) health and nutritional status last and examine if LEK yields delayed benefits when societies face large socioeconomic and environmental changes. We use a yearly panel (20…
Changes in adult well-being and economic inequalities: An exploratory observational longitudinal study (2002–2010) of micro-level trends among Tsimane’, a small-scale rural society of Indigenous Peopl…
Knowing what happens over time to the lifeways of people in contemporary small-scale non-industrial societies of the rural Global South matters because it helps assess changes in the quality of life of underrepresented groups. It has been hard to answer the question because longitudinal information is rarely collected in such settings. A longitudinal dataset of nine years (2002–2010) from a horticultural-foraging society of Indigenous People in t…
Commonality and variation in mental representations of music revealed by a cross-cultural comparison of rhythm priors in 15 countries
Music is present in every known society but varies from place to place. What, if anything, is universal to music cognition? We measured a signature of mental representations of rhythm in 39 participant groups in 15 countries, spanning urban societies and Indigenous populations. Listeners reproduced random ‘seed’ rhythms; their reproductions were fed back as the stimulus (as in the game of ‘telephone’), such that their biases (the prior) could be …
Supernatural Gamekeepers Among the Tsimane’ of Bolivian Amazonia
Cross‐cultural variation in thirst perception in hot‐humid and hot‐arid environments: Evidence from two small‐scale populations
Our findings suggest hydration status is not a reliable predictor of thirst perceptions in extreme-hot environments with ad libitum drinking. Rather, our findings, which require additional confirmation, point to the importance of water availability during gestation in affecting thirst sensitivity to heat and water feedback mechanisms, particularly in arid environments. Thirst regulation will be increasingly important to understand given climate c…
Hydration in relation to water insecurity, heat index, and lactation status in two small‐scale populations in hot‐humid and hot‐arid environments
These results suggest that heat stress and reproductive status may have a greater impact on hydration status than water insecurity across diverse ecological contexts
Understanding conditions for co-management: A framed field experiment amongst the Tsimane’, Bolivia
Dietary customs and food availability shape the preferences for basic tastes: A cross-cultural study among Polish, Tsimane' and Hadza societies
Diurnal cortisol rhythms and child growth: Exploring the life history consequences of HPA activation among the Tsimane
OBJECTIVE: Although psychosocial stress has also been implicated as a contributor to growth failure by imposing energetic constraints during development, the direct physiological pathways by which these life history trade-offs are imposed are not well understood. This study explores associations between diurnal cortisol rhythms and differential patterns of linear child growth among the Tsimane, a horticulturalist and foraging society in the Boliv…
Adult obesity: Panel study from native Amazonians
Consumption of market goods and wellbeing in small-scale societies: An empirical test among the Tsimane' in the Bolivian Amazon
The Role of Ethnobotanical Skills and Agricultural Labor in Forest Clearance: Evidence from the Bolivian Amazon
The effects of local medicinal knowledge and hygiene on helminth infections in an Amazonian society
Short but catching up: Statural growth among native Amazonian Bolivian children
The ubiquity and consequences of childhood growth stunting ( Z score, HAZ) in rural areas of low‐income nations has galvanized research into the reversibility of stunting, but the shortage of panel data has hindered progress. Using panel data from a native Amazonian society of foragers‐farmers in Bolivia (Tsimane'), we estimate rates of catch‐up growth for stunted children. One hundred forty‐six girls and 158 boys 2 ≤ age ≤ 7 were measured annual…
Cultural Consonance and Psychological Well-Being. Estimates Using Longitudinal Data from an Amazonian Society
Cultural consonance and body morphology: Estimates with longitudinal data from an Amazonian society
Researchers have hypothesized that the degree to which an individual's actual behavior approximates the culturally valued lifestyle encoded in the dominant cultural model has consequences for physical and mental health. We contribute to this line of research by analyzing data from a longitudinal study composed of five annual surveys (2002–2006 inclusive) from 791 adults in one society of foragers–farmers in the Bolivian Amazon, the Tsimane'. We e…
The Uneven Reach of Decentralization: A Case Study among Indigenous Peoples in the Bolivian Amazon
Decentralization reforms aim at strengthening democracy by promoting political participation among citizens. Research shows (1) that information is a prerequisite for political participation and (2) that people face different private costs in acquiring information. Here we combine the two lines of research and ask: what private costs hamper the acquisition of information on decentralization? For the analysis, we use data from an indigenous popula…
Does civilization cause discontentment among indigenous Amazonians? Test of empirical data from the Tsimane' of Bolivia
Individual Wealth Rank, Community Wealth Inequality, and Self-Reported Adult Poor Health: A Test of Hypotheses with Panel Data (2002-2006) from Native Amazonians, Bolivia
Growing evidence suggests that economic inequality in a community harms the health of a person. Using panel data from a small-scale, preindustrial rural society, we test whether individual wealth rank and village wealth inequality affects self-reported poor health in a foraging-farming native Amazonian society. A person's wealth rank was negatively but weakly associated with self-reported morbidity. Each step up/year in the village wealth hierarc…
Cultural transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge and skills: An empirical analysis from an Amerindian society
Influence of helminth infections on childhood nutritional status in lowland Bolivia
Infectious disease, such as diarrheal disease, respiratory infections, and parasitic infections, are an important source of nutritional and energetic stress in many populations. Inspired by the research and methodological innovations of A. Roberto Frisancho, this work considers the impact of childhood environment and local disease ecology on child health and nutritional patterns among an indigenous group in lowland Bolivia. Specifically, we exami…
Why no adult stunting penalty or height premium
The relation between forest clearance and household income among native Amazonians: Results from the Tsimane' Amazonian panel study, Bolivia
Cultural, Practical, and Economic Value of Wild Plants: A Quantitative Study in the Bolivian Amazon
Schooling and local environmental knowledge: Do they complement or substitute each other
Maintenance versus growth: Investigating the costs of immune activation among children in lowland Bolivia
Immune function is a central component of maintenance effort, and it provides critical protection against the potentially life threatening effects of pathogens. However, immune defenses are energetically expensive, and the resources they consume are not available to support other activities related to growth and/or reproduction. In our study we use a life history theory framework to investigate tradeoffs between maintenance effort and growth amon…
Economic Development and Local Ecological Knowledge: A Deadlock? Quantitative Research from a Native Amazonian Society
Brief Communication: Does Integration to the Market Threaten Agricultural Diversity? Panel and Cross-Sectional Data From a Horticultural-Foraging Society in the Bolivian Amazon
Knowledge and Consumption of Wild Plants: A comparative study in two Tsimane' villages in the Bolivian Amazon
Researchers have often equated ethnobotanical knowledge collected through interview questions with actual uses of plants, but knowledge and uses of plants might or might not move in lockstep. Using data from 132 adults living in two villages of a foraging-farming society in the Bolivian Amazon, the Tsimane ́, we compare ethnobotanical knowledge with uses of wild and semi-domesticated plants. Villages differed in proximity to the market town and i…
Physical growth and nutritional status of Tsimane' Amerindian children of lowland Bolivia
This study examines patterns of growth and nutritional status of indigenous Tsimane' children under 9 years of age (n = 199 boys and 210 girls), based on a cross‐sectional sample from 58 villages from the Beni Deparment of lowland Bolivia. Compared with US children, Tsimane' children are quite short, with linear growth tracking at or below the US 5th centile in both sexes. The prevalence of low height‐for‐age (“stunting;” HA Z‐scores ≤−2) is 52% …
Long-Term (Secular) Change of Ethnobotanical Knowledge of Useful Plants: Separating Cohort and Age Effects
Anthropologists, conservation biologists, and psychologists have generally found a long-term (secular) decline of ethnobotanical knowledge among indigenous people. To estimate such knowledge loss, researchers have typically relied on a single cross-sectional data set to (a) measure knowledge among people of different ages, (b) compare measures between ages, and (c) infer a loss of knowledge if the old knew more than the young. We improve on the a…
Predictors of C‐reactive protein in Tsimane' 2 to 15 year‐olds in lowland Bolivia
Infectious disease is a major global determinant of child morbidity and mortality, and energetic investment in immune defenses (even in the absence of overt disease) is an important life‐history variable, with implications for human growth and development. This study uses a biomarker of immune activation (C‐reactive protein) to investigate an important aspect of child health among the Tsimane', a relatively isolated Amerindian population in lowla…
Evaluating indices of traditional ecological knowledge: A Methodological Contribution
BACKGROUND: New quantitative methods to collect and analyze data have produced novel findings in ethnobiology. A common application of quantitative methods in ethnobiology is to assess the traditional ecological knowledge of individuals. Few studies have addressed reliability of indices of traditional ecological knowledge constructed with different quantitative methods. METHODS: We assessed the associations among eight indices of traditional ecol…
Income inequality and adult nutritional status: Anthropometric evidence from a pre-industrial society in the Bolivian Amazon
Moving beyond a Snapshot to Understand Changes in the Well-Being of Native Amazonians: Panel Evidence (2002-2006) from Bolivia
Forces such as the opening of trade, globalization, multinational corporate resource extraction, urbanization, acculturation, and colonization catalyze economic, ecological, and sociocultural change, which can threaten the well-being and habitat of native Amazonians. Understanding these forces is of paramount importance to improve the well-being of native Amazonians and to foster the conservation of biological diversity, yet most analyses of thes…
Social rank and adult male nutritional status: Evidence of the social gradient in health from a foraging-farming society
Do Markets Worsen Economic Inequalities? Kuznets in the Bush
Does village inequality in modern income harm the psyche? Anger, fear, sadness, and alcohol consumption in a pre-industrial society
Why Do Subsistence-Level People Join the Market Economy? Testing Hypotheses of Push and Pull Determinants in Bolivian Amazonia
Why would subsistence-level indigenous people join the market economy? The question matters because, in answering it, one contributes to a venerable debate about the effects of markets on well-being. Anthropologists have generally treated market participation as exogenous. Market participation is in fact endogenous if it reflects choice. We review hypotheses of determinants that push or pull people to the market, including resource scarcity from …
On the Measure of Income and the Economic Unimportance of Social Capital: Evidence from a Native Amazonian Society of Farmers and Foragers
Economists equate economic self-sufficiency (autarky) with low income and stress the economic role of social capital as a form of self-insurance in poor rural areas of developing nations. In contrast, anthropologists speak of the "original affluence" of foragers and see social capital as serving economic and social roles. Economists do not work with highly autarkic peoples such as part- or full-time foragers, and cultural anthropologists have not…
The effects of local medicinal knowledge and hygiene on helminth infections in an Amazonian society
Ethnobotanical Skills and Clearance of Tropical Rain Forest for Agriculture: A Case Study in the Lowlands of Bolivia
Indigenous peoples are often considered potential allies in the conservation of biological diversity. Here we assess whether ethnobotanical skills of indigenous people contribute to a reduction in the clearance of tropical rain forest. We measured ethnobotanical skills of male household heads and area of rain forest cleared for agriculture among 128 households of Tsimane', a native Amazonian group in Bolivia. We used multivariate regressions to e…
Why do mothers favor girls and fathers, boys: A hypothesis and a test of investment disparity
Individual Wealth Rank, Community Wealth Inequality, and Self-Reported Adult Poor Health: A Test of Hypotheses with Panel Data (2002-2006) from Native Amazonians, Bolivia
Growing evidence suggests that economic inequality in a community harms the health of a person. Using panel data from a small-scale, preindustrial rural society, we test whether individual wealth rank and village wealth inequality affects self-reported poor health in a foraging-farming native Amazonian society. A person's wealth rank was negatively but weakly associated with self-reported morbidity. Each step up/year in the village wealth hierarc…
Inequality in social rank and adult nutritional status: Evidence from a small-scale society in the Bolivian Amazon
The origins of monetary income inequality
Validity of Self-Reports to Measure Deforestation: Evidence from the Bolivian Lowlands
To assess rates of deforestation, researchers typically use questionnaires. But do questionnaires provide accurate information about the extent of forest clearance by households? In this article, the authors provide data on the amount of deforestation in a Tsimane' Amerindian village (Bolivia) and assess informant error by cross-checking three different assessments: (1) a direct physical measure by a research team of each plot cleared from the fo…
Ethnobotanical Knowledge and Crop Diversity in Swidden Fields: A Study in a Native Amazonian Society
Ethnographic studies of ARI in Bolivia and their use by the national ARI programme
Local financial benefits of rain forests: Comparative evidence from Amerindian societies in Bolivia and Honduras
Validity of Self-Reports to Measure Deforestation: Evidence from the Bolivian Lowlands
To assess rates of deforestation, researchers typically use questionnaires. But do questionnaires provide accurate information about the extent of forest clearance by households? In this article, the authors provide data on the amount of deforestation in a Tsimane' Amerindian village (Bolivia) and assess informant error by cross-checking three different assessments: (1) a direct physical measure by a research team of each plot cleared from the fo…
Do Markets Worsen Economic Inequalities? Kuznets in the Bush
Brief Communication: Does Integration to the Market Threaten Agricultural Diversity? Panel and Cross-Sectional Data From a Horticultural-Foraging Society in the Bolivian Amazon
Do smiles have a face value? Panel evidence from Amazonian Indians
Physical growth and nutritional status of Tsimane' Amerindian children of lowland Bolivia
This study examines patterns of growth and nutritional status of indigenous Tsimane' children under 9 years of age (n = 199 boys and 210 girls), based on a cross‐sectional sample from 58 villages from the Beni Deparment of lowland Bolivia. Compared with US children, Tsimane' children are quite short, with linear growth tracking at or below the US 5th centile in both sexes. The prevalence of low height‐for‐age (“stunting;” HA Z‐scores ≤−2) is 52% …
Predictors of C‐reactive protein in Tsimane' 2 to 15 year‐olds in lowland Bolivia
Infectious disease is a major global determinant of child morbidity and mortality, and energetic investment in immune defenses (even in the absence of overt disease) is an important life‐history variable, with implications for human growth and development. This study uses a biomarker of immune activation (C‐reactive protein) to investigate an important aspect of child health among the Tsimane', a relatively isolated Amerindian population in lowla…
Income inequality and adult nutritional status: Anthropometric evidence from a pre-industrial society in the Bolivian Amazon
Knowledge and Consumption of Wild Plants: A comparative study in two Tsimane' villages in the Bolivian Amazon
Researchers have often equated ethnobotanical knowledge collected through interview questions with actual uses of plants, but knowledge and uses of plants might or might not move in lockstep. Using data from 132 adults living in two villages of a foraging-farming society in the Bolivian Amazon, the Tsimane ́, we compare ethnobotanical knowledge with uses of wild and semi-domesticated plants. Villages differed in proximity to the market town and i…
Why Do Subsistence-Level People Join the Market Economy? Testing Hypotheses of Push and Pull Determinants in Bolivian Amazonia
Why would subsistence-level indigenous people join the market economy? The question matters because, in answering it, one contributes to a venerable debate about the effects of markets on well-being. Anthropologists have generally treated market participation as exogenous. Market participation is in fact endogenous if it reflects choice. We review hypotheses of determinants that push or pull people to the market, including resource scarcity from …
On the accuracy of perceived parental height in a native Amazonian society
Cultural, Practical, and Economic Value of Wild Plants: A Quantitative Study in the Bolivian Amazon
Evaluating indices of traditional ecological knowledge: A Methodological Contribution
BACKGROUND: New quantitative methods to collect and analyze data have produced novel findings in ethnobiology. A common application of quantitative methods in ethnobiology is to assess the traditional ecological knowledge of individuals. Few studies have addressed reliability of indices of traditional ecological knowledge constructed with different quantitative methods. METHODS: We assessed the associations among eight indices of traditional ecol…
The origins of monetary income inequality
Why do mothers favor girls and fathers, boys: A hypothesis and a test of investment disparity
Does village inequality in modern income harm the psyche? Anger, fear, sadness, and alcohol consumption in a pre-industrial society
Personal and Group Incentives to Invest in Prosocial Behavior: A Study in the Bolivian Amazon
Ethnographic evidence, empirical research, and results of experimental studies suggest that people across cultures invest in prosocial behavior, but little research addresses the relative importance of personal versus group incentives to invest in prosocial behavior. We estimate the relative weight of personal and group incentives for households to invest in prosocial behavior using two waves of panel data (2001 and 2002) from ca. 350 Tsimane' Am…
Signaling by consumption in a native Amazonian society☆
Ethnobotanical knowledge is associated with indices of child health in the Bolivian Amazon
Culture is a critical determinant of human behavior and health, and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge regarding the use of available plant resources has historically been an essential function of culture. Local ethnobotanical knowledge is important for health and nutrition, particularly in rural low-resource settings, but cultural and economic transitions associated with globalization threaten such knowledge. This prospective study …
Schooling's contribution to social capital: Study from a native Amazonian society in Bolivia
Understanding why traditional cultures weaken matters because they embody humanity's heritage. Schooling has been singled out as an abrader of traditional culture. We assess whether schooling erodes one aspect of traditional culture: social capital as shown by generosity to people outside the household. In industrial nations researchers find positive associations between social capital and schooling. We hypothesize that in pre‐industrial societie…
Ethnobotanical Skills and Clearance of Tropical Rain Forest for Agriculture: A Case Study in the Lowlands of Bolivia
Indigenous peoples are often considered potential allies in the conservation of biological diversity. Here we assess whether ethnobotanical skills of indigenous people contribute to a reduction in the clearance of tropical rain forest. We measured ethnobotanical skills of male household heads and area of rain forest cleared for agriculture among 128 households of Tsimane', a native Amazonian group in Bolivia. We used multivariate regressions to e…
On the Measure of Income and the Economic Unimportance of Social Capital: Evidence from a Native Amazonian Society of Farmers and Foragers
Economists equate economic self-sufficiency (autarky) with low income and stress the economic role of social capital as a form of self-insurance in poor rural areas of developing nations. In contrast, anthropologists speak of the "original affluence" of foragers and see social capital as serving economic and social roles. Economists do not work with highly autarkic peoples such as part- or full-time foragers, and cultural anthropologists have not…
The Role of Community and Individuals in the Formation of Social Capital
Economic Development and Local Ecological Knowledge: A Deadlock? Quantitative Research from a Native Amazonian Society
Geography (38 works) · Sociology (37 works) · Biology (33 works) · Demography (29 works) · Ecology (29 works) · Economics (28 works) · Medicine (23 works) · Psychology (20 works) · Amazon rainforest (19 works) · Socioeconomics (18 works)