Eastern Tukanoan Names of the Palm Iriartea Deltoidea

Evidence of Its Possible Preagricultural Use as a Starch Source

Bibliographic Data

ID18970521
AuthorsRodrigo Bernal (0000-0001-9980-7303, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, corresponding author), Diana Marmolejo (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, corresponding author), Maria Emilia Montes, Maria Emilia Montes Rodríguez (0000-0002-9807-0650, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume27
Issue2
Pages174-181
Publication date2007-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Ethnobiology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0278-0771 • E-ISSN: 2162-4496
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2993/0278-0771(2007)27[174:etnotp]2.0.co;2
OpenAlexW2118863659
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited6

The Eastern Tukanoan of the Vaupés River region along the Colombian-Brazilian border have long used the palm Iriartea deltoidea as a durable building material. A recent study examining the linguistic roots of the local names of various palm species reveals that, in at least five languages of the Eastern Tukanoan, the contemporary name for Iriartea deltoidea suggests that it was also once a source of starch, a use not yet recorded for this species. Considering its demographic and structural characteristics, harvest of Iriartea deltoidea for starch would not be suitable for sedentary societies. We present a hypothesis that contemporary names for this palm are remnants of words from a time when the ancestors of the Eastern Tukanoan were hunter-gatherers and exploited this source of starch

Archaeology · Biology · Crop · Ethnology · Geography · Palm · Starch · Botany and Geology in Latin America and Caribbean · Date Palm Research Studies · History · Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy · Food Science · Forestry

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