Descrição

Drawing upon more than 20 years of study and field research, the author examines in detail
the patterns of cultural adaptation among the peoples of the two main ecological zones of the
Amazon: the terra firme (Amazon basin) and the varzea (floodplain). The book shows clearly how human societies develop and survive in what appears to be a luxuriant Garden of Eden but is really a "counterfeit paradise." The author analyzes adaptations in technology, social institutions, and ideologies, and the theoretical basis for this analysis is provided in a lucid
and provocative statement of evolutionary theory applied to culture.