Yam landscapes: The biogeography and social life of Australian 'Dioscorea'

摘要: Yams have been at the centre of key archaeological and anthropological debates, particularly as a starchy staple food. While yams many features relevance to both hunter-gatherer agricultural lives, there is considerable geographic, ecological social variability in their use cultural significance. In spirit celebrating Beth Gott's historically ecologically grounded approach ethnobotanical research, we review Australian biogeography Dioscorea well ethnography yam by Aboriginal people. Three themes emerge from this literature: 1) geographic species across continent has important consequences for scale intensity collection landscape transformation, 2) gender, role women harvesters, figures an dimension biology, 3) knowledge, connection country memory are significant factors contributing food supply regulation.