This book covers the ethnobiology and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the Solega people of southern India. Solega TEK is shown to be a complex, inter-related network of detailed observations of natural phenomena, well-reasoned and often highly accurate theorizing, as well as a belief system, derived from cultural norms, regarding the relationships between humans and other species on the one hand, and between non-human species on the other. As language-based studies are strongly biased toward investigations of ethno-taxonomy and nomenclature, the importance of studying TEK in its proper context is discussed as making context and encyclopedic knowledge the objects of study are essential for a proper understanding of TEK.

The first book documenting the ethnobiology of the Solega people Comprehensive, detailed study of traditional ecological knowledge, with methods and techniques of ethnobiology and linguistics given Covers work done in an interdisciplinary approach and is therefore appropriate for ethnobiologists, anthropologists, ecologists, and scholars working in the plant sciences as well as many more disciplines

Autorentext
Dr. Aung Si McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow University of Melbourne School of Languages and Linguistics Babel Building 139 Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia

Inhalt

Introduction.- Ethnotaxonomies and Universals: Investigating some Key Assumptions.- Plants in Solega Language and Culture.- Solega Ethno-ornithology.- Landscape terms in Solega.- Signs and Relationships.- Honeybee Lore.- Conclusions.