ABSTRACT
In any study of hunting-gathering cultures, some of the most basic questions concern the relationship between the human population and its wild food resources. Kirkby, Whyte, and Flannery have divided the present-day vegetation of the Mitla cave area into four idealized facies. Seasonal differences are only one source of variation in food resources for the eastern Valley of Oaxaca. There are also differences in productivity that result from annual variations in rainfall. In the Tlacolula region, only about two years out of every four have rainfall approaching the “average” figure of 500–650 mm; one year in four is likely to be drier than average (under 400 mm at times) and one in four wetter than average. In the case of wild nanche fruits, the differences included the timing of maturation; trees that had not even ripened yet in September 1967 already had 30 nanches per tree in August 1968.
