When Magdalena Hurtado was growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, she sometimes accompanied her mother, a doctor, into remote rural areas. These treks exposed Hurtado to many different ways of living. Her interest in people and in cultural differences led her to the field of anthropology, and she is currently on the staff of the University of New Mexico. Crisp color photographs accompany a cogent narrative that describes Dr. Hurtado’s day-to-day fieldwork among the Aché people, a hunting-gathering group in the rainforest of Paraguay. She uses research methods common to many cultural anthropologists to focus on her own particular area of interest as a human evolutionary ecologist: why women choose particular men as mates over others. A completely absorbing account of a contemporary anthropologist engaged in groundbreaking research, this should interest and inspire many young scientists in the making. (Ages 9–14)

Imagine making your living by hunting, fishing, and collecting wild plants and insects. Imagine having to worry about being attacked by a jaguar or some other wild animal. This is how our ancestors lived for hundreds of thousands of years, but only a few peoples carry on this ancient lifestyle today. One of the few are the Ache, hunter-gatherers living in Paraguay, a country in South America.
Magdalena Hurtado is an anthropologist who has been studying the Ache for fifteen years. She has spent years living with the Ache people: learning their language, observing their history. The photographs and text offer invaluable insight into the work of an anthropologist.