Processing Metroxylon sagu Rottboell (Arecaceae) as a Technological Complex: A Case Studyfrom South Central Seram, IndonesiaAuthor(s): Roy EllenSource: Economic Botany, Vol. 58, No. 4 (Winter, 2004), pp. 601-625Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4256874 .Accessed: 11/10/2013 22:01Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. .New York Botanical Garden Press and Springer are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to Economic Botany.http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 192.146.156.172 on Fri, 11 Oct 2013 22:01:01 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
PROCESSING METROXYLON SAGU ROTTBOELL (ARECACEAE) AS A TECHNOLOGICAL COMPLEX: A CASE STUDY FROM SOUTH CENTRAL SERAM, INDONESIA1 RoY ELLEN Ellen, Roy (Ethnobiology Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Kent at Canterbury, CT2 7NS, UK). PROCESSINGM ETROXYLOSNA GU ROTrBOELL( ARECACEAE)A S A TECHNOLOGICAL COMPLEX: A CASE STUDY FROM SOUTH CENTRAL SERAM, INDONESIA. Economic Botany 58(4):601-625, 2004. Presented here is an examination of the technological process whereby the stem pith of Metroxylon sagu Rottboell is transformed into edible starch by the Nuaulu people of south central Seram, Maluku, Indonesia. The analysis seeks to describe the underlying local knowledge and practices involved, with a view to refuting the assertion that sago extraction is an intuitively and technically simple solution to food provision for those reluctant to adopt…