A Sensory Ecology of Medicinal Plant Therapy in Two Amazonian Societies

Sensory anthropology has explored sensation as a fruitful but poorly examined domain of cross‐cultural research. Curiously, sensory anthropologists have mostly ignored scientific research into sensation, even that which addresses cross‐cultural variation. A comparative study in two Amazonian societies (Matsigenka, Yora [Nahua]) documented the role of the senses in medicinal plant therapy and benefited greatly from theoretical insights gleaned from sensory science. The study reveals a complex interweaving of cultural and ecological factors in medicinal plant selection, with sensation standing at the culture‐‐nature nexus linking medical ideas with medical materials. By synthesizing (rather than antagonizing) scientific and anthropological insights, sensation can be understood as a biocultural phenomenon rooted in human physiology yet constructed through individual experience and culture. Overcoming the limitations of a narrowly defined sensory anthropology, sensory ecology is here proposed as a new theoretical perspective for addressing human‐‐environment interactions mediated by the senses.