Hunter-Gatherer Economic Complexity and Population Pressure : A Cross-Cultural Analysis

Julian Steward's theory of Great Basin cultural ecology and settlement pattems has been subjected to empirical validation. Since the only data available to test this hypothesis are archaeological, it was first necessary to determine the artifactual correlates for the posited ethnographic system. These deductive propositions were determined by the BASIN I computer simulation model. On the basis of data obtained in a regional random sampling project in the Reese Valley of central Nevada, over 75% of the nearly 130 deductive predictions were statistically verified. The rejected propositions probably reflect failure of the computer model rather than shortcomings in Steward's theory. The archaeological manifestation of the Shoshonean pattern is defined as the Reese River Subsistence-Settlement System which operated in the central Great Basin from about 2500 B.C. to historic times. Department of Anthropology The American Museum of Natural History June, 1971 THE REESE RIVER ECOLOGICAL PROJECT is an integrated effort to answer a cultural anthropological research problem using archaeological data. The proposal under study is Julian Steward's well-known theory of Great Basin Shoshonean subsistence patterns. A variety of investigatory techniques have been employed: computer simulation modeling, random archaeological sampling, and operational definitions of artifact types. Methodological aspects have been discussed elsewhere (Thomas 1971 a, 1972) and the express purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the entire project. Emphasis will be upon (a) the hypothesis-testing nature of the Reese River project and (b) substantive conclusions and implications. Julian Steward's pioneer research (1938) on Great Basin cultural ecology has profoundly influenced both American archaeology and ethnology. In addition to describing an extinct socio-cultural system in the Desert West, Steward's interpretation of Shoshonean cultural adaptations has implications far beyond the arid margins of the Great Basin. Steward himself proffered the Shoshonean example as an illustration of the family band level of socio-cultural integration, thereby providing one link in his overall theory of multilinear evolution (Steward 1955). More recent evolutionary schemes have also been quick to utilize the Shoshonean example (for example, Service 1962; Cohen 1968:49; Fried 1967) and no current discussion of the hunter-gatherer technological level of society seems complete without consideration of the Great Basin Shoshoneans (for example, Service 1966; Lee and DeVore 1968; Damas 1969). Archaeologists also generalize from the Shoshoni case. Both MacNeish (1964) and Flannery (1966) use Shoshonean exploitative patterns as a framework for reconstruction of prehistoric procurement systems of the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico. Wilmsen (1970:82) suggests that the generalized Shoshonean case is, in part, similar to band organization of the Paleo-Indian hunters of North America. Furthermore, the entire thrust of the Desert culture or Desert Archaic turns on an analogy with the historic Shoshoni cultural adaptation. Although never clearly spelled out, there can be little question that Steward's ethnographic descriptions and interpretations of the basic Shoshonean lifeway provided the basis for both original and subsequent definitions of the Desert culture. Jennings (1957:8) refers to Steward's (1938) monograph as "vivid contemporary description of the Desert culture lifeway." Recently, however, Steward's interpretations of the Shoshonean data have been questioned. Service (1962) and Owen (1965) suggest that the basic unit of the prehistoric Great Basin was not Steward's "family band," but rather the "patrilocal band." According to Service, the scattered Shoshonean families observed by Steward in the 1930's were merely the survivors of deleterious

An empirical test for Steward's model of Great Basin settlement patterns

The origins of the Archaic subsistence pattern in North America are examined by focusing only on the terrestrial faunal procurement system A model is presented and predictions derived which are then tested on faunal material from Russell Cave (Alabama), Rodgers Shelter (Missouri), and Hogup Cave (Utah) It is argued that the relative abundance of small animals in the prehistoric diet is an index to the natural availability of large species It is concluded that the economic implications of a decline in the number of large species (post-Pleistocene extinctions) would be a shift towards greater dependence on the smaller animals

Factors Influencing the Archaic Pattern of Animal Exploitation

Population and technology have been seen as remaining relatively stable for the length of Australia's prehistory. This viewpoint is challenged and evidence is provided to suggest that increases in population density in certain ecological zones have occurred due to changes in energy harnessing methods. A case study from south‐western Victoria demonstrates that the high density hunter‐gatherer populations of the area lived a semi‐sedentary life, had a broad based subsistence economy supported by a specialized technology which included the construction of large‐scale water controls. The development of these high energy expenditure systems is discussed, and mechanisms promoting change within hunter‐gatherer economies are described. A comparison between the population densities of the high density Australian hunter‐gatherers and some New Guinea shifting agriculturalists reveals only marginal differences, suggesting that comparable levels of energy harnessing have been achieved by different means.

David Hurst Thomas

Papers

A computer simulation model of Great Basin Shoshonean subsistence and settlement patterns