Social boundaries, resource depression, and conflict: A bioeconomic model of the intertribal buffer zone

Abstract

Human territoriality and the evolution of social boundaries are important and long-standing issues of concern to anthropologists and social scientists. One notable phenomenon is the intertribal buffer zone, an area that is generally devoid of occupation where certain resources can flourish without being overhunted. We examine the relative importance of resource depression and conflict on the formation of the buffer zone. We first develop a dynamic spatial model of a human group harvesting a large game resource at varying distances from a residential base locale. We then introduce a second human group and evaluate the model under two assumptions regarding the interaction between groups: 1) the groups maintain an amicable relationship and both harvest the game, and 2) the groups are hostile and engage in conflict as each hunt for game. We show how the potential for conflict reduces the incentive to harvest high-ranking resources, and prevents the overexploitation of resources in the buffer zone. We use the model expectations to evaluate two well-known North American case studies.