Prehistoric Development Research Articles

Hunter-gatherer economic complexity and “population pressure”: A cross-cultural analysis

This paper examines the relaionship between “population pressure” and socioeconomic complexity among hunter-gatherers. Population pressure is defined as the ratio between population density and the density of available resources. Socioeconomic complexity is measured by means of several correlated variables: storage-dependence, sedentism, social inequality, and use of a medium of exchange. Correlations between these variables are calculated from an ethnographic sample of 94 hunter-gatherer groups. The correlations between population pressure and socioeconomic complexity are found to be extremely high. Two major types of hunter-gatherers exist which are distinguished by a number of variables and may be termed “simple” and “complex.” Transitional groups between these two types are quite rare. It is also noted that population pressure does not arise in continental climates where famine mortality is common because of high-amplitude changes in productivity from year to year. It is argued that population pressure is a necessary and sufficient condition for and the efficient cause of socioeconomic complexity. The widespread disavowal by archaeologists of population pressure as a possible explanation for the prehistoric development of complex hunter-gatherers has no basis in ethnographic fact.

The Prehistory of Syria

Archaeological research has established that Syria played a central role in prehistoric cultural development in southwest Asia. Its location at the junction of routes from Africa, Europe, and Asia made it a focus of cultural innovation and spread. Syria was first inhabited about a million years ago by early humans who came from Africa. There was considerable human activity in Syria during the Middle Palaeolithic (ca. 80,000-35,000 years ago), and occupation was continuous thereafter. Syria was an important center for the development of agriculture 10,000 years ago. It witnessed the domestication of several species of plants and animals and the beginning of sedentary village life. The heartland of the succeeding Halaf culture was in north Syria. Its development marked the transition to more complex cultural patterns and, ultimately, to the emergence of urban civilization after 3000 B. C.

The Development of Prehistory in Canada, 1935-1985

Over 50 years ago Diamond Jenness stated “Canadian archaeology is a child of recent years that has not yet reached full stature” (Jenness 1932:71). Forty years later William C. Noble, in referring to the above quote observed, “. . . Canadian archaeology has progressed from a childhood state to young adulthood stature, and all present trends indicate a continuing and more sophisticated development in the future” (Noble 1972:34). In my opinion, the analogy is not completely appropriate, because the growth in question has been anything but normal. Indeed, to stay with the analogy would be to observe a child who exhibits little or no growth over many years and then suddenly explodes into a hulk possessing both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde characteristics.

The highland fringes as a key zone for prehistoric developments in Papua New Guinea - a progress report

The highland fringes as a key zone for prehistoric developments in Papua New Guinea - a progress report

Political Developments in Prehistory: The Transition to Statehood in the New World . Papers from a conference, Clinton, N.Y., Jan. 1979. Grant D. Jones and Robert R. Kautz, Eds. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1981. x, 254 pp., illus. $27.50. New Directions in Archaeology.

Political Developments in Prehistory: <i>The Transition to Statehood in the New World</i> . Papers from a conference, Clinton, N.Y., Jan. 1979. Grant D. Jones and Robert R. Kautz, Eds. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1981. x, 254 pp., illus. $27.50. New Directions in Archaeology.

The bovid third phalanx and prehistoric ploughing

Plough agriculture is the basis of southeast Asian rice cultivation, and has profound social implications. Yet little if anything is known of its development in prehistory. In the absence of fossil fields, remains of ploughshares or of ploughing scenes, attention is focused on the bones of potential draught animals. A multivariate analysis of exostosis development in the third phalanx indicates that cattle at the site of Ban Chiang were gracile, while water buffalo were as robust as modern draught animals.

Maritime Hunter-Gatherers: Ecology and Prehistory [and Comments and Reply

In a recent discussion of prehistoric developments in coastal Peru, Osborn has drawn attention to the "uniqueness" of the Peruvian littoral in providing large amounts of nutrients to support locally high population densities and a base for the development of Peruvian civilization. This bounteous resource base is contrasted with that of other maritime environments, which are seen to be relatively unproductive. The present article takes issue with that viewpoint, arguing instead that the maritime and coastal environments occupied by humans are generally highly productive and have uniformly supported relatively dense populations of hunter-gatherers. Rather than arguing for the uniqueness of the Peruvian, Northwest Coast, or other situations where complex societies developed on a coastal base, it seems more profitable to develop a "midle-range" theory which will encompass these situations within the variability of maritime hunter-gatherers in general. To this end, I have suggested ten basic features that distinguish maritime-adapted populations (high resource biomass, high resource diversity, low resource seasonality, "unearned" resources, linear settlement patterns, sedentism, technological complexity, cooperative socioeconomic forms for resources explotation, lower dependency ratios, high population densities, and territoriality, interpopulation resource competition, and warfare). This in not an idle exercise, since without a general theory of maritime adaptation it is impossible to achieve and explanation of the origins of maritime adaptation. At minimum, such an explantion would have to encompass both the origins of maritime exploitation during the Upper Palaeolithic and the worldwide intensification of maritime exploitation, particularly shellfish collection, during middle Holocene times. Ecological factors, particularly climate and sea-level changes, offer the most parsimonious explanations for these observed worldwide trends.

The evidence of cemeteries for later prehistoric development in the Upper Rhine valley

SummaryPrehistoric cemeteries on the Upper Rhine appear to reflect changes in used land, but variable factors influence the recovery of information. Despite these limitations, it appears that marginal land was taken in after the Neolithic, and the extensively colonised loess soils were deserted. Other parts of the North Alpine zone experience similar abandonment of primary Neolithic areas. River terraces may then have been kept open by reduced settlement or seasonal grazing, inviting renewed attention in the Late Bronze Age and further colonisation of the valley soils in the Iron Age. Major shifts in settled areas may have resulted from soil exhaustion induced by limited agricultural techniques.

An Evolutionary Approach to the Southeast Asian Cultural Sequence [and Comments and Reply

Recent archaelogical work has directed attention toward Southeast Asia. However, while the substantive results of this research are significant for tracing worldwide prehistoric developments, the integration of these findings into a regional archaeological framework continues to be a problem. Most traditional chronological-developmental frameworks of Southeast Asian prehistory were patterned after the European paradigm of five prehistoric ages. It was implied that cultural developments occurred in several major stages and were relatively uniform throughout the region. The results of several recent excavations as well as ethnographic evidence contradict these assumptions. It is argued here that an explanation for these contradictions can be found in the ecology of Southeast Asia. Much of the region falls within the zone of the perhumid tropics. Resource distribution and a number of other ecological conditions of that zone are responsible for a high degree of geographical discontinuity of the human ecology ...

Prehistory in Vosberg Valley, Central Arizona

ABSTRACTThis paper examines prehistoric developments in the Vosberg locality of central Arizona in relation to developments in the greater Salado area. The Vosberg locality is comprised of a single, small valley located in Gila County, Arizona, approximately 10 km southeast of the town of Young, placing it in an ill-defined boundary region between the Salado area to the west and south and the Mogollon area to the east.

Old Iranian Sibilants: A Synchronic Analysis

The well-known 'ruki-rule' found in several IE dialects, whereby s was palatalized in certain environments, is traditionally considered to have been no longer productive in Avestan and Old Persian because s's from sources other than PIE *s were not palatalized. Previous work has been primarily historical, and recent approaches from a synchronic point of view have only tended to confuse synchrony with diachrony. It is shown here that this rule was indeed actively involved in morphophonemic alternation and that its synchronic ordering with respect to other rules has certain implications for the prehistoric developments and the synchronic status of the Old Iranian sibilants. Furthermore, certain of the rules produced surface forms that were in non-automatic alternation, and it is suggested that the apparent exceptions to these rules are of specific types which can be classified along the lines proposed by Kiparsky to elucidate the mechanisms of analogy involved.

Prehistoric Investigations in Southeastern Turkey

An archeological survey of the upper Tigris-Euphrates basin in Turkish Mesopotamia revealed a very early phase farming village and a nearby developed phase farming village. Late prehistoric developments in this region are critical to understanding of the beginnings of trade and metallurgy.

The Sanskrit Nom. Sing. VIT

Abstract1. The origin of the final - in the nominatives of noun stems in s, j, and h (representing proto-Indo-European k, ĝ, and ĝh) and of the corresponding before the case endings -bhi and -bhya is not merely one of the minor problems of the historical grammar of Indo-Aryan. Since it has often been assumed that the retroflex stop indirectly reflects a palatal stop [t'] or an affricate [tś] in proto-Indo-Iranian, it is also of some importance for the reconstruction of the prehistoric development of Iranian, and especially for the interpretation of Old Persian , for the PIE. reconstruction of the phonemes traditionally denoted by kp or k, etc., and for the relations between centum and satem languages. In view of the far-reaching theories which, partly at least, have been based upon the final - of Sanskrit it may be useful to reconsider the problem.

The Origins of American Agriculture

When prehistoric cultural developments in the Old and New World are compared, one difference is outstanding. The American Indian domesticated an inordinately large number of plants. This is even more remarkable when one considers that the prehistoric population of the Americas was very much less than that of the Old World and, also, that the development of American civilization began very much later.During the last 25 years, archaeological investigations in the New World have revealed considerable information about prehistoric plant domestication and agriculture. Although this data is far from complete, it is now possible to establish some hypotheses, not only about the origin and spread of several American domesticates, but also about the effect of plant domestication, and later agriculture, upon cultural development and process in the New World.

Prehistoric Cultural Development in the Southern Californian Deserts

AbstractArchaeological remains from the southern Californian desert region, spanning a period from 7000 B.C. to historic times, are segregated into four broad cultural horizons. The earliest certain evidences of human occupation consist of stone tools and weapons from the shore line of ancient Lake Mohave. The Lake Mohave artifacts comprise types designed primarily for hunting and related activities. Next in sequence are the lithic materials from Pinto Basin and other localities that demonstrate a mixed hunting-gathering economy. The third or Amargosa period is inadequately known. Triangular arrowpoints, pottery, and numerous seed-grinding implements distinguish the closing aboriginal phase. The major research needs are indicated.

Measurements of Some Prehistoric Design Developments in the Southeastern United States. James A. Ford. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 44, Pt. 3, pp. 309-84, New York, 1952. 23 text figures, 3 tables. $2.00.

Measurements of Some Prehistoric Design Developments in the Southeastern United States. James A. Ford. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 44, Pt. 3, pp. 309-84, New York, 1952. 23 text figures, 3 tables. $2.00.

: Measurements of Some Prehistoric Design Developments in the Southeastern States . James A. Ford.

: Measurements of Some Prehistoric Design Developments in the Southeastern States . James A. Ford.

An Outline of Japan's Prehistoric Cultures

Until quite recently the cultural prehistory of Japan has been, like many other areas of Asia, very inadequately known to most American and European students. There is now enough material available to enable me to present to you an outline of the prehistoric cultural development of Japan with a high degree of reliability in its essential validity. Much remains to be done, however, both in the sphere of “dirt archaeology” and in the field of analysis, synthesis, and foreign relationships.The term “Jomon” has become entrenched as the designation for the entire period of Japanese culture preceding the entrance of the Yayoi people with their bronze-age culture from Korea and the adjacent areas into Kyushu. This migration must have commenced at least as early as the second century B.C. since it is known that Yayoi centers were flourishing in Kyushu and southwest Honshu in the first century B.C. Absolute dates for the earliest cultural manifestations in Japan are lacking but my guess would be about 3000 B.C.

The Mystic Rose: a Study of Primitive Marriage

THE interest of the scientific problems concerning the origin and development of the marriage relation is perennial. A large part of that interest, though by no means all of it, is derived from the complexity of the factors, the obscurity enshrouding the prehistoric development of the race, and the consequent difficulties attending all investigations into primitive culture. It is forty years since Bachofen published his work on “Das Mutterrecht,” to which may fitly be applied that much-abused epithet “epoch-making,” for it initiated all really scientific inquiry into the subject. Since then anthropologists, one after another, have incessantly attempted to complete, to correct or to controvert the bold Swiss jurist's conclusions. Mr. Crawley is the latest in the field. He comes well-equipped for his task. He brings psychology to the aid of anthropology, and many of his psychological observations display real insight and throw an important light upon the customs described. His reading has been wide, and his illustrations are generally well chosen. But he rests too often upon second-hand authorities like Ploss and Featherman when the original sources are not difficult to reach, overlooking the possibility that the context of passages used by such compilers may seriously modify their summaries.