essay

The rise of sedentary life

Archaeology, Jeremy A. Sabloff, volume editor, with the assistance of Patricia A. Andrews • 1 • Published In 1981 • Pages: 345-372, 403-448

By: Stark, Barbara L..

Abstract

Stark constructs models and examines the archaeological data available in 1981 to explain the appearance of "cultivation-domestication" and then sedentary farming in Mesoamerica. She begins by summarizing prehistory from 14,000 B.C. to 2,500 B.C. as '…there is a possibility that disappearance of the more varied array of Pleistocene prey required some readaptation in the Archaic period…[T]he areas where we have an archaeological record of plant cultivation and domestication are the ones in which the use of wild plant resources had assumed an extensive role in subsistence. Therefore, a shift away from the degree of hunting that had been characteristic in earlier periods may have engendered some of the preconditions for subsequent changes leading to village agriculture,' (p. 345-346). The goal of the chapter was to use '…several general premises to construct a multicausual, systemic model of change which incorporates ecological preconditions, selective pressures, and changing settlement-subsistence strategies,' (p. 369). Stark uses Archaic period archaeological data from the highlands to construct her models as that was what was available in 1981. She acknowleges the problems of then trying to apply these models to the lowlands.

HRAF PubDate

2001

Region

Middle America and the Caribbean

Sub Region

Maya Area

Document Type

essay

Evaluation

Creator Type

Archaeologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Sarah Berry; 1999

Field Date

not specified

Coverage Date

7000 BP-4000 BP

Coverage Place

Mesoamerica; Belize and Mexico

Notes

Barbara L. Stark

Includes bibliographical references (p. 403-448)

LCCN

81004353

LCSH

Indians of Central America--Antiquities/Indians of