essay
An adaptive computer model for the evolution of plant collecting and early agriculture in the eastern valley of Oaxaca
guilá naquitz : archaic foraging and early agriculture in oaxaca, mexico • Orlando • Published In 1986 • Pages: 439-500
By: Reynolds, Robert G. (Robert Gene).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In many respects the showpiece of the volume, the first half of this chapter details Reynolds development of a computer program to model how an Archaic Period subsistence strategy might unfold over time given the proximity and productivity of resource zones as previously calculated from analysis of environmental survey data for the eastern Valley of Oaxaca. Climate and population are introduced as variables in multiple tests. The initial tests (Part 6) produce predictions for the late Paleo-Indian Period gathering-hunting economy as it would have pertained to stratigraphic zones E and D at Guilá Naquitz Cave—although outside the scope of this file Early Mesoamerican Archaic NY30), the results are applicable because this remained the greater part of the subsistence economy during the Early Archaic (stratigraphic zones C and B). The second set of tests (Part 8) model the development of incipient agriculture, comparing results with the pattern of change through time in the archaeological data from zones D through B, finding a rather good fit. In Part 9, the tests are restructured to explore results under different climatic regimes, and under varying rates of population increase. To summarize the results, year-to-year unpredictability in precipitation stimulated experimentation in strategies and scheduling of resource procurement during good (wet) years, leading most rapidly to both stable adaptations for hunting and gathering, and to a development of domesticated plants as dietary supplements. Long-term climatic variability and rapidly increasing population actually produce a more conservative response among the hypothetical band of Archaic inhabitants of the valley. (Development of the program, procedures of application, and conclusions based primarily on the statistical results are indexed, respectively, for THEORETICAL ORIENTATION IN RESEARCH AND ITS RESULTS [121], ORGANIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF RESEARCH [128] and/or EXPERIMENTAL DATA [1213]. Be forewarned that searching not on the latter [1213] will produce only a few tables of archaeological data.)
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Organization and analysis of results of research
- Sociocultural trends
- Economic planning and development
- Collecting
- Tillage
- Experimental data
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Early Mesoamerican Archaic
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- General Middle America and the Caribbean
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Leon G. Doyon ; 2005
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1964-1966
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 10,750 BP-8670 BP
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Guilá Naquitz Cave, eastern Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico
- NotesAdditional notes
- Robert G. Reynolds
- For bibliographical references see document 13:Flannery
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 85004051
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Excavations (Archaeology)--Mexico/Mexico--Antiquities