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..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
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.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Comparative evidence
- Annual cycle
- Tillage
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Lowland Mesoamerican Archaic
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2001
- 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
- Maya Area
- 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
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry; 1999
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 7000 BP-4000 BP
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Mesoamerica; Belize and Mexico
- NotesAdditional notes
- Barbara L. Stark
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 403-448)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 81004353
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Indians of Central America--Antiquities/Indians of