Archaeological Testing of Four Sites on Camp Bowie, Brown County, Texas

Weston, Jason D.; Mauldin, Raymond P.

doi:10.21112/ita.2003.1.6

“…To build the burned rock midden index, we collected radiocarbon dated features from published sources, including earlier compilations Acuña, 2006;Weston and Mauldin, 2003;Decker, 1997), and we calculated the surface area of each feature (see Freeman et al (0)). These are important classes of data because a greater frequency of such features and surface area are both estimates of more investment in baking resources that require prolonged heat exposure to unlock carbohydrates for consumption.…”

Section: Central Texas Carbohydrate Indexmentioning

confidence: 99%

The long-term expansion and recession of human populations

Freeman

2023

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the last 12,000 years human populations have expanded and transformed critical earth systems. Yet, a key unresolved question in the environmental and social sciences remains: Why did human populations grow and, sometimes, decline in the first place? Our research builds on 20 years of intense archaeological research studying the deep time dynamics of human populations to propose an explanation for the long-term growth and stability of human populations. Innovations in the productive capacity of populations fuels exponential-like growth over thousands of years; however, innovations saturate over time and, often, may leave populations vulnerable to large recessions in their well-being and population density. Empirically, we find a trade-off between changes in land use that increase the production and consumption of carbohydrates that may drive repeated waves of population growth over thousands of years and the susceptibility of populations to large recessions due to delays in the manifestation of competition for resources. These results shed light on the long-term drivers of human population growth and decline.

show abstract

“…To estimate the intensity of plant processing in Central Texas, we use dated earth oven/burned rock features. We collected radiocarbon dated features from published sources, including earlier compilations Weston & Mauldin, 2003;Decker, 1997), and we calculated the surface area of each feature. These are important classes of data because a greater frequency of such features and surface area are both estimates of more investment in baking resources that require prolonged heat exposure to unlock carbohydrates for consumption.…”

Section: Burned Rock Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunter-Gatherer Population Expansion and Intensification: Malthusian and Boserupian Dynamics

Freeman,

Mauldin,

Hard

et al. 2023

J Archaeol Method Theory

3

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite years of debate, the factors that control the long-term carrying capacity of human populations are not well understood. In this paper, we assess the effect of changes in resource extraction and climate driven changes in ecosystem productivity on the carrying capacity of hunter-gatherer populations in a terrestrial and coastal ecosystem. To make this assessment, we build time-series estimates of changes in resource extraction via human stable isotopes and ecosystem productivity via paleoclimate models and geomorphic records of flood events. These estimates of resource extraction and ecosystem productivity allow us to assess a complex model of population expansion that proposes linked changes between population density, resource extraction, and intensification. We find that changes in resource extraction had a larger effect on carrying capacity in both the terrestrial and coastal ecosystems than climate drivers of ecosystem productivity. Our results are consistent with the idea that both Malthusian limits on resources and Boserupian pressures to reorganize economic systems operate in hunter-gatherer populations over the long-term. Our data and analysis contribute to evaluating complex models of population growth and subsistence change across archaeological cases.

show abstract

Hunter-gatherer Population Expansion and Intensification: Malthusian and Boserupian Dynamics

Freeman¹,

Mauldin²,

Hard³

et al. 2023

Preprint

1

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite years of debate, the factors that control the long-term carrying capacity of human populations are not well understood. In this paper, we assess the effect of changes in resource extraction and climate driven changes in ecosystem productivity on the carrying capacity of hunter-gatherer populations in a terrestrial and coastal ecosystem. To make this assessment, we build time-series estimates of changes in resource extraction via human stable isotopes and ecosystem productivity via paleoclimate models and geomorphic records of flood events. These estimates of resource extraction and ecosystem productivity allow us to assess a complex model of population expansion that proposes linked changes between population density, resource extraction, and intensification. We find that changes in resource extraction had a larger effect on carrying capacity in both the terrestrial and coastal ecosystems than climate drivers of ecosystem productivity. Our results are consistent with the idea that both Malthusian limits on resources and Boserupian pressures to reorganize economic systems operate in hunter-gatherer populations over the long-term. Our data and analysis contribute to evaluating complex models of population growth and subsistence change across archaeological cases.

show abstract

Archaeological Testing of Four Sites on Camp Bowie, Brown County, Texas

Cited by 3 publications

References 15 publications

The long-term expansion and recession of human populations

The long-term expansion and recession of human populations

Hunter-Gatherer Population Expansion and Intensification: Malthusian and Boserupian Dynamics

Hunter-gatherer Population Expansion and Intensification: Malthusian and Boserupian Dynamics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About