Human Behavioral Ecology and Climate Change during the Transition to Agriculture in Valencia, Eastern Spain

McClure, Sarah B.; Barton, C. Michael; Jochim, Michael A.

doi:10.3998/jar.0521004.0065.206

Cited by 48 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…It allows for dynamically changing suitability; it incorporates both negative density dependence, in the form of exploitation and interference competition, and positive density dependence, through Allee effects representing economies of scale. We envision the IFD being useful in analyses of migration, habitat choice, settlement pattern and intensification, in insular and pseudo-insular habitats (Allen and O'Connell, 2008;Kennett et al, 2006b;Kennett and Winterhalder, 2008;McClure et al, 2009;Shennan, 2007). We hope to see it tested in other settings, with methods like those demonstrated here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Filled circles indicate settled locations, and open circles indicate unsettled locations. adoption of agriculture in Spain (McClure et al, 2009), and spread of agriculture across Europe (Shennan, 2007). In this paper we explore similar settlement processes but on a smaller and more detailed scale, and with a dataset amenable to quantified investigation of key IFD predictions.…”

Section: Behavioral Ecology and The Ideal Free Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ideal free settlement of California’s Northern Channel Islands

Winterhalder

Kennett

Grote

et al. 2010

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

122

147

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a b s t r a c tThe prehistoric establishment and expansion of permanent settlements on the Northern Channel Islands of southern California generally follows a pattern predicted by the population ecology model, the ideal free distribution (IFD). We determine this by comparing the abundant archaeological record of these Islands against a careful quantification of habitat suitability using areal photography, satellite imagery, and field studies. We assess watershed area, length of rocky intertidal zone, length of sandy beach for plank canoe pull-outs and area of off-shore kelp beds, for 46 coastal locations. A simple descriptive analysis supports key IFD predictions. A Bayesian model fitted with the Gibbs sampler allows us to reconstruct the Native assessment of habitat that appears to underlie this process. Use of the Gibbs sampler mitigates the impact of missing data, censored variables, and uncertainty in radiocarbon dates; it allows us to predict where new settlements may yet be discovered. Theoretically, our results support a behavioral ecology interpretation of settlement history, human population expansion, and economic intensification in this region. They also demonstrate Bayesian analytical methods capable of making full use of the information available in archaeological datasets.Ó 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction and problemThe Native Americans who moved from the mainland to settle the Northern Channel Islands of southern California knew well the country they were settling. By first recorded permanent settlement ($8000-7000 cal. years BP) they had been exploring and seasonally exploiting the resources of the islands for as much as 5000 years Kennett, 2005;. Subsequent to that first settlement further Island colonization of coastal sites at the mouths of major drainages drew on local knowledge gained through even more lengthy experience. Settlers were familiar with the suitability of the habitats they were about to occupy and, we might predict, they established residential sites in an orderly process of adaptive decision-making: Settle first in the most salubrious location. When, with growing exploitation or crowding, its resources were depressed and its value declined to match the next-ranked locale, establish a new settlement there. As population grew this process repeated, adding further new settlements in locations ordered by habitat suitability. In parallel, we expect overall quality of life in all occupied locales declined due to reductions in the availability of or access to critical resources. This process is neatly captured in a behavioral ecology model: the ideal free distribution (IFD, Fretwell and Lucas, 1969). Analysis of environmental and archaeological data from the Northern Channel Islands indicates that colonization there follows IFD predictions. To demonstrate this, we first describe the prehistory of the Northern Channel Islands. We then introduce the IFD, with the goal of predicting how population growth, intensified use and declining suitability generate a predictab...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Behavioral Ecology and The Ideal Free Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ideal free settlement of California’s Northern Channel Islands

Winterhalder

Kennett

Grote

et al. 2010

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

122

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For instance, long distance inland colonization as a result of fission and settlement relocation logic driven by household decision-making might be invoked (Bogucki 2003;Martí 2008). Similarly, an ideal free distribution pattern as a spatial behavior might have been carried out by farmers, whereby they tended to occupy sites giving the best yields (Shennan 2007;McClure et al 2009). …”

Section: Mestres 1992)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and population dynamics during the late Mesolithic and the Neolithic transition in Iberia

Pablo

Gómez‐Puche

2009

Doc. praeh.

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This paper explores how Early Holocene climate changes in the Western Mediterranean would have affected Late Mesolithic settlement distribution and subsistence strategies in Iberian Peninsula, thereby giving rise to various adaptive scenarios. The current radiocarbon data set concerning the Neolithisation process has revealed the rapidity of the spread of farming in Iberia. Considering both the implications of the last hunter-gatherers’ adaptation strategies and the population dynamics of agro-pastoral communities, we address the migration patterns underlying the Mesolithic- Neolithic transition. In conclusion, we propose that the initial colonization process was the result of two successive and spatially heterogeneous migrations: Maritime Pioneer Colonization and targeted migration to places favorable to the new economic system.

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“…The location of larger sites with permanent or semipermanent occupation usually takes into account a suite of environmental and socioeconomic factors. The ideal free distribution or IFD (Åström 1994;Fretwell and Lucas 1969;Fretwell 1972;Sutherland 1983Sutherland , 1996Treganza 1995) is used in behavioral ecology and increasingly in anthropology and archaeology to understand how such factors affect human settlement and broader patterns of decision-making and culture change (e.g., Kennett 2005;Kennett et al 2006Kennett et al , 2009Kennett and Winterhalder 2008;McClure et al 2009;Winterhalder et al 2010;Culleton 2012;O'Connell and Allen 2012;Codding and Jones 2013;Giovas and Fitzpatrick 2014;Moritz et al 2014;Codding and Bird 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Test of Ideal Free Distribution Predictions Using Targeted Survey and Excavation on California’s Northern Channel Islands

Jazwa

Kennett

Winterhalder

2015

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Using targeted survey, excavation, and radiocarbon dating, we assess the extent to which human settlement patterns on California's northern Channel Islands fit predictions arising from the ideal free distribution (IFD): (1) people first established and expanded permanent settlements in the regions ranked high for environmental resource suitability; (2) as population grew, they settled in progressively lower ranked habitats; and (3) changes in the archaeological record associated with high population levels such as increases in faunal diversity and evenness in high-ranked habitats are coincident with the expansion to other areas. On Santa Rosa Island, the early permanent settlements were located in both high-and middle-ranked locations, with the most extensive settlement at the highest ranked locations and only isolated sites elsewhere. Settlement at a low-ranked habitat was confined to the late Holocene (after 3600 cal BP). Drought influenced the relative rank of different locations, which is an example of climate adding a temporal dimension to the model that episodically stimulated population movement and habitat abandonment. Because the IFD includes a wide range of cultural and environmental variables, it has the potential to be a central model for guiding archaeological analysis and targeted field research.

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Human Behavioral Ecology and Climate Change during the Transition to Agriculture in Valencia, Eastern Spain

Cited by 48 publications

References 25 publications

Ideal free settlement of California’s Northern Channel Islands

Ideal free settlement of California’s Northern Channel Islands

Climate change and population dynamics during the late Mesolithic and the Neolithic transition in Iberia

A Test of Ideal Free Distribution Predictions Using Targeted Survey and Excavation on California’s Northern Channel Islands

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