Reconstructing prehistoric hunter–gatherer foraging radii: a case study from California's southern Sierra Nevada

Logistical mobility reduces subsistence risk in hunting economies

“…Many archaeologists are reluctant to return to the subject despite the fact that the evolution of central place use is of fundamental importance to the reconstruction of hominin social organisation. Identifying central places and sites of aggregation in the archaeological record has proven difficult (Conkey, 1980;Diez-Martin et al, 2008;Hofman, 1994;Morgan, 2009), as has establishing the functional site typologies that will be required for the delineation of logistical mobility (Binford, 1980;Donahue and Lovis, 2006;Morgan, 2008;Straus, 1986), yet it is clear that persistent places in hominin landscapes are integral to many elements of the subsistence strategy. Hunter-gatherers travel vast distances, with logistical groups often away from the base camp for many nights at a time; it is only the presence of a known aggregation location that permits groups to re-form.…”

Reassessing obsidian field relationships at Glass Buttes, Oregon

“…This, in turn, may be interpreted as evidence that these mobile foragers collected raw material from across a relatively wide geographical area, rather than focusing their efforts on a particular quarrying location (e.g, Stocker and Cobean, 1984;Torrence, 1986;Clark, 1989;Shackley et al, 1996). Indeed, the "subsource" zones drawn by Ambroz et al (2001) and their obsidian types at the Robins Spring site nicely coincide with typical daily foraging radii of 5-10 km (Binford, 2001;Morgan, 2008). Our results, however, demonstrate that there are spots at Glass Buttes where three or four obsidian types can be collected within dozens of meters of one another.…”

Hunter–gatherer movement patterns: Causes and constraints

“…This in turn is related to environmental factors; in a diverse or resource-rich environment, foragers might not have to venture far beyond the foraging radius to gather all their required resources; in a homogenous or simply resource-poor environment, logistical radii may need to be broader. Though Binford's research highlights a series of movement strategies found among hunter-gatherers, the idea of the foraging radius in general, and of the 'complete radius leapfrog pattern' in particular, have been extensively used and elaborated by subsequent researchers (Kelly, 1983(Kelly, , 1992(Kelly, , 1995Ebert, 1992;Amick, 1996;Surovell, 2000;Beck et al, 2002;Kuhn, 2004;Peters and Vogel, 2005;Nagaoka, 2005;Costamagno et al, 2006;Aldenderfer et al, 2007;Morgan, 2008). The enduring component of the complete radius leapfrog pattern (CRLP), shown schematically in Fig.…”