Simulating Ancient Societies

Kohler, Timothy A.; Gumerman, George J.; Reynolds, Robert

doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0705-76

Cited by 99 publications

(46 citation statements)

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“…Several lines of evidence suggest that the source is turkeys, which have C 4 isotope signals (Kellner et al 2007) at sites where they have been analyzed. Turkey bones make up 20% of the bird remains at Grasshopper Pueblo and show cut marks consistent with processing for consumption (McKusick 1982;Olsen 1990; also see Kohler, Gumerman, and Reynolds 2005). The variation across individuals from the Pueblo is about the same as that observed in the Ontario example even though it is proposed that Grasshopper was populated by immigrants who originated in different regions (Ezzo 1993).…”

Section: Implications For the Origins Of Maize Agriculture In Parts Omentioning

confidence: 75%

Stable Isotope Evidence for the Adoption of Maize Agriculture

Schoeninger¹

2009

Current Anthropology

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Over the past three decades, dozens of studies have produced carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data on early human bones and teeth from North America. Because these data record individual diets, they provide one way to test various hypotheses about the uptake and continued dependence on maize agriculture that is complementary to floral, paleopathological, and demographic approaches to the same problem. The delta13C values in the organic fraction of bone (bone collagen) plotted against those in the mineral fraction of bone (bone apatite) from several regions across North America reveal that not all human groups responded in the same way to maize agriculture. Rather there was variation between and within geographic regions. Similarly, the delta15N values in bone collagen from sites from across the southeastern United States show variation in dependence on maize and on marine foods that cannot be fully explained by geography or technical expertise. In combination, the data emphasize the need to consider social forces, both internal and external, to the group under study as well as environmental and technological constraints.

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Section: Implications For the Origins Of Maize Agriculture In Parts Omentioning

confidence: 75%

Stable Isotope Evidence for the Adoption of Maize Agriculture

Schoeninger¹

2009

Current Anthropology

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“…But the archaeological record is composed of the scattered, fragmentary, static residues of dynamic, complex SESs, of which archaeologists are able to recover only a tiny fraction in practice. For this reason, we and others have turned to new methods of computational modelling to help us study the multi-dimensional interactions of humans with each other and the biophysical world-including water flowing across landscapes (Axtell et al 2002;Berry et al 2002;Parker et al 2003;Grimm et al 2005;Kohler et al 2005;Clevis et al 2006;Kohler & van der Leeuw 2007).…”

Section: Water Land Use and Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…including norms and risk) assessments of internal and external conditions (Axtell et al 2002;Bankes 2002;Bankes et al 2002;Kohler et al 2005). In ABMs, multiple autonomous software agents are created with rules for formulating decisions and means for sensing their environment.…”

Section: (B) Agent-based Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use, water and Mediterranean landscapes: modelling long-term dynamics of complex socio-ecological systems

Barton

Ullah

Bergin

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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The evolution of Mediterranean landscapes during the Holocene has been increasingly governed by the complex interactions of water and human land use. Different land-use practices change the amount of water flowing across the surface and infiltrating the soil, and change water's ability to move surface sediments. Conversely, water amplifies the impacts of human land use and extends the ecological footprint of human activities far beyond the borders of towns and fields. Advances in computational modelling offer new tools to study the complex feedbacks between land use, land cover, topography and surface water. The Mediterranean Landscape Dynamics project (MedLand) is building a modelling laboratory where experiments can be carried out on the long-term impacts of agropastoral land use, and whose results can be tested against the archaeological record. These computational experiments are providing new insights into the socio-ecological consequences of human decisions at varying temporal and spatial scales.

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“…Os modelos permitem investigar as razões que levaram ao declínio destas comunidades (KOHLER; GU-MERMAN; REYNOLDS, 2005;EPSTEIN;AXTELL, 1996).…”

Section: Aplicações Da Simulação De Sistemas Multiagentesunclassified