Demographic Archaeology

Hassan, Fekri A.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-624180-8.50010-x

Cited by 409 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…This is not unexpected, as ethnographic data demonstrate that regional hunter-gatherer populations are subject to frequent fluctuations in relative population growth and decline, often liked with environmental factors and their associated impact on resource availability (Binford, 2001;Pennington, 2001). This is likely to have been the case in the Upper Palaeolithic, despite assumptions of relatively stable, slow-growing, global Pleistocene populations (see Hassan, 1981).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The demography of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of Southwestern France: A multi-proxy approach using archaeological data

French

2015

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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a b s t r a c tDemographic change is increasingly cited as an explanation for many of the patterns seen in the Palaeolithic archaeological record, following the assumption of a relationship between population size and material culture espoused by dual inheritance theory. However, the empirical testing of this relationship relies on the ability to extract information about past population patterns from the archaeological record. Using the extensive and well-studied record of the Upper Palaeolithic (39,500-11,500 cal BP) hunter-gatherers of Southwestern France as a case-study, this paper compares the evidence for changes in relative population size as seen in three popular archaeological proxies for demographic change (site counts, site sizes, and occupation intensity estimates). These proxies present conflicting results across the sequence; a finding which is explored through the impact of taphonomic biases and past research agendas. Numbers of sheltered sites and quantities of retouched stone tools are suggested to be the most reliable demographic proxies. The problem of equifinality of interpretation in archaeological proxies for demography is examined for the Aurignacian and Gravettian periods in the region, with changes in lithic raw material, faunal acquisition strategies, and hunter-gatherer mobility all potentially contributing to the patterns documented.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The demography of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of Southwestern France: A multi-proxy approach using archaeological data

French

2015

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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“…Drawing on Hassan's study of human demographic trends (Hassan, 1981), he maintained that throughout human history environmental carrying capacity had kept well ahead of population as a ''result of changes in foraging efficiency that preceded (and made possible) population growth'' (Flannery, 1986, p. 12). Rather than being driven by population pressure, to Flannery the broad-spectrum diversification of the resource base seen in many areas of the world at the beginning of the Holocene was better characterized as an adaptation that had enhanced the overall fitness of post-Pleistocene foragers and made further population growth possible.…”

Section: Flannery Revisits the Bsrmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Broad Spectrum Revolution at 40: Resource diversity, intensification, and an alternative to optimal foraging explanations

Zeder

2012

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

240

182

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“…For example, Jacobs and Roberts (2009) argue that it was demographic surges within sub-Saharan Africa that accounted for the striking features of the SB and HP industries, their increased archaeological visibility, and their short-lived natures. While genetic studies of modern human populations have given us a different window on this problem, archaeological inferences concerning past demographic structures are notoriously problematic (Hassan 1978;Shennan 2001). With that said, it is difficult to find significant archaeological evidence for demographic expansion during the SB industry, which is known from a fairly small number of sites.…”

Section: Implications For the Modern Human Revolutionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Still Bay and Howiesons Poort Foraging Strategies: Recent Research and Models of Culture Change

McCall

Thomas

2012

Afr Archaeol Rev

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The Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP) industries, endemic to southern Africa and dating to approximately 72-59 ka, have received a great deal of archaeological attention by virtue of their striking patterns of technology and their close association with some of the earliest unambiguously symbolic objects found in southern Africa. This paper reviews recent literature concerning SB and HP lithic assemblages, faunal remains, paleoenvironmental contexts, and chronological information. It argues that SB biface-dominated technology was designed to be multifunctional and to economize lithic raw material, a strategy well-suited to foragers moving frequently across a wide range of ecological zones in which access to resources and prey encounters were unpredictable. In contrast, HP blade-based tools, using backed blades as modular components in compound weapons, were efficient and reliable hunting weapons designed for specific tasks. More costly and difficult to maintain, HP technology resulted from the targeting of known, localized, and seasonal resources through planned logistical forays. We argue that these complicated patterns of innovation represent separate cultural responses to environmental instability during Marine Isotope Stage 4 and demographic pressures in southern Africa at this time. Against the backdrop of environmental and demographic shifts, the emergence of these innovative tools and associated symbolic objects reflects distinct but quintessentially modern cultural behaviors ethnographically associated with risk reduction, reciprocity, and information sharing.Résumé Les industries lithiques de Still Bay (SB) et de Howiesons Poort (HP), omniprésentes en Afrique australe et datant approximativement de 75-59 ka, ont reçu beaucoup d'attention de la part des archéologues en raison de leurs patterns technologiques frappant, ainsi qu'à leur association aux plus anciens objets symboliques trouvés dans cette région africaine. Cet article révise la littérature récente portant sur Afr Archaeol Rev (2012) 29:7-50 les assemblages lithiques et fauniques, les contextes paléoenvironnementaux, ainsi que les données chronologiques des industries SB et HP. L'article soutient que la technologie SB, dominée par les bifaces, fut créé pour être multifonctionnelle et pour économiser du matériel lithique brut; une stratégie bien adaptée à des groupes de chasseurs-cueilleurs se déplaçant fréquemment à travers différentes zones écologiques, où l'accès aux ressources et au gibier était imprévisible. Inversement, les outils laminaires HP, utilisant des lames supportées comme composants modulaires dans la fabrication d'armes composites, étaient spécifiquement fabriquées pour être des armes de chasse efficaces et fiables. Étant plus coûteuse et difficile à entretenir, la technologie HP fut le résultat d'une adaptation à des ressources bien connues, localisées et saisonnières, procurées le biais d'incursions logistiques planifiées. Nous soutenons que ces innovations technologiques complexes représentent des adaptations culturelles...

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Demographic Archaeology

Cited by 409 publications

References 98 publications

The demography of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of Southwestern France: A multi-proxy approach using archaeological data

The demography of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of Southwestern France: A multi-proxy approach using archaeological data

The Broad Spectrum Revolution at 40: Resource diversity, intensification, and an alternative to optimal foraging explanations

Still Bay and Howiesons Poort Foraging Strategies: Recent Research and Models of Culture Change

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