Testing the Malthusian model: Population and storage at Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia

Prentiss, Anna Marie; Foor, Thomas A.; Hampton, Ashley

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.02.015

Cited by 9 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…Alternatively, inter- and intra-floor variability in the distribution of discarded lithic artifacts could also be affected by differential cleaning (e.g., Schiffer 1972, 1983; Stevenson 1982, 1985). Our research on formation processes has to date shown that floors were not swept or otherwise cleaned to any significant degree and thus appear to reflect in situ debris from household activities (Prentiss, Foor, and Hampton 2018; Ryan 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sample excavations of six BR2 and BR3 housepits revealed a variety of indicators of material wealth-based inequality (Prentiss et al 2012, 2014, 2015). A range of additional evidence suggested that beginning in mid-BR3 times, the village population suffered from subsistence stress associated with a Malthusian ceiling event (Prentiss, Foor, and Hampton 2018; Prentiss et al 2014). Densities of salmon and deer remains decline between the BR2 and BR3 periods.…”

Section: Studying the Emergence Of Materials Wealth-based Inequality Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dark shading shows areas targeted for excavation. Details regarding actual extent of excavation on a floor by floor basis are provided in Prentiss, Foor, and Hampton (2018). Figure by Ashley Hampton.

Figure 4.West wall profile from Block A, Housepit 54, showing major strata.…”

Section: Studying the Emergence Of Materials Wealth-based Inequality Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Housepit 54 was first identified as having a unique and potentially long record during test excavations in 2004 and 2008 (Prentiss et al 2008, 2012). Consequently, our research team determined that with 17 well-preserved anthropogenic floors, this housepit would be ideal for addressing questions concerning the role of intra-house dynamics during the majority of the occupation periods at Bridge River (Prentiss, Foor, and Hampton 2018). Excavations from 2012 to 2016 focused on exposure of nearly entire floor surfaces for each floor using a system of 4 × 4 m blocks, 1 × 1 m units, and 50 × 50 cm quads (Figure 3).…”

Section: Studying the Emergence Of Materials Wealth-based Inequality Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evolution of material wealth-based inequality has been the subject of intensive research and ongoing debate in the Middle Fraser Canyon of interior British Columbia (Harris 2012; Hayden 1994, 1997, 1998; Prentiss and Kuijt 2012; Prentiss et al 2011); it is now clear that material wealth-based inequality measurable on an inter-house basis appeared in the Middle Fraser during the period of 1300–1000 cal BP when large aggregate villages were at peak size (Prentiss et al 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014; Prentiss, Foor, and Hampton 2018; Prentiss, Foor, and Murphy 2018). This came at a time of evident economic hardship following a time of rapid growth.…”

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The Evolution of Material Wealth-Based Inequality: The Record of Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia

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The evolution of material wealth-based inequality is an important topic in archaeological research. While a number of explanatory models have been proposed, rarely have they been adequately tested. A significant challenge to testing such models concerns our ability to define distinct, temporally short-term, residential occupations in the archaeological record. Sites often lack evidence for temporally persistent inequality, or, when present, the palimpsest nature of the deposits often make it difficult to define the processes of change on scales that are fine enough to evaluate nuanced model predictions. In this article, we use the detailed record of Housepit 54 from the Bridge River site, interior British Columbia, to evaluate several alternative hypotheses regarding the evolution of persistent material wealth-based inequality. Results of our analyses indicate that inequality appeared abruptly coincident with a decline in intra-house cooperation associated with population packing and the initiation of periodic subsistence stress. We conclude that persistent inequality in this context was a byproduct of altered social networks linked to a Malthusian transition and ceiling.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Studying the Emergence Of Materials Wealth-based Inequality Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Figure 4.West wall profile from Block A, Housepit 54, showing major strata.…”

Section: Studying the Emergence Of Materials Wealth-based Inequality Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Studying the Emergence Of Materials Wealth-based Inequality Amentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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The Evolution of Material Wealth-Based Inequality: The Record of Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia

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Human Ecology

Prentiss¹

2019

Handbook of Evolutionary Research in Archaeology

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

Freeman,

Mauldin,

Hard

et al. 2023

J Archaeol Method Theory

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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.

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Testing the Malthusian model: Population and storage at Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia

Cited by 9 publications

References 44 publications

The Evolution of Material Wealth-Based Inequality: The Record of Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia

The Evolution of Material Wealth-Based Inequality: The Record of Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia

Human Ecology

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

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