Second Line Resources? Evaluating the Relationship Between Human Demography and Aquatic Resource Use During the Eastern Archaic

Summary

As part of its investigations the Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group (EAFWG) has been examining multiple explanatory models for Archaic variability and change in aquatic resource use. One traditional model argues that the intensified use of aquatic animals can be attributed to population growth and aggregation. In order to test this model the EAFWG explored possible methods for reconstructing Archaic population demographics. Until recently broad-scale Archaic population reconstruction has proven difficult to pursue, due in part to relatively few Archaic period sites and a lack of traditional population markers preserved within these sites. However, the development of networked digital repositories has made Archaic population reconstruction possible on a regional level. For this investigation information on Archaic sites was accessed for seven states located in the Eastern Woodlands region using site file data curated in the Digital Index of North American Archaeology (DINAA). Using site distributions and temporally diagnostic artifact data as proxies for population combined with site topographic setting the EAFWG was able to estimate population growth and aggregation over time throughout the Archaic period. These estimates can now be correlated with data on the use of aquatic resources from the EAFWG collection of faunal databases.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Making Fauna Matter in Archaic Period Research: Exploring Adaptation, Population Growth, and Cultural Practice through the Digital Integration of Eastern Archaic Faunal Datasets   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15853