Climate, resources and strategies: simulating prehistoric populations in semi-arid environments

Summary

The aim of this study is to model resource management and decision making among hunter-gatherer and agro-pastoral groups in semi-arid zones in order to explore evolutionary trajectories in relation to (a) the appearance of other specialized groups during the mid-Holocene and (b) environmental variability. The study of coexistence and interaction between groups with different subsistence strategies and land-use behaviours represents an interesting research challenge to understand socio-ecological dynamics. This study deeply depends on the appreciation of past settlement dynamics and resource management and the approach is through Agent-Based Simulation. Our case study focuses in Northern Gujarat (India), a marginal environment between the Thar Desert and the more fertile area of Saurashtra. This region is an ecotone characterized by the seasonal influence of the monsoon, where contrasting ecological niches are in tension and small climatic shifts can generate significant environmental changes. Archaeological evidence points to the presence and possible coexistence in the area of groups of people with different resource management strategies and mobility behaviours during the mid-Holocene: hunter-gatherers (HG) and agropastoralists (AP).

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• SimulPast -- Simulating the Past to Understand Human Behaviour

Keywords

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