A GIS Analysis of Ancient Human Trails, Human Behavioral Ecology, and Agency in the Mojave and Colorado Desert

Summary

Desert environments pose challenging conditions to human travel in the form of exposure to intense weather and access to important water sources. Environmental constraints of the desert can explain people’s decisions to consider energy-efficient modes of travel through the framework of Human Behavioral Ecology. Culture, however, does not always follow the model of Human Behavioral Ecology, even in environments posing challenges that require efficient ways of living. Cultural knowledge, beliefs, and values are shared through generations, transforming an environment from constraining to familiar. By exploring the relationship between environmental constraints and route selections of ancient humans, we can support Human Behavioral Ecology as a baseline explanation for ancient trails in the desert. Although people do not always follow the most energy efficient routes, shifting their focus from efficiency to a different value. Perhaps we can further understand how people selected routes within a certain environment by measuring and comparing the most energy efficient routes on a cultural landscape to actual trails on the same cultural landscape. GIS may help us see patterns of past human decisions to follow efficient routes, as understood through Human Behavioral Ecology, and routes that deviate from the norm of efficiency, potentially indicating Agency.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22482