Explaining Differential Settlement Patterning in the Sierra Nevada

Summary

This is an abstract from the "*Behavioral Ecology in the Mountain West" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Different ethnolinguistic groups in the Sierra Nevada exhibit substantial variability in settlement patterning, particularly in the intensity of their use of montane and alpine environments. Due to the similarity of environments throughout the range, these differences are not readily attributable to differences in environment or environmental variability. Using expectations derived from central place foraging theory and the ideal free distribution, we explore the degrees to which mobility, habitat suitability, and territoriality conditioned settlement pattern variability across the range. The results of this analysis are then compared to alternative culture-historical explanations for this patterning.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• *Behavioral Ecology in the Mountain West   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52860