Middle and Late Holocene Hunting in the Great Basin: A Critical Review of the Debate and Future Prospects

2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 713-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Hockett
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
American Antiquity ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Small Game ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
Communal Hunting ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Middle And Late Holocene

Recent papers published in American Antiquity and elsewhere have debated whether there were more artiodactyls available to human foragers during the relatively cool and moist Late Holocene compared to the relatively warm and dry Middle Holocene in the Great Basin. If so, how did human foragers respond to changes in artiodactyl abundance, and what explanations may be offered to account for any changes in human behavior across the Middle Holocene-Late Holocene boundary? A critical examination of the data used in this debate does not support the interpretation that human foragers across the Great Basin intensified artiodactyl hunting during the Late Holocene relative to Middle Holocene levels. Depending on location and setting, individual sites occupied during the Middle Holocene may show decidedly more intensive artiodactyl hunting at this time. At other sites, artiodactyl hunting remained consistent throughout the Middle and Late Holocene, while small game hunting and gathering significantly varied. New data presented below suggest that a change from encounter or ambush hunting involving small family groups to the communal hunting of pronghorn by larger numbers of people occurred near the Middle Holocene-Late Holocene boundary. I suggest that changes in social organization and technology also occurred at this time.

Back to Study Hall: Further Reflections on Large Game Hunting During the Middle Holocene in the Great Basin

2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 962-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Hockett
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
American Antiquity ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Small Game ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Study Hall ◽  
Game Hunting

Hall's (this issue) comment to my paper published in American Antiquity five years ago (Hockett 2005) makes the following statements: (1) I calculated "depositional rates" for a series of Great Basin faunal assemblages; (2) my analysis did not account for atmospheric radiocarbon fluctuations; and (3) my paper argued "against an increase in hunting artiodactyls from the Middle to Late Holocene." He further argues that recalculation of the data I presented demonstrates that both large-and small-game hunting increased from the Middle to the Late Holocene. Hall is wrong on all accounts. I agree, however, that calibrated dates should now be used instead of the raw radiocarbon dates I used in my original paper. Using calibrated dates, however, does nothing to change the initial patterns I outlined five years ago. Three more recent papers (Hockett 2007, 2009; Hockett and Murphy 2009) on large game hunting in the Great Basin also corroborate my 2005 interpretations.

Antiquity of Communal Pronghorn Hunting in the North-Central Great Basin

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 708-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Hockett ◽  
Timothy W. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Behavioral Variability ◽  
Antilocapra Americana ◽  
North Central ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Small Game ◽  
The North ◽  
Middle Archaic ◽  
Communal Hunting ◽  
Game Hunting

Communal hunting of small game such as hares has probably occurred for 10,000 years in the Great Basin. Ethnohistoric accounts of the nineteenth century indicate that indigenous peoples communally hunted large game (e.g., pronghorn, mountain sheep, deer, bison) across much of western North America including the Plains, desert Southwest, California, and Great Basin subregions, during and immediately preceding the contact era. Research in the Plains subregion suggests that communal large game hunting occurred there prior to the adoption of the bow-and-arrow between ca. 1,500 and 2,000 years ago, and in fact may have occurred as early as 9,000 to 10,000 years ago. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century ethnohistoric accounts suggest that communal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) hunts involving the construction of a corral with associated wings were utilized by many Great Basin peoples at the time of historic contact. This paper asks: (1) did communal pronghorn hunts occur prior to the Protohistoric Period (before ca. 600 ¹⁴C B.P.) in the north-central Great Basin? (2) if so, how ancient is this practice? and (3) did the methods or behaviors of the participants of these communal hunts vary through time? Detailed analysis of sites containing dozens, and in many cases, hundreds of projectile points that predate ca. 600 ¹⁴C B.P. found in or near existing juniper branch corrals and wings suggest that communal pronghorn hunting has occurred for at least 4,000 to 5,000 years in the north-central Great Basin. Further, behavioral variability is seen through time in the material remains of these communal hunts, with earlier (Middle Archaic) communal kills characterized by greater use of local toolstone sources, gearing-up just prior to the kill, and perhaps a greater reliance on shooting the trapped pronghorn rather than clubbing compared to Protohistoric communal kills.

Showing off, Foraging Models, and the Ascendance of Large-Game Hunting in the California Middle Archaic

2003 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack M. Broughton ◽  
Frank E. Bayham
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Population Expansion ◽  
Foraging Theory ◽  
American Antiquity ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Prey Model ◽  
Middle Archaic ◽  
Foraging Models ◽  
Game Hunting

In a recent paper in American Antiquity (2002:231-256), Hildebrandt and McGuire argue that archaeofaunal patterns in California document an ascendance of artiodactyl hunting during the Middle Archaic. They also suggest that such a trend is inconsistent with predictions derived from optimal-foraging models. Given the apparent failure of foraging theory, they advance a “showing off” model of large-game hunting. While their presentation is intriguing, we do not see a theoretical warrant for predicting that show-off hunting would have increased during the Middle Archaic. We present here an alternative hypothesis for the increase in artiodactyl abundances and the hunting-related patterns they identify. That hypothesis follows directly from the prey model itself under what appears to have been a dramatic artiodactyl population expansion after the drought-dominated middle Holocene period.

Pronghorn Dental Age Profiles and Holocene Hunting Strategies at Hogup Cave, Utah

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Byers ◽  
Brenda L. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Dental Age ◽  
Temporal Shift ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Communal Hunting ◽  
Hunting Strategy ◽  
Middle And Late Holocene

In this article, we use pronghorn dental age data to document pronghorn hunting strategies at Hogup Cave, Utah, and explore their relationship with a widespread late Holocene trend in increasing large-game abundances noted in archaeofaunal contexts throughout western North America. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that at Hogup Cave, pronghorn hunting methods changed from a middle Holocene strategy dominated by encounter hunting of individual animals to a late Holocene strategy emphasizing large-scale communal hunting. Our analysis suggests that ancient hunters visiting Hogup Cave most likely employed small-scale encounter hunting during the fall and winter months and that this subsistence pattern varied little between the middle and late Holocene. Moreover, while hunting strategies appear to have remained generally similar throughout the 8,800-year occupational record at Hogup Cave, artiodactyl abundances show a dramatic increase relative to smaller, lower-ranked prey in late Holocene strata, suggesting that a temporal shift in the favored hunting strategy, by itself, cannot explain this trend in every context.

Putting it on the Calendar: Some Methodological Notes on Hockett's “Middle and Late Holocene Hunting in the Great Basin”

2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 954-961
Author(s):  
Mark E. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Significance Tests ◽  
Deposition Rates ◽  
Middle And Late Holocene

Hockett's (2005) examination of the faunal deposition rates at three sites in the Great Basin contains two fundamental errors. The rates are calculated using uncalibrated radiocarbon determinations, and ignores the fact that atmospheric radiocarbon has fluctuated through the millennia. Second, despite pronouncements on significant differences, no formal significance tests were done. This comment re-analyzes two of the sites discussed by Hockett using calibrated radiocarbon determinations and formal statistical significance tests.

NEW RADIOCARBON EVIDENCE FOR HUMAN OCCUPATION IN CENTRAL ARGENTINA DURING THE MIDDLE AND LATE HOLOCENE: THE ONGAMIRA VALLEY CASE

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Andrés D Izeta ◽  
Roxana Cattáneo ◽  
Andrés I Robledo ◽  
Mai Takigami ◽  
Minoru Yoneda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Occupational History ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
History Of ◽  
Palaeoenvironmental Changes ◽  
Middle And Late Holocene

ABSTRACT The Ongamira Valley (Córdoba, Argentina) shows a persistent occupational history of its territory. Even one of the first Argentinian radiocarbon (14C) dates was calculated in this valley; for 70 years, the chronology was based on relative dates (stratigraphy and its cultural content). For this reason, since 2010 a 14C dating program has been developed focusing on the chronology of eight of the 60 sites identified so far for the valley. This work reports the outcomes of this program with 27 new dates. These data have been related to characteristics of the material culture, use of space and mobility of hunter-gatherer societies. The results have allowed us to bring new insights into a continuous occupation of the valley since the Middle Holocene according to the human peopling models proposed. It has also been possible to provide greater chronological precision to various activities related to feeding practices, use of space associated with rock-shelters, palaeoenvironmental changes and incorporation of new technologies into daily practices.

Prey Body Size and Ranking in Zooarchaeology: Theory, Empirical Evidence, and Applications from the Northern Great Basin

2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack M. Broughton ◽  
Michael D. Cannon ◽  
Frank E. Bayham ◽  
David A. Byers
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Diet Breadth ◽  
Foraging Theory ◽  
Return Rate ◽  
The Body ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Abundance Indices ◽  
Game Hunting

The use of body size as an index of prey rank in zooarchaeology has fostered a widely applied approach to understanding variability in foraging efficiency. This approach has, however, been critiqued—most recently by the suggestion that large prey have high probabilities of failed pursuits. Here, we clarify the logic and history of using body size as a measure of prey rank and summarize empirical data on the body size-return rate relationship. With few exceptions, these data document strong positive relationships between prey size and return rate. We then illustrate, with studies from the Great Basin, the utility of body size-based abundance indices (e.g., the Artiodactyl Index) when used as one component of multidimensional analyses of prehistoric diet breadth. We use foraging theory to derive predictions about Holocene variability in diet breadth and test those predictions using the Artiodactyl Index and over a dozen other archaeological indices. The results indicate close fits between the predictions and the data and thus support the use of body size-based abundance indices as measures of foraging efficiency. These conclusions have implications for reconstructions of Holocene trends in large game hunting in western North America and for zooarchaeological applications of foraging theory in general.

Human occupation strategies and related environmental-climate during the middle and late Holocene in central Pampas of Argentina

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo G Messineo ◽  
Marcela S Tonello ◽  
Silvina Stutz ◽  
Alfonsina Tripaldi ◽  
Nahuel Scheifler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Specific Activity ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Hard Material ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Depositional Rate ◽  
Archeological Site ◽  
Middle And Late Holocene

The main objective of this work is to generate and integrate interpretations of human occupation strategies and inferences of the environmental-climatic conditions in the central Pampas during the middle and late Holocene. We present a novel archeological–geological–paleoecological analysis in the area of the Cabeza de Buey lake, placed in an aeolian landscape. During the middle Holocene, two events of human occupations were recognized at Laguna Cabeza de Buey 2 archeological site. Both events present a small amount of lithic materials, a low diversity of tools and activities developed with them (principally hard material), and the hunting and primary processing of artiodactyls. These evidences suggest a locus of specific activity associated with an ephemeral human settlement under climate conditions drier than present and the presence of small, brackish, and shallow water bodies. For the late late Holocene, the hunter-gatherer occupation has a higher depositional rate of lithic assemblage, stones with diverse origins, presence of pottery fragments, a great lithic tool diversity, knapping techniques, and activities developed with these tools (processing wood, bone, hide, non-woody plant, and soft material). These evidences reveal an occupation with a higher degree of recurrence represented by a locus of multiple activities associated with a more stable landscape, such as an environment of dunes fixed by grass vegetation, and the establishment of a permanent water body. The different environmental characteristics for the middle and late Holocene in this area promoted that human groups develop two different patterns of mobility, settlement and use of space.

scholarly journals Three distinct Holocene intervals of stalagmite deposition and nondeposition revealed in NW Madagascar, and their paleoclimate implications

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1771-1790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ny Riavo Gilbertinie Voarintsoa ◽  
Loren Bruce Railsback ◽  
George Albert Brook ◽  
Lixin Wang ◽  
Gayatri Kathayat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Intertropical Convergence Zone ◽  
Convergence Zone ◽  
High Resolution Data ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Resolution Data

Abstract. Petrographic features, mineralogy, and stable isotopes from two stalagmites, ANJB-2 and MAJ-5, respectively from Anjohibe and Anjokipoty caves, allow distinction of three intervals of the Holocene in NW Madagascar. The Malagasy early Holocene (between ca. 9.8 and 7.8 ka) and late Holocene (after ca. 1.6 ka) intervals (MEHI and MLHI, respectively) record evidence of stalagmite deposition. The Malagasy middle Holocene interval (MMHI, between ca. 7.8 and 1.6 ka) is marked by a depositional hiatus of ca. 6500 years. Deposition of these stalagmites indicates that the two caves were sufficiently supplied with water to allow stalagmite formation. This suggests that the MEHI and MLHI intervals may have been comparatively wet in NW Madagascar. In contrast, the long-term depositional hiatus during the MMHI implies it was relatively drier than the MEHI and the MLHI. The alternating wet–dry–wet conditions during the Holocene may have been linked to the long-term migrations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). When the ITCZ's mean position is farther south, NW Madagascar experiences wetter conditions, such as during the MEHI and MLHI, and when it moves north, NW Madagascar climate becomes drier, such as during the MMHI. A similar wet–dry–wet succession during the Holocene has been reported in neighboring locations, such as southeastern Africa. Beyond these three subdivisions, the records also suggest wet conditions around the cold 8.2 ka event, suggesting a causal relationship. However, additional Southern Hemisphere high-resolution data will be needed to confirm this.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document