The Archaeology of Group Size

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Grove
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Trajectories Of Change ◽  
Spatio Temporal

This chapter aims to summarize the results of recent research producing estimates of hominin range areas, population sizes, and land use patterns based on archaeological data. Estimates of such variables are essential to any geographic or demographic discussion of human evolution, yet at present no generally applicable quantitative method is available to link them to the often abundant data of the archaeological record. Such data offer a unique window onto the patterns of adaptation characterizing prehistoric human populations, and developing a generic method to describe trajectories of change will allow researchers to compare range areas, population sizes and land use patterns between different regions and periods from throughout the vast spatio-temporal range of human evolution. The discussion gives particular emphasis to estimating a trajectory of group size through time from shortly after 2 million years ago until approximately 14,000 years ago.

scholarly journals ANÁLISE DAS VARIAÇÕES ESPACIAIS NO MUNICÍPIO DE PONTAL DO PARANÁ (PARANÁ – BRASIL), ENTRE OS ANOS DE 1980 e 2032 DECORRENTES DA INSTALAÇÃO DO COMPLEXO PORTUÁRIO

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (02) ◽  
pp. 263-290
Author(s):  
Jean Jesus Ilsuk da Silva ◽  
Sony Cortese Caneparo
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Predictive Modeling ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
The Future ◽  
Clark University ◽  
Spatio Temporal

O município de Pontal do Paraná está localizado no litoral do estado do Paraná, na região sul do Brasil. Em 1995, foi aí instalado o Porto de Pontal Importação e Exportação LTDA e, em 2013, foi aprovada a licença ambiental para a construção de um complexo portuário neste município. Tal obra se apresenta como um desafio, devido ao potencial que o mesmo apresenta em produzir impactos ambientais e mudanças nos padrões de uso da terra.Essa pesquisa objetiva analisar as mudanças espaciais que podem ocorrer futuramente no uso da terra e na cobertura vegetal em Pontal do Paraná (2032), em virtude da instalação deste complexo. Foram utilizadas rotinas de sistemas de informações geográficas, inseridas no IDRISI TAIGA, da Clark University, dentre elas se destacam a  Cadeia de Markov e os Autômatos Celulares para a geração do cenário futuro. O resultado da modelagem preditiva (2032), em função da expansão portuária, foi um aumento nas áreas urbanas, fator que poderia impactar diretamente as áreas de Restingas, de Mangues e da Floresta Ombrófila Densa. O presente trabalho revelou que o uso da modelagem preditiva pode ser uma ferramenta bastante útil para a avaliação e interpretação de cenários futuros. Palavras-chave: Modelagem Preditiva; Ambiente Litorâneo; Dinâmica Espaço-Temporal.   ANALYSIS OF SPACE VARIATIONS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF PONTAL DO PARANÁ (PARANÁ - BRAZIL), BETWEEN 1980 AND 2032 ARISING FROM THE PORT COMPLEX INSTALLATION Abstract The city of Pontal do Paraná is located on the coast of the state of Paraná, in the southern region of Brazil. In 1995, the Port of Pontal Importação e Exportação Company was installed there, and in 2013, the environmental license was approved for the installation of a port complex in this municipality. This Port presents itself as a challenge, due to its potential in producing environmental impacts and changes in land use patterns. This research aims to analyze the spatial changes that may occur in the future of land use and vegetation cover of Pontal do Paraná (2032), due to the installation of this complex. Routines of geographic information systems, inserted in the IDRISI TAIGA, of Clark University, among them, the Markov Chain and the Cellular Automatics were used to generate the future scenario. The result of predictive modeling (2032), caused by the port expansion, was an increase in urban areas, a factor that could directly impact the areas of restingas,  mangroves, and the atlantic rainforest. The present study revealed that the use of predictive modeling can be a very useful tool for the evaluation and interpretation of future scenarios. Keywords: Predictive Modeling; Coastal Environment; Spatio-Temporal Dynamics.   ANÁLISIS DE LAS VARIACIONES ESPACIALES EN EL MUNICIPIO DE PONTAL DO PARANÁ (PARANÁ - BRASIL), ENTRE LOS AÑOS 1980 Y 2032 RESULTANTE DE LA INSTALACIÓN DEL COMPLEJO PORTUARIO Resumen El municipio de Pontal do Paraná está ubicado en la costa del estado de Paraná, en la región sur de Brasil. En 1995, se instaló el Puerto de Importación y Exportación de Pontal Ltd. y, en 2013, se aprobó el permiso ambiental para la construcción de un complejo portuario en este municipio. Esta obra se presenta como un desafío, debido a la posibilidad  de producir impactos ambientales y cambios en los patrones de uso de la tierra. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar los cambios espaciales que puedan ocurrir en el futuro uso de la tierra y la vegetación en el Pontal do Paraná (2032), debido a la instalación de este complejo. Las rutinas se utilizan sistemas de información geográfica, insertado en el IDRISI TAIGA, Clark University, entre ellos se encuentran la Cadena de Markov y Autómatas Celulares para la generación de escenarios futuros. Los resultados de la modelización predictiva (2032), dependiendo de la expansión de lo puerto, fue un aumento en las zonas urbanas, un factor que podría tener un impacto directo sobre las áreas de Restinga, Manglares y Bosque Ombrophilous Denso. El presente estudio demostró que el uso de modelado predictivo puede ser una herramienta muy útil para la evaluación e interpretación de escenarios futuros. Palabras clave: Modelado Predictivo; Costero; Dinámica Espacio-Temporal.

scholarly journals Sparse Radiocarbon Data Confound Culture-Climate Links in Late Pre-Columbian Amazonia

Quaternary ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Philip Riris
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Climatological Data ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Radiocarbon Data ◽  
Intensive Land Use

It has recently been argued that pre-Columbian societies in the greater Amazon basin during the Late Holocene were subject to “adaptive cycling”. In this model, cultures practicing “intensive” land use practices, such as raised field agriculture, were vulnerable to perturbations in hydroclimate, whereas “extensive” land use patterns, such as polyculture agroforestry, are viewed as more resilient to climate change. On the basis of radiocarbon data, the relative rise and fall of late pre-Columbian cultures and their inferred patterns of land use in six regions are highlighted to exemplify this model. This paper re-examines the radiocarbon evidence marshalled in favour of adaptive cycling, demonstrating that alleged temporal patterning in these data are overwhelmingly likely due to a combination of sampling effects, lack of statistical controls, and unacknowledged uncertainties that are inherent to radiocarbon dating. The outcome of this combination of factors seriously limits the possibility of cross-referencing archaeological data with palaeo-ecological and -climatological data without controlling for these effects, undermining the central archaeological pillar in support of adaptive cycling in Amazonia. This paper illustrates examples of such mitigation measures and provides the code to replicate them. Suggestions for how to overcome the serious limitations identified in the Late Holocene radiocarbon record of Amazonia are presented in the context of ongoing debates on inferring climatic causation in archaeological and historical datasets.

Conducting “Siteless Survey”: Results from Coastal New England

1993 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan E. Kerber
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
New England ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Statistical Validity ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Survey Strategy

Selecting an effective archaeological survey takes careful consideration given the interaction of several variables, such as the survey's goals, nature of the data base, and budget constraints. This article provides justification for a “siteless survey” using evidence from a project on Potowomut Neck in Rhode Island whose objective was not to locate sites but to examine the distribution and density of prehistoric remains to test an hypothesis related to land use patterns. The survey strategy, random walk, was chosen because it possessed the advantages of probabilistic testing, as well as the ease of locating sample units. The results were within the limits of statistical validity and were found unable to reject the hypothesis. “Siteless survey” may be successfully applied in similar contexts where the distribution and density of materials, as opposed to ambiguously defined sites, are sought as evidence of land use patterns, in particular, and human adaptation, in general.

scholarly journals Modeling Community-Scale Natural Resource Use in a Transboundary Southern African Landscape: Integrating Remote Sensing and Participatory Mapping

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 631
Author(s):  
Kyle D. Woodward ◽  
Narcisa G. Pricope ◽  
Forrest R. Stevens ◽  
Andrea E. Gaughan ◽  
Nicholas E. Kolarik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Systems Science ◽  
Participatory Mapping ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Human Habitation

Remote sensing analyses focused on non-timber forest product (NTFP) collection and grazing are current research priorities of land systems science. However, mapping these particular land use patterns in rural heterogeneous landscapes is challenging because their potential signatures on the landscape cannot be positively identified without fine-scale land use data for validation. Using field-mapped resource areas and household survey data from participatory mapping research, we combined various Landsat-derived indices with ancillary data associated with human habitation to model the intensity of grazing and NTFP collection activities at 100-m spatial resolution. The study area is situated centrally within a transboundary southern African landscape that encompasses community-based organization (CBO) areas across three countries. We conducted four iterations of pixel-based random forest models, modifying the variable set to determine which of the covariates are most informative, using the best fit predictions to summarize and compare resource use intensity by resource type and across communities. Pixels within georeferenced, field-mapped resource areas were used as training data. All models had overall accuracies above 60% but those using proxies for human habitation were more robust, with overall accuracies above 90%. The contribution of Landsat data as utilized in our modeling framework was negligible, and further research must be conducted to extract greater value from Landsat or other optical remote sensing platforms to map these land use patterns at moderate resolution. We conclude that similar population proxy covariates should be included in future studies attempting to characterize communal resource use when traditional spectral signatures do not adequately capture resource use intensity alone. This study provides insights into modeling resource use activity when leveraging both remotely sensed data and proxies for human habitation in heterogeneous, spectrally mixed rural land areas.

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