Measuring Foraging Efficiency with Archaeological Faunas: The Relationship Between Relative Abundance Indices and Foraging Returns |
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Authors: | Andrew Ugan Jason Bright |
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Affiliation: | a Dept of Anthropology, University of Utah, 270 S 1400 E, Room 102, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112-0060, U.S.A.;b SWCA, Inc, Environmental Consultants, 230 South 500 East Suite 380, Salt Lake City, UT, 84102-2015, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | In western North America, models from foraging theory have been used to address subsistence change using archaeological faunas. Several studies have argued that return rates from foraging declined in a variety of late Holocene contexts and support this position by applying a method involving the computation of a relative abundance index (AI) of large bodied animals to the sum of large and small ones. We present the results of a series of computer simulations devised to identify the relationship between changes in such indices and changes in a forager's average return rate and discuss the implications of these simulations in light of our current work in the Little Boulder Basin Area of north-central Nevada. These include, (1) the importance of using knowledge of both post-encounter return rates and changes in AI s to make inferences about changes in overall return rates; (2) the fact that there are good reasons to expect AI values to be low; and (3) what factors might contribute to the high AI values observed at archaeological sites. |
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Keywords: | FAUNAL ANALYSIS FORAGING EFFICIENCY ARTIODACTYL INDEX PREY MODEL OPTIMAL FORAGING THEORY GREAT BASIN |
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