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Technological Organization and Hunter-Gatherer Land Use: A California Example

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Douglas B. Bamforth*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Hellems Building, Campus Box 233, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0233

Abstract

Recent research has identified a number of general factors with important effects on flaked-stone technology but has been less effective in solving the problem of examining these factors in specific archaeological contexts. This paper discusses this issue and presents a case study focused on mobility patterns in one area of coastal California to exemplify one approach to dealing with it. This study emphasizes the importance of considering, first, the ways in which local conditions mediate the effects of global aspects of human adaptations and, second, the interactions between multiple causal factors as conditioners of technology. This example highlights the role played by multiple, distinct technological strategies within a single pattern of activity as well as the potential ambiguity of the relations between these strategies and global mobility patterns.

Résumé

Résumé

Recientes investigaciones han identificado un número de factores generates con efectos importantes en la tecnología de material lítico, pero han sido menos effectivas para resolver elproblema de la examinación de estos factores en contextos arqueológicos específicos. Este trabajo toca este tema y presenta un estudio enfocado en pat rones de movilidad en una zona costera de California para ejemplificar estos factores. Éste se concentra en la importancia de considerar, primero, la manera en que las condiciones locales median en los efectos de aspectos globales de la adaptación humana y, segundo, las influencias recíprocas entre factores causales múltiples como condicionantes de la tecnología. Este ejemplo enfoca el papel desempeñado por múltiples y distintas estrategias tecnológicas dentro de un mismo patrón de actividad así como la ambigüedad potencial de las relaciones entre estas estrategias y los modelos globales de movilidad.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1991

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