Demographic uniformitarianism: the theoretical basis of prehistoric demographic research and its cross-disciplinary challenges

A principle of demographic uniformitarianism underpins all research into prehistoric demography (palaeodemography). This principle—which argues for continuity in the evolved mechanisms underlying modern human demographic processes and their response to environmental stimuli between past and present—provides the cross-disciplinary basis for palaeodemographic reconstruction and analysis. Prompted by the recent growth and interest in the field of prehistoric demography, this paper reviews the principle of demographic uniformitarianism, evaluates how it relates to two key debates in palaeodemographic research and seeks to delimit its range of applicability to past human and hominin populations.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography’.     

Réalisme et rupture avec le réel dans la représentation des animaux à Göbekli Tepe

Most of the animal figures on the T-shaped pillars at Göbekli Tepe seem to be depicted as the result of a realistic perspective. It may be related to the realist view that the animals subject of artificial being found in this area or even some of them play an important role in terms of food supply. The pillar itself, which hosts various animal figures, serves this purpose by taking on the function of being an animal's natural environment. On the other hand, the break from realism, which accompanies the point of view of the realist in animal depictions, is quite remarkable. This situation can be understood especially from rapprochements of the animals on the pillars whose relation is impossible in daily life. Furthermore, Göbekli Tepe's artist moves away from the realistic aspect by the size of animals depicted. If depicted animals were related to a mythical narrative, it can be assumed that the artist prefers a style that moves away from realism or realism according to the content of the narrative.     

Cultural evolution and prehistoric demography

One prominent feature of human culture is that different populations have different tools, technologies and cultural artefacts, and these unique toolkits can also differ in size and complexity. Over the past few decades, researchers in the fields of prehistoric demography and cultural evolution have addressed a number of questions regarding variation in toolkit size and complexity across prehistoric and modern populations. Several factors have been proposed as possible explanations for this variation: in particular, the mobility of a population, the resources it uses, the volatility of its environment and the number of individuals in the population. Using a variety of methods, including empirical and ethnographic research, computational models and laboratory-based experiments, researchers have found disparate results regarding each hypothesis. These discordant findings have led to debate over the factors that most significantly influence toolkit size and composition. For instance, several computational, empirical and laboratory studies of food-producing populations have found a positive correlation between the number of individuals in a population and toolkit size, whereas similar studies of hunter–gatherer populations have found little evidence of such a link. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive review of the literature in this field of study and propose corollaries and interdisciplinary approaches with the goal of reconciling dissimilar findings into a more comprehensive view of cultural toolkit variation.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography’.     

The cultural ecology of Puebloan Pebble-Mulch gardens

Prehistoric Anasazi Pueblo Indians relied on a diverse set of agricultural strategies, each uniquely suited to specific micro-environments, in their attempts to mitigate subsistence risk. One variant strategy used during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A.D. was pebble- mulch gardening. The Rio Grande Anasazi of northern New Mexico occasionally mulched some of their garden plots with pebbles in order to increase soil moisture, reduce erosion, moderate soil temperature, and increase crop yields. This labor intensive technique was primarily employed as a drought- evasive measure. And while pebble mulching is an effective agricultural adaptation to the constraints of a dryland environment, construction was limited to sites with natural gravel deposits and it never replaced more traditional food stress- coping mechanisms. In spite of their potential, pebblemulch gardens were used for only a short period of time, never contributed much to the total food yield of pueblos, and remained always a peripheral innovation outside of the Anasazi cultural core.     

Birds and prehistoric agriculture: The New Mexican pueblos

Analysis of faunal remains from prehistoric southwestern pueblo sites reveals certain commonly occurring species of mammals and birds, the latter including ducks and geese, hawks and eagles, American Kestrel, Mourning Dove, owls, Horned Lark, Common Raven, and jays. This phenomenon is examined with the analysis of bird bones from four New Mexican pueblos located in north-central and west-central New Mexico. Recovered faunal remains date to specific periods between A.D. 1250 and the present. Over 70 species of birds represent various ecological situations; many of these species presently do not occur near the pueblos and a few occur only in the extreme southeastern portion of the state. Marsh and riparian areas along the river systems and richer grasslands on the floodplains would account for most of these species occurring near the sites prehistorically. However, rather than attribute unusual species to climatic change, trade, or long-distance hunting expeditions by the Indians, an alternative explanation is offered which attributes high species diversity to areas of human disturbance. Disturbed areas such as agricultural fields can increase species diversity in an area and aid in the range extension of many animals. The primary factor in this situation, besides the crops themselves, is believed to be insects, which attract other animals, particularly birds and their predators. In addition, field irrigation systems act to extend riparian growth from the river across the floodplain, creating habitats for these animals. Finally, certain groups of birds and mammals have developed a natural attraction to human settlements and agricultural areas and these include species whose remains commonly occur in prehistoric pueblo sites. The avifauna from these sites also reveals information on the prehistoric use of birds as inferred from bone modification, cut marks, burials, and articulated wings.