Kevin C. Nolan

Too many people and too few livestock in West Africa? An evaluation of Sandford's thesis.

Abstract We examine whether Stephen Sandfords (2006b) ‘too many people, too few livestock’ thesis for the Greater Horn of Africa applies to West Africa. In a comparative study of seven pastoral systems across West Africa we found that pastoralists have generally successfully adapted to pressures on grazing resources. We describe three adaptive strategies: 1) integration and intensification in the Sudanian zone; 2) movement to the Sub-Humid zone; and 3) extensification in the Sahelian zone. We end by proposing four interrelated factors that account for the differences in pastoral systems between West Africa and the Greater Horn of Africa.

A Quantitative Analysis of Skill and Efficiency: Hopewell Blade Production at the Turner Workshop, Hamilton County, Ohio

Abstract We describe and analyze blade production at a small site near the Turner Earthworks, Hamilton County, Ohio. The Turner Workshop provides perhaps the largest sample of Ohio Hopewell (ca. A.D. 50–350) blades and blade-cores recovered from a single site to date. We focus on describing the production process at Turner and comparing our results with those from other Ohio Hopewell and nonHopewell blade production sites. Special attention will be focused on rates of production errors, metric variability in final products, and the variability introduced into the production process by increases in distance-to-source and how these lines of evidence bear on the question of specialized production in middle-range societies. Our analysis reveals an industry characterized by a high frequency of errors, a high level of variability in final products, and a lack of standardization in reduction process. We therefore conclude that the Ohio Hopewell blade industry did not employ craft specialists.

Distributional Survey of the Reinhardt Site (33PI880), Pickaway County, Ohio: A Strategy for Deciphering the Community Structure of a Fort Ancient Village

Abstract There is currently a paucity of Fort Ancient sites with deciphered settlement structures. If settlement structure is reflective of social organization, then a larger sample of sites is needed to evaluate extant models of Fort Ancient social development. A distributional survey of the Reinhardt site, a Middle Fort Ancient habitation in the Middle Scioto Valley, Ohio is proposed as a model of efficient, multi-staged investigation that can aid in detection and interpretation of community structure. By combining an intensive surface collection and a 10 -×-20 -m grid of small volumetric shovel test units, I was able to discern a probable small plaza (circa 40 -m diameter) and a partial, relatively wide habitation ring (>30 m). I argue that this strategy can be usefully employed in a variety of situations to increase our understanding of variability in settlement organization in general, and specifically for the Late Prehistoric agricultural societies of the Middle Ohio Valley.

Using Evolutionary Archaeology and Evolutionary Ecology to Explain Cultural Elaboration: The Case of Middle Ohio Valley Woodland Period Ceremonial Subsistence

We propose a Darwinian evolutionary model for the development and disappearance of Woodland period cultural elaboration in the Ohio River Valley, and specifically the “climax” of this behavior known as the Hopewell phenomenon. We combine aspects of evolutionary archaeology and evolutionary ecology to provide a model that (1) has testable empirical consequences, and (2) specifically addresses the historical context of development of the phenomenon being explained. Our model builds on Smiths (1987) coevolutionary scenario for the development of symbiosis between Eastern Agricultural Complex (EAC) crops and the human populations exploiting them. After presenting our model, we explore the empirical consequences of ceremonial subsistence and the types of data that would be required to test the model. In our discussion of the extant data we also contrast our scenario with a competing evolutionary explanation for the Hopewell phenomenon: the “waste” hypothesis. The limited available evidence is in line with the empirical expectations of the ceremonial subsistence model and is, to varying degrees, at odds with the empirical expectations for the “waste” explanation. Our ceremonial subsistence model offers a testable alternative that is not falsified by the extant data. However, we recognize the problem is far from solved. Our primary aim is to promote renewed theoretical discussion of the issues raised herein and to encourage new problem-oriented research to provide empirical evidence to test both explanations.

VOLATILE CLIMATE CONDITIONS CAHOKIA: COMMENT ON BENSON, PAUKETAT AND COOK 2009

The rapidly growing archaeological literature on Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) reconstructions (e.g., Benson et al. 2007; Cooper 2008; Stahle et al. 2007) demonstrates the significant gains that can be made in explaining cultural developments in prehistory when appropriate climate data are available. Benson et al. (2009) added to this literature with an analysis of the climatic conditions associated with peak social complexity in the American Bottom. They focus on abundance of precipitation. We applaud their effort and offer an additional perspective on the development of social complexity using the same data, by highlighting the importance of variability in conditioning complexity.