Archaeology of Frontiers & Boundaries

Contributors

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part I. An Approach to the Archaeological Study of Frontiers and Boundaries


1. Frontiers, Boundaries, and Open Social Systems

Introduction

Pattern and Process in Archaeology

Open Social Systems

Frontiers and Boundaries as Foci for Open System Research

Concluding Remarks

References


2. Closed Models of Open Systems: Boundary Considerations

Social Systems and Their Models

Boundary Models and System Change

Model Boundaries of Stable Systems

Testing

Notes

References

Part II. Foragers, Pastoralists, and Subsistence Farmers


3. Group Size and Mobility Costs

Introduction

Mobility Costs

The Hunter—Gatherer Group Size Curves and Open Systems

Mobility Costs and Hunter-Gatherer Ethnography

Group Sizes in Stable and Changing Environments and Their Archaeological Implications

Changing Archaic Population Distributions from South Carolina to Massachusetts

Summary and Conclusions

References


4. Cultural Boundaries and Ecological Frontiers in Coastal Regions: An Example from the Alaska Peninsula

Introduction

The Aleut/Eskimo Boundary

Aleut/Eskimo Origins

Later Archaeological Sequences on the Upper Alaska Peninsula

Archaeological Materials of the Lower Alaska Peninsula

Ethnohistory

Modeling the Northern Peninsula

Discussion

Conclusion

Notes

References


5. Forager/Farmer Interactions: Information, Social Organization, and the Frontier

Introduction

Information and the Frontier

Simulation Experiments

Discussion

Conclusion

References


6. The Hunter-Gatherer/Agricultural Frontier in Prehistoric Temperate Europe

Introduction

Early Farmers and Colonization

The Hunter-Gatherer Populations

Mobile Frontiers

Static Frontiers

Discussion

References


7. Boundaries as Strategies: An Ethnoarchaeological Study

Introduction

The Baringo District

The Functions and Associations of Decorated Calabashes

The Significance and Interpretation of Calabash Decoration

Boundaries Between Regional Social Units

References

Part III. Complex Society


8. Surplus Flow Between Frontiers and Homelands

Introduction

Descriptive Models of Frontier Settlement

Behavioral Relations in Frontiers

Frontier Change in Historical New England

Conclusions

References


9. Evolution on the Industrial Frontier

Introduction

The Development of Ecosystems on the Industrial Frontier

Processes of Ecosystem Differentiation on the Industrial Frontier

Summary and Conclusions

References


10. Urban Hinterlands as Frontiers of Colonization

Introduction

The Study Area

Methods of Analysis

Population and Settlement Processes

Land-Use Patterns and Forest Clearance

Summary and Conclusions

References


11. Functional Variation among Settlements on the South Carolina Frontier: An Archaeological Perspective

Introduction

The Insular Frontier Model

South Carolina's Development in Historical Perspective

An Archaeological View of Settlement

Conclusions

Note

References


12. The Arctic Frontier of Norse Greenland

Introduction

Local Greenlandic Settlement and Subsistence

Local Greenlandic Political Organization

The Importance of Transatlantic Trade

Documentary Evidence for the Nordrsetur

Locating Nordrsetur Place Names

Locating Nordrsetur Resources: Biogeographical Evidence

Locational Evidence for the Nordrsetur Hunt

Zooarchaeological Evidence

Artifactual Evidence

An Organizational Model for the Nordrsetur

Hunting Techniques

Constraints of Cargo Capacity and Demand

Constraints of Time and Labor

Constraints of Hazard

Labor Mobilization

Local Elites and the European Core

Culture Contact and the Nordrsetur

Decline of Transatlantic Trade

References


13. Baptists and Boundaries: Lessons from Baptist Material Culture

Introduction

Congregational Diversity and Autonomy

Research Methodology

Conclusions

References

Index