Research and Development in the Stone Age: Technological Transitions among Hunter-Gatherers [and Comments and Reply]

Abstract

The transition from Pleistocene to Archaic/Mesolithic is analyzed in broad ecological terms. The trend throughout most of the Pleistocene toward increasing technological diversity is linked to the expectable ecological tendency to increase resource reliability. The advent of culture enabled man to increase resource reliability by diversifying his resource base. Resources were largely of the K-selected type, economical to procure with simple technology but generally subject to overexploitation. By the end of the Pleistocene the diversification of the resource base had reached a maximum in a number of areas, and increased diversity could only be achieved by devising efficient means to exploit r-selected types of resources. It is this shiff in emphasis that characterizes the Archaic/Mesolithic. This change resulted in increases in sedentism, population density, and competition; occupation of new habitats; diversification of resource use in low-resource-density areas and specialization of resource use in areas of high density r-selected species; the emergence of ranking and primitive valuables: and the disappearance of extensive trade and interaction networks. These cultural changes cannot be linked to "population pressure" resulting from population growth. Indeed, neither "population pressure" nor "carrying capacity" is very useful for archaeological theory building.