Optimal Location in Settlement Space: A Model for Describing Location Strategies

Abstract

Optimal choices of locations for settlement are made with reference to a simplified model of the environment. Since archaeological site locations reflect the outcomes of choice, a simplified model of the environment can be described, with the aid of multidimensional scaling, by considering the relationships among site locations and critical resources in terms of the costs in obtaining resources. Optimal location strategies can be assessed using the decision criteria of uncertainty, reformulated as propositions about strategies for different classes of site diversity and function. An example application using data from Folsom sites in the Rio Grande valley, New Mexico (Judge 1973), demonstrates the utility of this model for describing the location component of prehistoric cultural adaptation.