Factors Maintaining Low Population Density among the Prehistoric New York Iroquois

Abstract

There is generally thought to be a direct link between the inception of farming and population growth. Here I question that assumption by examining how a group of shifting cultivators, the New York State Iroquois, maintained a relatively low population density. Boserup (1965) argued that population growth should be regarded as an independent variable or prime mover in understanding agricultural development, a notion that is still widely held. In archaeology it is often used to explain why some populations shifted from hunting and gathering to farming. However, as Bronson (1977:45) has pointed out, there are other possible explanations for farming besides population pressure. He also notes that population pressure does not always lead to farming. Polgar (1972), Cowgill (1975), and others have pointed out that population growth is not automatic and that for most of human existence population growth has been minimal. Even a very low growth rate, if sustained for millennia, would result in a population so large as to be unsupportable. Although population levels do not necessarily remain constant, the mathematics of population increase argue against a lengthy period of population growth in any area. Most people generally utilize practices that reduce fertility (Polgar 1972:206). A more traditional view, and one contained in many textbooks, is that the transition to farming increased the carrying capacity of a region, thereby allowing population to increase. In other words, farming is seen as a precondition for population growth. However Weiss cautions: