ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND RANGE SIZE: A STUDY OF MODERN AND ANCIENT HUNTER GATHERERS

Archaeological surveys should be designed to better understand how past people interacted with their environment. An accurate survey should cover a group\u27s range size in order to get a true representation of the diversity of the group\u27s activities. Range size is defined as the total area of land over which a group moves and procures resources. Past studies of hunter gatherer range have focused on stylistic boundaries of pottery and stone tools. Optimal Foraging Theory has been used to better understand hunter gatherer territoriality and it can be used as a frame of reference for understanding range size as well. By examining two modem hunter gatherer groups, the G/wi and the !Kung, it becomes obvious that subtle environmental differences have large consequences in the group\u27s range size and subsistence base. Archaeologists will be able to design more accurate surveys by better understanding the ancient environment and how it would have affected past hunter gatherers