Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b95js Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-12T12:29:00.113Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Alyawara Site Structure and Its Archaeological Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2017

James F. O'Connell
James F. O'Connell*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ethnoarchaeological research has shown that the assumptions formerly guiding the investigation of hunter-gatherer site structure are invalid, at least as general rules. Further research is now required to identify the determinants of site structure and assess their effect. Here I describe those aspects of Alyawara behavior that shape site structure at residential base camps. I then compare certain features of the Alyawara case with those of the !Kung and the Nunamiut. I tentatively infer that most of the variability in site structure in these cases is a function of differences in the degree of reliance on food storage, seasonal variation in weather, household population size, and the length of time activity areas are in use. Predator pressure and the relative importance of interhousehold food sharing may also be involved. The apparent importance of food storage suggests that variation in site structure may parallel Binford's (1980) forager-collector continuum. Further research is required to determine if this is so, and whether other aspects of behavior also affect site structure. These observations have important implications for the conduct of archaeological research, especially for the spatial scales at which analyses of site structure are undertaken, and for the sizes of refuse items considered in such analyses.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , January 1987 , pp. 74 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Ammerman, A. J., and Feldman, M. W. 1974 On the “Making” of an Assemblage of Stone Tools. American Antiquity 39: 610–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1977 Forty-seven Trips: A Case Study in the Character of Archaeological Formation Processes. In Stone Tools as Cultural Markers: Change, Evolution and Complexity, edited by Wright, R. V. S., pp. 24–36. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1978a Dimensional Analysis of Behavior and Site Structure: Learning from an Eskimo Hunting Stand. American Antiquity 43: 330–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1978b Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1980 Willow Smoke and Dogs’ Tails: Hunter-Gatherer Settlement Systems and Archaeological Site Formation. American Antiquity 45: 4–20.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1983 In Pursuit of the Past. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1984 An Alyawara Day: Flour, Spinifex Gum, and Shifting Perspectives. Journal of Anthropological Research 40: 157–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1985 Researching Ambiguity: Frames of Reference and Site Structure. In Method and Theory for Activity Area Research: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach, edited by Kent, S.. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R., and Binford, S. R. 1966 A Preliminary Analysis of Functional Variability in the Mousterian of Levallois Fades. American Anthropologist 68: 2(pt. 2): 238–295.Google Scholar
Bonnichsen, R. 1973 Millie's Camp: An Experiment in Archaeology. World Archaeology 4: 277–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, A. S., Gelburd, D. E., and Yellen, J. E. 1984 Food Production and Culture Change among the !Kung San: Implications for Prehistoric Research. In From Hunters to Farmers, edited by Clark, J. D. and Brandt, S. A., pp. 293–310. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Bunn, H. T., Harris, J. W. K., Isaac, G., Kaufulu, Z., Kroll, E., Schick, K., Toth, N., and Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1980 Fxjj 50: An Early Pleistocene Site in Northern Kenya. World Archaeology 12: 109–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, C. 1984 The Nature of Organization of Intrasite Archaeological Records and Spatial Analytic Approaches to Their Investigation. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 7: 103–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, J. D. 1954 Excavations at Star Carr: An Early Mesolithic Site at Seamer near Scarborough, Yorkshire. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Denham, W. W. 1971-1972 Unpublished field notes. On file, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra.Google Scholar
Denham, W. W. 1972 The Detection of Patterns in Alyawara Nonverbal Behavior. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Denham, W. W. 1975 Population Properties of Physical Groups Among the Alyawara Tribe of Central Australia. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 10: 114–151.Google Scholar
Denham, W. W. 1978 Alyawara Ethnographic Data Base. HRAFlex Books, 015-001. Human Relations Area Files Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Gifford, D. 1977 Observations of Contemporary Human Settlements as an Aid to Archaeological Interpretation. Ph. D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Gould, R. A. 1967 Notes on Hunting, Butchering, and Sharing of Game among the Ngatatjara and Their Neighbors in the West Australian Desert. Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers 36: 41–66.Google Scholar
Graham, M, Raish, C., and Sebastian, L. 1982 Site Structure and Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology. Haliksa'1 1: 110–119.Google Scholar
Hayden, B., and Cannon, A. 1983 Where the Garbage Goes: Refuse Disposal in the Maya Highlands. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2: 117–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heppell, M. 1979 A Black Reality: Aboriginal Camps and Housing in Remote Australia. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra.Google Scholar
Jones, K. 1984 Hunting and Scavenging by Early Hominids: A Study in Archeological Method and Theory. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Kaplan, H., Hill, K., Hawkes, K., and Hurtado, A. M. 1984 Food Sharing Among Ache Hunter-Gatherers of Eastern Paraguay. Current Anthropology 25: 113–115.Google Scholar
Kaplan, H., and Hill, K. 1985 Food Sharing Among Ache Foragers: General Patterns and Specific Tests. Current Anthropology 26: 223–246.Google Scholar
Kent, S. 1984 Analyzing Activity Areas: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Use of Space. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Klein, R. 1969 Man and Culture in the Late Pleistocene: A Case Study. Chandler Publishing, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Leakey, M. D. 1971 Olduvai Gorge. Vol. 3, Excavations in Beds IandII, 1960-63 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Leroi-Gourhan, A., and Brezillon, M. 1972 Foilles de Pincevent, Essai d'Analyse Ethnographique d'un Habitat Magdalenian. C. N. R. S., Paris.Google Scholar
Mac Neish, R. S., Fowler, M. L., Cook, A. G., Peterson, F. A., Nelken-Terner, A., and Neely, J. 1972 The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley. Vol. Five: Excavations and Reconnaissance. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
McKellar, J. 1973 Correlations and the Explanation of Distributions. Ms. on file, Arizona State Museum, Tucson.Google Scholar
Murray, P. 1980 Discard Location: The Ethnographic Evidence. American Antiquity 45: 490–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O. Connell, J. F. 1979 Room to Move: Contemporary Alyawara Settlements and Their Implications for Aboriginal Housing Policy. In A Black Reality: Aboriginal Camps and Housing in Remote Australia, edited by Heppell, M., pp. 97–120. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra.Google Scholar
O. Connell, J. F., and Hawkes, K. 1981 Alyawara Plant Use and Optimal Foraging Theory. In Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies: Ethnographic and Archaeological Analyses, edited by Winterhalder, B. and Smith, E. A., pp. 99–125. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
O. Connell, J. F., and Hawkes, K. 1984 Food Choice and Foraging Sites Among the Alyawara. Journal of Anthropological Research 40: 504–535.Google Scholar
O. Connell, J. F., Latz, P. K., and Barnett, P. 1983 Traditional and Modern Plant Use Among the Alyawara of Central Australia. Economic Botany 37: 83–112.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1972 Archaeological Context and Systemic Context. American Antiquity 37: 156–165.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1978 Methodological Issues in Ethnoarchaeology. In Explorations in Ethnoarchaeology, edited by Gould, R. A., pp. 229–248, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Slatyer, R. 1962 Climate of the Alice Springs Area. General Report on Lands of the Alice Springs Area, Northern Territory, 1956-57 (compiled by Perry, R. A.), pp. 109–128. Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Spencer, W. B. and Gillen, F. J. 1899 The Native Tribes of Central Australia. Macmillan, London.Google Scholar
Spurling, B., and Hayden, B. 1984 Ethnoarchaeology and Intrasite Spatial Analysis: A Case Study from the Australian Western Desert. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, edited by Hietala, H., pp. 224–241. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Thomas, D. H. 1976 Figuring Anthropology: First Principles of Probability and Statistics. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Todd, L. C., Rapson, D. J., and Ingbar, E. E. 1985 Glimpses of Organization: Integrating Site Structure with Analysis of Assemblage Content. Paper presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Denver.Google Scholar
Wall, K. 1973 Primary and Secondary Refuse at the KOA Campground. Ms. on file, Arizona State Museum, Tucson.Google Scholar
Whallon, R. 1973 Spatial Analysis of Occupation Floors I: Application of Dimensional Analysis of Variance. American Antiquity 38: 266–278.Google Scholar
Whitelaw, T. 1983 People and Space in Hunter-Gatherer Camps: A Generalizing Approach in Ethnoarchaeology. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 2(2): 48–66.Google Scholar
Wilmsen, E. N., and Roberts, F. H. H. Jr. 1978 Lindenmeier, 1934-1974: Concluding Report on Investigations. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, Number 24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yellen, J. E. 1977 Archaeological Approaches to the Present: Models for Reconstructing the Past. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Yellen, J. E., and Gould, R. A. 1986 Determinants of Household Spacing in Traditional Societies. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies, London School of Economics, London, September 1986.Google Scholar