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Considerations in Estimating Prehistoric California Coastal Populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael A. Glassow*
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, California

Abstract

Archaeologists are constantly faced with the problem of estimating population numbers of the social units they study. After a brief survey of some of the methods used in population estimations, particularly in California, attention is focused, in this paper, on a population model proposed by Robert Ascher. Nine variables which comprise the basis of his model are considered individually, and as a result of this analysis the precision with which these variables can be controlled is seen as insufficient for purposes of population estimation. Alternatively, broader, more comprehensive, ecological studies are suggested for acquiring the necessary data for population estimation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1967

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References

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