Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:01:35.373Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Relationships Between Surface Area and Population Size: A Cautionary Note

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Richard W. Casteel*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada

Abstract

Two models relating various measures of camp surface area to population size among !Kung Bushmen are examined. It is shown that though there does exist a significant, positive correlation between some areal measures and population size, neither of the previously published models correctly represents these relationships. Alternative regression models are presented for the !Kung Bushmen which describe surface area as a function of population size in an acceptably accurate and reasonably concise fashion.

Type
Comments
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1979

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

Read, D. W. 1978 Towards a formal theory of population size and area of habitation. Current Anthropology 19(2):312-317.Google Scholar
Wiessner, P. 1974 A functional estimator of population from floor area. American Antiquity 39:343350.Google Scholar
Yellen, J. E. 1977 Archaeological approaches to the present. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar