Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

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Figure 2.2. Map locating recognized pre-A.D. 1200 Fort Ancient phases.
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J. Skiba
management, Winterhalder and Goland (1997) outline
a diet choice model in which resource selection
decisions (Leonard and Reed’s strategies) affect population
density and its spatial arrangement. In this
model they examine how and why domesticates
might enter a ranked list of resource staples; a list that
already could include cultigens. They maintain that
when the abundance of highly ranked wild animal
and plant resource items diminishes, through environmental
decline or overuse, foraging efficiency will
decrease and the diet will expand to incorporate
lower ranked items, which Winterhalder and Goland
label “Transitional Domesticates.” Any change in
these lower ranked resources that increases productivity
(a favorable return for the level of energy input)
and handling efficiency will move them into the highly
ranked set.
The authors offer three scenarios for explaining
changes in diet choices. In the first, transitional
domesticates represent low ranking, low density
resources that have a limited impact on subsistence,
even if they move into the diet and their ranking
increases.
In the second scenario, transitional domesticates
represent low ranking, high-density resources that
again have a limited impact on the overall diet.
Winterhalder and Goland (1997:132-133) argue that
incorporating such high density transitional domesticates
can stimulate population growth. As population
growth increases, the now high ranking transitional
domesticates may come to dominate subsistence;
however, these are prone to overexploitation. In this
scenario, if the resource yield fluctuates stochastically,
the population’s risk of resource exhaustion increases,
while the option of compensating through harvest
and sharing of foraged foods decreases (1997:136).
In the third scenario, the transitional domesticates
may represent a high ranking, high density item. As
such it will dominate the diet when introduced, and
other previously high ranked resources will drop out
of the diet. In this case, a narrowing of resource staples
can be accompanied by a high risk. Population
growth will likely increase as will a growing dependency
upon the new resource. While excluded
resources may remain as fallback foods, these may not
be sufficient if the human population has grown too
Chapter 2 Central Ohio Valley During the Late Prehistoric Period: Subsistance-Settlement Systems’ Responses to Risk 13