Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

334 Chaco Project Synthesis1'Ec:::~"0c::8associated with a decreased length in the growingseason. Larger group 1 sizes were found to increasefrom a median value of around 10 persons at E. T. 15to around 19.5 at E.T. 11.53. At lower E.T. values,group 1 size decreased. For those groups where E. T.values were less than 15.25 degrees, mobile residentialwork groups originating in sedentary settlements werelarger than groups that were maximally dispersedcomponents of residentially mobile people..,]..oo!1'" o...D~oo00Binford assumed that dispersed residential groupsize should reflect the labor demands required for bulkprocurement and processing, and that the mostdispersed residential population sizes are either aresponse to the season with the least food abundance,in which group 1 size reflects minimal mobility andminimal food demands per areal unit, or a response tothe number and spatial distribution of patches ofconcentrated resources, as well as temperaturevariability at such patches. To evaluate variouscombinations of environmental and popUlation sizevariables, Binford devised the group size model fordispersed hunter-gatherer popUlations who would beexpected to 1) use minimal technology in habitats thatdiffered in subsistence resources, and 2) utilize theseresources in proportion of their availability. Hecalculated habitat diversity, species stress, human size,and prey access to determine expected popUlationdensity values for the areas where basic weather datawere available. Calculations were standardized for100 km 2 units. He specified relationships betweenbasic food resources, the structure of the habitat, andthe organization of labor relevant to forager andcollector strategies. For the first condition, the size ofthe labor force needed to process food in bulk wouldincrease depending on the length of time for which thegroup depended on stored foods and the number ofdifferent stored foods that needed to be processed atone time. He determined the number of moves andthe distances moved, and the minimum number ofproducers and consumers (as well as dependencyratios) necessary for each subsistence strategy .Minimal size is favored to reduce mobility costs.-~f"0ou.~o~::l0'UJThe division of labor varies with the quantity ofresources that must be obtained over a short period oftime. When men and women focus on the samespecies, men usually procure while women process.When more than one species need to be processedsimultaneously, several work groups are organized.