Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-7nlkj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T18:44:09.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Archaeological Evidence for Population Pressure in Pre-Agricultural Societies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mark N. Cohen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The intent of this paper is to criticize contemporary methodology in prehistoric demography and to suggest several new types of archaeological evidence which may be indicative of population growth and population pressure. Standard methodologies have tended to underestimate population growth in pre-agricultural societies and to underestimate the role of population pressure in causing economic change. It is argued that with increased sensitivity to additional sources of evidence, it becomes clear that population growth and population pressure are essentially ubiquitous in the archaeological record and can readily be perceived as leading to economic and technological growth culminating in the origins of agriculture.

Type
Comment
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 40 , Issue 4 , October 1975 , pp. 471 - 475
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1975

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

Binford, L. R. 1968 Post Pleistocene adaptations. In New perspectives in archaeology, edited by Binford, S. R. and Binford, L. R.. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Boserup, Ester 1965 The conditions of agricultural growth. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Butzer, Karl 1971 Environment and archaeology. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Childe, V. G. 1951 Man makes himself. Mentor, New York.Google Scholar
Clark, J. D. 1970 The prehistory of Africa. Praeger, New York.Google Scholar
Clark, J. D. 1966 Prehistoric Europe: the economic basis. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. Google Scholar
Clark, J. G. D. n.d.a Population pressure and the origins of agriculture: an archaeological case study from the central coast of Peru. In The origins of agriculture, edited by Reed, Charles. Mouton (World Anthropology Series), The Hague. (In press, ms. 1974.)Google Scholar
Clark, J. G. D. n.d.b Population pressure and the origins of agriculture. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Cook, S.F. 1972 Prehistoric demography. Addison Wesley Module 16. Reading, MA.Google Scholar
Cornwall, I. W. 1964 The world of ancient man. London, Phoenix House.Google Scholar
Deevy, Edward 1968 Comments. In Man the hunter, edited by Lee, R. B. and Devore, I., pp. 94–95. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Evans, L. G. 1969 The exploitation of molluscs. In The domestication and exploitation of plants and animals, edited by Ucko, P. J. and Dimbleby, G. W., pp. 479–484. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Harner, Michael 1970 Population pressure and the social evolution of agriculturalists. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 26(l):67–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, R. B., and Irven Devore (Editors) 1968 Man the hunter. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Murdock, G. P. 1968 The current status of the world's hunting and gathering peoples. In Man the hunter, edited by Lee, R. B. and Devore, I., pp. 13–20. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R. 1966 An introduction to American archaeology. Vol. 1. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs.Google Scholar
Yudkin, John 1969 Archaeology and the nutritionist. In The domestication and exploitation of plants and animals, edited by Ucko, P. J. and Dimbleby, G. W., pp. 547–554. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar