Paleodemography

Исследован новый антропологический материал из могильника ранне- го железного века Саускен 3 (тува). были проанализированы основные палеодемо- графические характеристики популяции. результаты межгруппового канонического анализа краниометрических данных демонстрируют сходство популяции из могиль- ника Саускен 3 с другими уюкско-саглынским сериями и их отличие от популяций более ранней алды-бельской культуры.

New human fossil remains from sausken 3, which is an early Iron age cemetery in Tyva, were examined. Key paleodemographic characteristics of the population were analyzed. The results of the intergroup canonical analysis of craniometrical data revealed similarity between the individuals from the sausken 3 cemetery and other uyuk-saglyn series and their distinction from populations of the earlier aldy-Belsk culture.

Archaeologists now routinely use summed radiocarbon dates as a measure of past population size, yet few have coupled these measures to theoretical expectations about social organization. To help move the 'dates as data' approach from description to explanation, this paper proposes a new integrative theory and method for quantitative analyses of radiocarbon summed probability distributions (SPDs) in space. We present this new approach to 'SPDs in space' with a case study of 3571 geo-referenced radiocarbon dates from Wyoming, USA. We develop a SPD for the Holocene in Wyoming, then analyze the spatial distribution of the SPD as a function of time using a standard nearest-neighbor statistic. We compare population growth and decline throughout the Holocene with expectations for different Ideal Distribution Models from population ecology that predict the relationship between habitat quality and population density. Results suggest that populations in Wyoming were initially clustered and then became increasingly dispersed through the course of the Holocene. These results suggest that Allee-like benefits to aggregation, rather than ideal free-driven dispersion patterns, explain settlement decisions in response to growing populations. Our approach is a first step in constructing a method and theory for describing relationships between social organization and population growth trends derived from archaeological radiocarbon time-series.

We take an archaeodemographic approach and provide new insights into the population and demographic shifts of the prehispanic site of Xcambo, Yucatan, Mexico. Located in the coastal marshlands, Xcambo functioned as a salt production locale, administration center, and port during the Early Classic (AD 250–550) and Late Classic (AD 550–750) periods. Sierra-Sosa extensively excavated the settlement, and more than 600 skeletons, representative of all age groups, were recovered. We apply growth simulation models that combine archaeo-and paleodemographic approaches. Our simulation specifically takes into account Wood's (1998) theorem. Results show that Xcambo grew slowly during the Early Classic, with estimated figures ranging from about 860 individuals at the onset of the period to some 1,073 at the end. During the Late Classic, populations ranged from about 1,103 to 1,728 people at its peak occupation (AD 625). Eventually population drastically declined due to out-migration. During this last stage, the settlement had to face the consequences of political and economic shifts in the area. Considered jointly, both approaches provide a new research venue, because their application documents the population profiles and growth of a typical Maya coastal site over its 500 years of occupation. Este trabajo proporciona nuevas herramientas analíticas en materia de arqueo-demografía. Los estudios se realizaron en el asentamiento y puerto de Xcambo, localizado en una ciénaga costera del norte de Yucatán, México. Xcambo funcionó como lugar de producción de sal, centro administrativo y puerto de intercambio con otras regiones del área Maya y del Golfo de México durante el Clásico temprano (250-550 dC) y tardío (550-750 dC). Entre 1996 y 2000 el asentamiento fue objeto de excavaciones extensivas e intensivas bajo la dirección de Sierra-Sosa, durante las cuales se recuperaron más de 600 esqueletos que constituyen una muestra demográficamente representativa. Aplicamos modelos de simulación de crecimiento que combinan enfoques arqueo-y paleodemográficos. Nuestra simulación se basa específicamente en el teorema de Wood (1998) sobre modos de producción. Los resultados sugieren un crecimiento gradual durante el Clásico temprano, con una estimación poblacional de aproximadamente 860 individuos al inicio, ascendiendo a una estimación baja de 1.073 personas hacia fines de esta fase ocupacional. Posteriormente, se observa un crecimiento demográfico con un pico de 1.728 personas (estimación elevada) alrededor de 625 d.C. Finalmente, la población disminuye drásticamente debido a la emigración, lo cual se condice con la evidencia material del último siglo de ocupación que indica cambios político-económicos regionales previos al auge de Chichén Itzá. Considerando en conjunto los diferentes tipos de datos y perfiles de crecimiento poblacional en Xcambo, ofrecemos una visión sobre las dinámicas demográficas durante los 500 años de ocupación. De este modo, brindamos una nueva perspectiva metodológica aplicable a las dinámicas poblacionales mayas del Clásico. M esoamerican scholars have focused their efforts on developing simulations of population and growth in

The reconstruction of past demographic patterns is a fundamental step towards a better understanding of human-environment relations, especially in terms of quantifiable anthropic impact and population susceptibility to environmental changes. The recently developed Summed Calibrated Probability Distributions (SCPD) approach, based on large collections of archaeological radiocarbon dates, provides a new tool to obtain continuous prehistoric population curves suitable for comparison with palaeoenvironmental time series. Despite a wide application in Mesolithic and Neolithic contexts worldwide, the use of the SCPD method remains rare for post-Neolithic societies. Our aim is to address this visible gap and apply the SCPD approach to South European archeological contexts between the Bronze Age and the transition into the Iron Age (1800–800 cal. BC), then evaluating these results against local archeological narratives and palaeoecological data. We first test the SCPD method at a supra regional scale, ranging from the Ebro to the Danube rivers, and subsequently in five selected regions within this area. We then compare the regional population curves to climate data reconstructed from local palynological records. Our results highlight the contrast between a stable supra regional demographic trend and more dynamic regional patterns. We do not observe any convincing long-term correlations between population and climate, but localized episodes of demographic stagnation or decline are present in conjunction with climatic shifts or extremes. Nevertheless, climate change as a triggering factor should be considered with caution, especially in peripheral areas where the archaeological data is faint, or where local evidence points to contemporaneous, ongoing landscape overexploitation.