Economic and Organizational Responses to Food Stress By Non-Stratified Societies: an Example from Prehistoric New Mexico.
Minnis, Paul Edward
1981
Abstract
This study is concerned with underst and ing how non-stratified human groups respond to periods of food stress. It focuses on a detailed archaeological case study in the Rio Mimbres drainage of southwestern New Mexico. A model which predicts the ordering of economic and organizational responses to food stress is developed. This model is an outgrowth of evolutionary theory proposed by Lawrence Slobodkin. Slobodkin suggests that living populations respond to perturbations in an ordered and hierarchical manner; more permanent, wide ranging responses will be used only after less permanent and less wide ranging responses have been found to be ineffective for coping with the perturbation. The specific model developed in this work suggests that economic and organizational responses to food stress by non-stratified societies will be ordered by the inclusiveness of the response, that is, the number of social groups involved in the response. The model predicts that more inclusive responses will become important only after less inclusive responses are attempted and found ineffective. Three ethnographic cases of groups faced with periods of food stress are considered in light of this model. The responses by the Fringe Enga (New Guinea), the Tikopia (Tikopia Isl and ), and the Gwembe Tonga (southern Africa) generally conform to the model proposed in this study. A longer term case study is then discussed. This involves the agricultural Mogollon sequence in southwestern New Mexico. Three prehistoric periods are the focus of this work, Early Pithouse (A.D. 0-600), Late Pithouse (A.D. 600-1000), and Classic Mimbres (A.D. 1000-1130 or 1150). During this sequence the human population increased, reaching its zenith during the Classic Mimbres period, when the population was eight times larger than the Early Pithouse period population. After describing the prehistoric subsistence economy within the study area, estimates were made of the effects of environmental factors which limited the prehistoric economy. It was found that, during the Classic Mimbres period, there were insufficient fields available in the most reliable location (Rio Membres flood plain) to support the population. Also, there was insufficient water to irrigate the entire Rio Mimbres flood plain. Consequently, the Classic Mimbrenos were forced to use less reliable farming strategies (e.g., dry farming and terraced fields). Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the energy available from natural resources within the study area indicates that there were insufficient resources to support the Classic Mimbres period population in the event of crop failure. Prehistoric precipitation variation derived from dendroclimatological data indicates that the first two-thirds of the Classic Mimbres period was an unusually favorable time for aboriginal farming. During the last third of this period, the precipitation was particulary unfavorable for prehistoric agriculture. These calculations strongly suggest that the later Classic Mimbrenos were faced with very severe food acquisition problems. An analysis of numerous artifact categories fails to show that the Classic Mimbres period population used more inclusive responses (greater social integration or more extensive social network) as predicted by the model. If the model is correct, then the lack of the use of more inclusive responses by the Classic Mimbrenos was maladaptive behavior. It is argued that this contributed to the collapse of the Classic Mimbres period cultural system.Types
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