Regional Settlement Demography in Archaeology
ISBN: 9781733376976
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / Eliot Werner Publications
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Land settlement patterns Prehistoric; Archaeology -- Methodology;

Archaeological analysis at the regional scale investigates the past by studying how people distributed themselves and their activities across a landscape of hundreds or thousands of square kilometers. Archaeological field survey methods developed over half a century combine with powerful new quantitative tools for spatial analysis (including GIS) to unleash new potential for identifying and studying ancient local communities and regional polities. Varied approaches to estimating regional population sizes in both relative and absolute terms are synthesized and their advantages and disadvantages assessed. Tools for quantitative analysis of regional demographic data are presented. Field survey methods developed around the world are compiled from widely scattered sources and best practices for collecting archaeological data to sustain demographic analysis are delineated. Concepts for improved sampling design in regional survey work are derived from fundamental statistical principles. In conclusion, promising directions for future methodological development are identified.


Robert D. Drennan pursues comparative analysis aimed at delineating patterns of variation in the developmental trajectories of early complex societies worldwide. He has carried out archaeological field research with a focus on regional settlement demography, communities, and households in Mesoamerica, northern South America, and northeastern China. He is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Comparative Archaeology at the University of Pittsburgh, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. C. Adam Berrey is an archaeological anthropologist specializing in the comparative study of early complex societies. His research focuses on the interplay between demographic, sociopolitical, and socioeconomic processes, particularly in the Isthmo-Colombian Area. He has carried out archaeological field research in central and eastern Panama, and is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. Christian E. Peterson identifies, analyzes, and compares patterns of variation in trajectories of complex society growth and decline so as to better understand the dynamics of social change. Topics emphasized in his research include regional settlement distribution, community patterning, and demography; household artifact assemblage analysis; public works investment; quantitative analysis, spatial analysis, and agent-based modeling. He conducts archaeological fieldwork in northeastern China. He is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
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