Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory PDF
Preview Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory
lIunter-{;atherers Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO ARCHAEOLOGY Series Editor: Michael Jochim, University of California, Santa Barbara Founding Editor: Roy S. Dickens, Jr., Late of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Editorial Board: Lewis R. Binford, University of New Mexico Jane E. Buikstra, University of Chicago Charles M. Hudson, University of Georgia Stephen A. Kowalewski, University of Georgia William L. Rathje, University of Arizona Stanley South, University of South Carolina Bruce Winterhalder, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Richard A. Yarnell, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ECOLOGY AND HUMAN ORGANIZATION ON THE GREAT PLAINS Douglas B. Bamforth HOLOCENE HUMAN ECOLOGY IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA Edited by George P. Nicholas HUNTER-GATHERERS Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory Robert L. Bettinger THE INTERPRETATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SPATIAL PATTERNING Edited by Ellen M. Kroll and T. Douglas Price THE PLEISTOCENE OLD WORLD Regional Perspectives Edited by Olga Soffer lIunter-(Jatherers Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory ROBERT L. BETTINGER University of California, Davis Davis, California Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Library of Congress Catalog1ng-1n-Pub1icatlon Data Bettlnger, Robert L. Hunter-gatherers : archaeological and evolutionary theory / Robert L. Bettlnger. p. ca. — (Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology) Includes bibliographical references and Index. ISBN 978-1-4899-0660-1 1. Hunting and gathering societies. 2. Social evolution. 3. Man , Prehistoric. I. Title. II. Series. GN407.3.B48 1991 303.4—dc20 90-25228 CIP First Printing—March 1991 Second Printing—May 1992 Third Printing—August 1993 ISBN 978-1-4899-0660-1 ISBN 978-1-4899-0658-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-0658-8 © 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1991 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1991 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher Preface Hunter-gatherers are the quintessential anthropological topic. They constitute the subject matter that, in the last instance, separates anthropology from its sister social science disciplines: psychology, sociology, economics, and political science. In that central position, hunter-gatherers are the acid test to which any reasonably comprehensive anthropological theory must be applied. Several such theories-some narrow, some broad-are examined in light of the hunter gatherer case in this book. My purpose, then, is that of a review of ideas rather than of a literature. I do not-probably could not-survey all that has been written about hunter-gatherers: Many more works are ignored than considered. That is not because the ones ignored are uninteresting, but because it is my broader purpose to concentrate on certain theoretical contributions to anthro pology in which hunter-gatherers figure most prominently. The book begins with two chapters that deal with the history of anthro pological research and theory in relation to hunter-gatherers. The point is not to present a comprehensive or even-handed accounting of developments. Rather, I sketch a history of selected ideas that have determined the manner in which social scientists have viewed, and thus studied, hunter-gatherers. This lays the groundwork for subjects subsequently addressed and establishes two funda mental points. First, the social sciences have always portrayed hunter-gatherers in ways that serve their theories; in short, hunter-gatherer research has always been a theoretical enterprise. Second, these theoretical treatments have gener ally been either evolutionary or materialist-or both-in perspective. The remainder of the book explores evolutionary and materialist perspec tives in relation to contemporary theoretical contributions to hunter-gatherer studies of two kinds. The first consists of hunter-gatherer research that is governed by theories of limited sets, that is, those that speak to limited sets of behaviors. By definition v vi PREFACE it is the job of limited theories to reconcile general principles to particular cases by showing how such cases result from the general principle in the presence of special conditions. The presence of such conditions is both necessary and sufficient to identify a case as belonging to the set for which the theory is intended-such classifications being, thus, theory based. It is, further, the interaction between the general principle and the salient properties of the special, set-defining conditions that accounts for what is observed. Theories of limited sets can serve as either interim steps in the construction of general theories or means of articulating extant general theory (Kuhn 1962:24-34). Either way it is clear that limited theories are no less "theoretical" than theories of general sets-they are simply less general. By design, limited theories are practical and meant for application in the real world: They are theories that have, in archaeological parlance, direct test implications. I attend particularly to research guided by two limited theories that have dominated hunter-gatherer archaeology and ethnography over the last decade: middle-range theory research (the subject of Chapter 3) and optimal foraging theory (the subject of Chapters 4-5). Sections of these chapters draw upon ideas originally put forward in an earlier work (Bettinger 1987) that appeared in Volume 16 of the Annual Review of Anthropology. The second kind of hunter-gatherer research addressed here is governed by theories of general sets, or general theories. Such theories are constructed of fundamental principles that are meant to apply to widely divergent phenomena and for that reason are often highly abstract and their meaning difficult to grasp. The general theories in question here attempt to account for the elementary logic that underlies human behaviors of all kinds; our interest in them relates to their potential application to hunter-gatherers. Of special importance here are theoretical constructions grounded in two fundamentally different schools of thought: neo-Marxism, including especially structural/French Marxism (the subject of Chapter 6) and neo-Darwinism. Within the latter I distinguish and treat separately evolutionary ecology (the subject of Chapter 7) and more recent theories of cultural transmission (the subject of Chapter 8). With a few excep tions, hunter-gatherer archaeology has in recent times deliberately avoided this sort of general theory. As I will make clear, that is clearly to its detriment. By way of introduction, lastly, the reader will undoubtedly note that I seem at times to be addressing two rather different audiences, one archaeologi cal, the other anthropological. This is intentional, for as I hope to make clear, hunter-gatherers are today-and have been historically-a common ground upon which converge many disparate subdisciplines within anthropology and, within those subdisciplines, many different points of view. As I hope to make clear further, the development and current state of hunter-gatherer research is such that there is no clear distinction between archaeology and ethnology as regards either theory or subject matter. Indeed, the time has long since past PREFACE vii when hunter-gatherer archaeologists could afford to ignore anthropological theory and theorists and the ethnographic record, just as the time is also long past when anthropologists and ethnographers interested in hunter-gatherers could afford to ignore archaeological theory and theorists and the archaeolog ical record. Acknowledgments The list of individuals who contributed in fundamental ways to this book is almost endless. My colleague and close friend, Bill Davis, directed my attention to references, listened to my ideas, and read and commented on most of the manuscript for this book. Chapter 6 largely derives from a graduate seminar on Marxism and Anthropology given in the spring of 1986; Davis and I were listed as co-instructors but he was the gUiding force. Another close colleague and friend, Peter Richerson, offered similar assistance and likewise read and com mented on the entire draft. In the fall of 1988, Roben Boyd and the other panicipants. in a continuing seminar series in cultural evolution offered by Richerson and me, read and commented on Chapters 1-2. These seminars were supponed in pan by the Sloan Foundation. Boyd has, in addition, been panicu larly helpful in contributing comments and advice pertaining to the quantitative modeling of evolutionary processes. Another participant in our cultural evolution seminar, Clyde Wilson, provided helpful comments on the work of his former professor. leslie White. Dave Meltzer also selflessly agreed to read and comment on Chapters 1-2. His detailed observations, frank criticisms, and helpful sugges tions pointing me to sources I had ignored caused me to rewrite both chapters in their entirety and made it possible for me to avoid many foolish errors of fact and logic. Yet one more close colleague and friend, Aram Yengoyan, is another who read and commented on the first two chapters. His ideas about the history of anthropology, especially the work of Morgan and Kroeber, proved quite useful. Bruce Winterhalder deserves special credit. He read the entire draft-and sent 12 Single-spaced pages of comments and observations. This caused me to rethink and rewrite several chapters, most notably 4-5 and 7-8. I am also indebted to Mike Jochim, whose enthusiasm encouraged me to undertake this project, and Eliot Werner, whose support helped me see it through. Several other individuals contributed in more subtle ways to the ideas set down here: ix x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Marty Orans, Tom Beidelman, Don Grayson, Dave Thomas, Jim O'Connell, Dave Madsen, Judy Polanich, Gary Macey, and Mike Delacorte. Thanks also are due to the staff of the Department of Anthropology; Nancy McLaughlin, Sandi Williams, Jane Foster, Debbie Pederson, and Gayle Bacon. Finally, none of this would have been possible without the constant support and encouragement of my wife Sharon and son Ian. Many precious hours that should have been spent with them were poured into this book.
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