Holocene Human Ecology in Northeastern North America

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

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2. Introduction: Human Behavior and Holocene Ecology

   1. Introduction: Human Behavior and Holocene Ecology

      • George P. Nicholas

      Pages 1-7

3. The Context of Human Adaptation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-10

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   2. The Use of Land Snails from Prehistoric Sites for Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction

      • Russell J. Barber

      Pages 11-28

   3. Historical Climates of the Northeastern United States

      • William R. Baron

      Pages 29-46

   4. “Where’s the Salmon?”

      • Catherine C. Carlson

      Pages 47-80

   5. Problems in the Use of Sea-Level Data for Archaeological Reconstructions

      • Douglas C. Kellogg

      Pages 81-104

4. People on the Landscape

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 105-106

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   2. Indian Fires in the Prehistory of New England

      • William A. Patterson III, Kenneth E. Sassaman

      Pages 107-135

   3. Territoriality and Horticulture

      • Mitchell T. Mulholland

      Pages 137-166

   4. The Effect of Estuary Formation on Prehistoric Settlement in Southern Rhode Island

      • Peter F. Thorbahn, Deborah C. Cox

      Pages 167-182

5. Long-Term Perspectives

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 183-184

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   2. Early/Middle Holocene Environments in the Middle Atlantic Region

      • Arthur A. Joyce

      Pages 185-214

   3. The Distribution of Late Quaternary Forest Regions in the Northeast

      • Denise C. Gaudreau

      Pages 215-256

   4. Ecological Leveling

      • George P. Nicholas

      Pages 257-296

   5. Afterword

      • George P. Nicholas

      Pages 297-304

6. Back Matter

   Pages 305-319

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Students of human behavior have always been interested in the relationship between human populations and their environment. Decades of research not only have illuminated the backdrop against which culture is viewed, but have identi­ fied many of the conditions that influence or promote technological develop­ ment, social transformation, and economic reorganization. It has become in­ creaSingly evident, however, that if we are to explore more forcefully the linkages between culture and environment, a processual orientation is required. This is found in human ecology-the study of the relationship between people and the ecosystem of which they are a part. This book is a collection of papers about the recent and distant past by scientists and humanists involved in the study of human ecology in northeastern North America. The authors critically examine the systemic interface between people and their environment first by identifying the indicators of that rela­ tionship (e.g., historical documentation, archaeological site patterning, faunal remains), then by defining the processes by which change in one part of the ecosystem affects other parts (e.g., by conSidering how an ecotonal gradient affects biotic communities over time), and finally by explicating the behavioral implications thereof.

• Holocene
• Vor- und Frühgeschichte
• faunal remains
• human ecology
• landscape
• paleoenvironmental
• prehistory

• Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

  George P. Nicholas

• Research Department, American Indian Archaeological Institute, Washington, USA

  George P. Nicholas

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