ANTH 223 Lecture 5: Archaic Hunter Gatherers and Early Farmers of the Southwest
Document Summary
Anth 223 archaic hunter gatherers and early farmers of the southwest. Pleistocene epoch: 1. 8 million years ago 10 thousand years ago, (cid:862)ice-age(cid:863) Holocene epoch: 10 thousand years ago modern day, modern/warm conditions. Archaic refers to a period of time and a particular way of life. Involve hunting and gathering under modern (holocene) environmental conditions: subsistence: With the disappearance of pleistocene megafauna, archaic hunters had to focus on medium/small bodied mammals such as: Gathering wild plant foods took on a more prominent role in the diet. Ricegrass/oryzopsis: seed and greends of weedy plants. Pigweed/amaranthus: nuts, cactusfruit and pads juniper berries, mesquite beans. People generally utilized a broader range of plant and animal resources than they had previously: mobility: People were no longer tied to migratory herds of big game animals. Hunter-gatherers settled into particular regions of the southwest. People"s movement across the landscape became more localized.
