At the Malthusian ceiling: Subsistence and inequality at Bridge River, British Columbia

Anna Marie Prentiss; Hannah S. Cail; Lisa M. Smith

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2013.11.003

At the Malthusian ceiling: Subsistence and inequality at Bridge River, British Columbia

Anna Marie Prentiss
, Hannah S. Cail
, Lisa M. Smith

Anthropology

University of Montana

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Bridge River Village, located in the Middle Fraser Canyon of British Columbia, was established and grew to maximum size during the period of ca. 1800-1100. cal. B.P. Village expansion occurred in two distinct stages resulting in a stepped pattern of demographic growth. We suggest that this could reflect two distinctly different periods, the first (Bridge River 2) a relatively comfortable equilibrium with little subsistence stress; the second (Bridge River 3) a truly Malthusian ceiling associated with reduction in critical subsistence resources, social change, and eventual abandonment. In this paper we explore the interactions between resource productivity, food harvest and storage, animal husbandry, demographic growth, and socio-political change in the late Holocene Middle Fraser Canyon. The study provides us with the opportunity to compare and contrast histories of hunter-gatherer-fisher people with that of other complex hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists on similar demographic scales.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	34-48
Number of pages	15
Journal	Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
Volume	33
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2013.11.003
State	Published - Mar 2014

Funding

We thank Ian Kuijt for inviting us to contribute to the Seminar on Storage and Social Inequality at the Amerind Foundation and Museum, Dragoon, Arizona. We thank Ian and all of the participants in the seminar for their provocative research and thoughtful consideration of our work. Our investigations at the Bridge River site were conducted as a partnership with Xwisten, the Bridge River Band, and were generously supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant BCS-0713013 paid for the 2007–2009 field seasons) and The University of Montana. The research presented in this paper was particularly inspired by the work of Bruce Winterhalder (along with Cedric Puleston), who also provided us with unpublished papers and comments on this manuscript. We also thank Lucy Harris, Natasha Lyons, and two anonymous peer-reviewers for their very useful comments. We take full responsibility for any shortcomings. Finally, we thank Eric Carlson and Lucy Harris for their assistance with graphics and maps.

Funder number
BCS-0713013

Keywords

Animal husbandry (dogs)
British Columbia
Complex hunter-gatherers
Demography
Salmon fishing

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10.1016/j.jaa.2013.11.003

Cite this

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title = "At the Malthusian ceiling: Subsistence and inequality at Bridge River, British Columbia",

abstract = "The Bridge River Village, located in the Middle Fraser Canyon of British Columbia, was established and grew to maximum size during the period of ca. 1800-1100. cal. B.P. Village expansion occurred in two distinct stages resulting in a stepped pattern of demographic growth. We suggest that this could reflect two distinctly different periods, the first (Bridge River 2) a relatively comfortable equilibrium with little subsistence stress; the second (Bridge River 3) a truly Malthusian ceiling associated with reduction in critical subsistence resources, social change, and eventual abandonment. In this paper we explore the interactions between resource productivity, food harvest and storage, animal husbandry, demographic growth, and socio-political change in the late Holocene Middle Fraser Canyon. The study provides us with the opportunity to compare and contrast histories of hunter-gatherer-fisher people with that of other complex hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists on similar demographic scales.",

keywords = "Animal husbandry (dogs), British Columbia, Complex hunter-gatherers, Demography, Salmon fishing",

author = "Prentiss, \{Anna Marie\} and Cail, \{Hannah S.\} and Smith, \{Lisa M.\}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Ian Kuijt for inviting us to contribute to the Seminar on Storage and Social Inequality at the Amerind Foundation and Museum, Dragoon, Arizona. We thank Ian and all of the participants in the seminar for their provocative research and thoughtful consideration of our work. Our investigations at the Bridge River site were conducted as a partnership with Xwisten, the Bridge River Band, and were generously supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant BCS-0713013 paid for the 2007–2009 field seasons) and The University of Montana. The research presented in this paper was particularly inspired by the work of Bruce Winterhalder (along with Cedric Puleston), who also provided us with unpublished papers and comments on this manuscript. We also thank Lucy Harris, Natasha Lyons, and two anonymous peer-reviewers for their very useful comments. We take full responsibility for any shortcomings. Finally, we thank Eric Carlson and Lucy Harris for their assistance with graphics and maps. ",

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At the Malthusian ceiling: Subsistence and inequality at Bridge River, British Columbia

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Keywords

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