Subsistence, Sex, and Cultural Transmission in Folsom Culture

Archaeological and ethnographic data, as well as evolutionary theory, facilitate the understanding of key aspects of forager behavior in the northern Plains of North America during the Folsom period (10,900-10,200 B.P.). Some of these behavioral adaptations include: (1) given low and dispersed Folsom populations, foragers used high mobility to locate mates and maintain kinship, economic, and social networks; (2) because the hunting of bison was the optimal subsistence choice, Folsom groups were likely characterized by a disproportionate male contribution to the diet and, thus, a male-biased juvenile sex-ratio; and (3) given the relatively uniform nature of the Folsom tool kit across the Plains, a many-to-one (slow), concerted model of cultural transmission may have operated.