Year of Award
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
Anthropology
Department or School/College
Department of Anthropology
Committee Chair
Anna Marie Prentiss
Commitee Members
Doug MacDonald, Sarah Halvorson
Keywords
Diet Breadth, Linear Programing, Human Behavioral Ecology, British Columbia, Archaeology
Subject Categories
Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
Abstract
Studies in diet breadth modeling and patch choice have been and continue to be a hot topic of interest among practitioners of human behavioral ecology and the set of data available at Bridge River can certainly add to these debates and discussions that have been dominating anthropology in the past few decades. The faunal assemblage of Housepit 54’s 17 anthropogenic floors have provided researchers with a plethora of data that clearly indicates periods of resource depletion and partial to full site abandonment. Using Linear Programming and Diet Breadth Modelling I analyze the most represented species in the record and establish an optimal projection for how best to utilize time fishing, hunting and gathering. While optimality is established on the basis of nutrition and time spent processing, correlation coefficients are also used to compare frequencies of salmon versus trout, deer, and other less desirable land vertebrates by floor layer. Establishing how the prehistoric peoples of Bridge River dealt with depletion of their most valued food resource of salmon could prove useful not just in increasing our knowledge of the events that transpired at Bridge River during this time but can also serve as a reference for how best to optimize dwindling resources in the 21st century.
Recommended Citation
Boyd, Sean Patrick, "Linear Programming Analysis and Diet Breadth Modeling at Bridge River, British Columbia" (2022). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12041.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12041
© Copyright 2022 Sean Patrick Boyd