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Comments on “A Reconsideration of Aboriginal Fishing Strategies in the Northern Great Lakes Region” by Susan R. Martin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Charles E. Cleland*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 354 Baker Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1045

Abstract

Martin's suggestion that there is great continuity in subsistence strategy through the Middle and Late Woodland periods of the Northern Great Lakes is rejected. She fails to produce convincing evidence for the use of gill nets during Middle Woodland times and to account for the difference in fish fauna on sites of these two periods. Also addressed here is the possible consequence of economic specialization on population size and fluctuation. It is concluded that unlike Middle Woodland populations, those of the Late Woodland fluctuate rather dramatically. Finally, it is suggested that whatever the cause of the population loss and mechanisms of replacement, these shifts likely have important implications for periodicity in ceramic style change.

Résumé

Résumé

La sugerencia hecha por Martin de que hay una gran continuidad en las estrategias de subsistencia en los períodos Middle y Late Woodland del norte de los Grandes Lagos es desechada. La autora fracasa en su intento por producir evidencia convincente sobre el uso de las redes de pesca durante el período Middle Woodland y tampoco considera las diferencias existentes en la fauna piscícola de los sitios pertenecientes a estos dos períodos. Estos comentarios se dirigen también a la posible consecuencia que tenga la especialización económica sobre el tamaño y la fluctuatión de la población. Se concluye que, a diferencia de la población en el período Middle Woodland, aquella del Late Woodland fluctua en forma más bien drámatica. Finalmente, se sugiere que cualquiera quefuese la causa de la pérdida de la población o de los mecanismos de su sustitución, es posible que estos cambios tengan implicaciones importantes en lafrecuencia con que cambia el estilo de la cerámica.

Type
Comments
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1989

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