ABSTRACTMODELING MESOLITHIC HUNTER-GATHERER LAND USE AND POST-GLACIAL LANDSCAPE DYNAMICS IN THE CENTRAL NETHERLANDSByMarieka E. BrouwerDramatic and widespread environmental changes occurred during the early Post-glacial period in Europe (10,000-6000 14C B.P.). These changes included climate amelioration, sea-level rise, vegetation succession, and landscape transformation. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers living in the central Netherlands adapted to these dramatic shifts in landscape configuration and character in various ways. The aim of this study is to identify potential Mesolithic land use behaviors based on ethnographic data, and to develop a method of determining which behaviors were most suitable in specific environmental contexts.To accomplish this goal, a multi-criteria decision-making model is generated using GIS and environmental modeling. The model framework begins with a detailed landscape reconstruction for three separate representative study areas. To this base, floral and faunal components are added, depicting areas more or less suitable as habitat for particular species. The species modeled are those relevant to Mesolithic hunter-gatherer life. The completed model framework, incorporating reconstructed paleo-environments, allows simulations of decision-making choice with regard to hunter-gatherer land use. Each choice is keyed to a number of broad objectives and specific criteria for querying the landscape reconstruction, thereby acting as a heuristic device for testing the interplay and outcomes of different combinations of ethnographically-derived criteria and objectives. The behavioral model identifies areas most likely to have been used for specific resource provisioning and settlement purposes, and the criteria and objectives that condition such outcomes. The model reveals the degree to which edge areas and/or distances to a variety of biotopes conditions general hunter-gatherer land use and exploitation. Further, as sea-levels rose and large parts of the central river valley became inundated or influenced by the tides, wetland adapted hunter-gatherers would have gained a competitive advantage. The results of this model compare well with the archaeological record for the Mesolithic in the Netherlands, predicting that a wetland adaptation would be highly viable only in the western portion of the river valley during the latter half of the period. This prediction is indeed borne out by the archaeological evidence. The model also sheds light on some of the potential decision-making processes and cultural adaptations of past hunter-gatherers, in addition to generating practical predictions concerning areas of high potential for future hunter-gatherer research and heritage management.
Read
