Late Holocene Great Basin prehistory

Late Holocene Great Basin prehistory is a spatial and temporal mosaic of lifeways related to changing physical and social environments. Evidence shows changes in technology, subsistence, foraging tactics, and population density, though the causes of these changes are still under investigation. Current research has emphasized the role of wetlands and, related to this, the so-called Numic expansion, whose timing and nature are still poorly understood. Behavioral ecology applied to a macroregional scale probably offers the most useful approach to solving this and other issues, given the exigencies of hunter-gatherer archaeology in a desert environment. © 1997 Plenum Publishing Corporation.