The application of ecological niche Modeling methods to archaeological data in order to examine culture-environment relationships and cultural trajectories

Abstract

An objective of archaeology is to describe and understand past human behavior through examinations of cultural variability and cultural trajectories. Since cultures operate within an environmental context, one can argue that it is necessary that we be able to identify and characterize the ecological niches that past populations exploited and take these ecological parameters into consideration when interpreting material culture variability, especially across periods of climate change. Here, the approach termed Eco-Cultural Niche Modeling is briefly reviewed in order to describe how it can be used to explore culture-environment relationships and allow us to better understand the mechanisms that served to shape the cultural trajectories observed in the archaeological record.