Anthropology 263
Human Applications of Foraging Theory (4 units)
Fall Quarter, 2004; CRN # 63327
224 Young Hall; Tuesday; 2:10 to 5:00 PM

 

Syllabus

 

Topic and Organization Related Classes Reading Materials Assignment Schedule Course Organization and Expectations Office Hours Grades General Schedule Supplemental Bibliography

 

In this seminar we will examine foraging models -- a subfield of human behavioral ecology -- and their use in anthropological analyses. We will cover basic theory, concepts and models, especially those used in the analysis of hunter-gatherer economy and society. We will examine both ethnographic and archaeological applications.

We begin with a historical and conceptual overview. We then discuss the scientific and methodological bases for the study of complex adaptive phenomena using behavioral ecology theory and simple models.The heart of the seminar will be a series of topically specific applications, each of which is built around a particular model and associated empirical studies. Among these applications are:

• encounter-contingent resource selection (diet breadth model);

• use of patches and habitats (marginal value theorem);

• habitat and population distribution (ideal free distribution);

• home bases and field processing (central place foraging model; Zeanah model);

• stochastic elements of foraging (z-score model and adaptations);

• resource sharing and distribution (transfer models);

• conservation behavior of foragers (long-term population ecology)

Each of the first six of these topics will include a laboratory exercise, using spreadsheets to create working applications of the models covered in that week of the seminar.

We conclude with an analysis of hunter-gatherer conservation behavior, from the perspective of behavioral ecology. If time permits, we will have a discussion of the similarities and differences between behavioral ecology and other forms of evolutionary study used in anthropology and archaeology, including Darwinian and processual archaeology.

Our objectives will be analytical and methodological. What can be learned from this research approach? How does an ethnographer or archaeologist go about it? How does it compare with historical and contemporary alternatives for the analysis of ethnographic or archaeological evidence on human behavior?

Related Classes back to top

This course is focused primarily on resource production and distribution. It is designed to complement two other graduate seminars on anthropological applications of behavioral ecology theory: Monique Borgerhoff Mulder's ANT 262 (Evolution and Human Behavior), which covers, among other topics, mating, parenting, life history and group structure, and Richard McElreath's class, ANT 261 (Modeling the Evolution of Social Behavior), which concentrates on game theory applications to topics such as conflict, altruism, reciprocity, signaling and group selection. Although ANT 263 draws on hunter-gatherer examples, Robert Bettinger's class, ANT 178 (Hunter-Gatherers), provides a more comprehensive examination of this form of human economy.

Reading Materials back to top

There is one required text:

Each week there will be a set of required and recommended articles. I will make copies available to you a few weeks prior to their assignment.

 

Course Organization and Expectations back to top

We will meet once a week, Tuesday, from 2:10 to 5:00 PM. Every member of the class is responsible for bringing a set of 3-5 discussion questions and for a one-page précis of each of the assigned readings. A description and outline of a precis is available on the MyUCDavis web site for this class.

Each week will have an assigned discussion leader, a role that will rotate among class members.

Beginning in week four (see schedule, below), the first half of the class will be devoted to presentations and discussion of the previous week’s laboratory exercise. Be prepared to hand in a three-to-five page laboratory report, with supplemental tables and graphs. In the second half of the class, we will take up the new topic assigned for that week. Depending on class size, the laboratory exercises will be done and reported individually, or in teams of two or three.

You will also be asked to prepare a short, 4-6 page research proposal, adapting one of the models covered to a research setting that is of particular interest to you. An outline for this proposal also is available through the MyUCDavis web site for this class. This proposal will be due Monday of the last week of classes (6 December 2004).

In summary, your obligations for written work encompass:

Office Hours back to top

I will have office hours Monday 12:00 to 2:00 PM and Tuesday 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. You can find me in 218 Young Hall. Times besides these can be arranged individually. Should problems or questions arise you also can reach me by phone (754-4770) or by e-mail (bwinterhalder@ucdavis.edu).

Grades back to top

Grades will be based on an assessment of both written (70%) and oral (30%) assignments. Each of the six lab reports and the research proposal will count 10% toward the written total. The oral grade will include class participation, assessed as willingness to take an informed role in both critical and creative discussions (20%), and your preparation as a discussion leader, when assigned that role (10%).

General back to top

This is your seminar. Ideas that might improve it for you individually or for the group, at the level of organization, content and approach, are welcomed.

Schedule back to top

 

Date	Required and Recommended Readings	Topics & Activities
Week 1 (5 October)	Required: (Richerson 1977) (O'Connell 1995) (Winterhalder 2002) (Boyer 1995) (Maynard Smith 1978) Recommended: (Hildebrandt & McGuire 2002; 2003) (Broughton & Bayham 2003) (Levins 1966) (Starfield and Bleloch 1986: 1-15) (Parker and Maynard Smith 1990) (Winterhalder 2004)	Planning and Introduction(s)
Week 2 (12 October)	Required: (Smith 1979) (Foley 1985) (Winterhalder & Smith 1992: 3-23) (Smith and Winterhalder 1992: 25-60) Recommended: (Elster 1983: 9-88) (Elster 1986 1-33) (McNamara et al. 2001)	Behavioral Ecology and Models as Technique and Mindset Discussion of Readings Leader:_______________
Week 3 (19 October)	Required: (MacArthur and Pianka 1966) (Schoener 1974) (Smith and Winterhalder 1992: 167-201) [Kaplan and Hill] Recommended: (Broughton 2000) (Broughton 2002a) (de Boer, Blijdenstein & Longamane 2002) (Grayson et al. 2001) (Madsen & Schmitt 1998)	Basic Tools: MI, Optimization, Marginal Valuation, Opportunity Cost and Like Propositions Leader:_______________
Week 4 (26 October)	Required: (Wiens 1976) (Charnov 1976) (Charnov et al. 1976) (Smith and Winterhalder 1992: 237-266) [Cashdan] Recommended: (Lupo 2001) (Sih 1980) (Sosis 2002) (Ugan & Rogers 2003)	Resource Selection (the encounter-contingent model) Discussion of Readings Leader:_______________
Week 5 (2 November)	Required: (Fretwell and Lucas Jr 1970) (Sutherland 1996: Ch. 1) (Tregenza 1994) (Whitehead and Hope 1991) Recommended: (Abrahams & Healy 1990) (Dillehay 1999) (Kraft & Baum 2001) (Madden et al. 2002)	Use of Patches (the marginal value theorem) Review of EXERCISE #1 & Discussion of Readings Leader:_______________
Week 6 (9 November)	Required: (Orians and Pearson 1979) (Metcalfe and Barlow 1992) (Bettinger et al. 1997) (Zeanah n.d.) Recommended: (Barlow et al. 1993) (Barlow and Metcalfe 1996) (Beck et al. 2002) (Cannon 2003) (Rogers and Broughton 1999)	Habitat Selection (the ideal free distribution) Discussion of Readings & Review of EXERCISE #2 Leader:_______________
Week 7 (16 November)	Required: (Stephens and Charnov 1982) (Winterhalder et al. 1999) (Winterhalder 1990) (Heinrich and McElreath 2002) Recommended: (Mace 1993) (Goland 1993) (Elston & Zeanah 2002)	Home Bases (central place foraging and field processing) Discussion of Readings & Review of EXERCISE #3 Leader:_______________
Week 8 (23 November)	Required: (Smith and Winterhalder 1992: 269-300) [Hawkes] (Hawkes 1993) (Winterhalder 1996) (Winterhalder 1997) Recommended: (Hawkes & Bliege Bird 2002) (Tucker 2002) (Smith and Bliege Bird 2001) (Marlowe 1999) (Gurven 2004)	Stochasticity (Risk-sensitive foraging) Discussion of Readings & Review of EXERCISE #4 Leader:_______________
Week 9 (30 November)	Required: (Hames 1987) (Rogers 1991) (Alvard 1998) (Winterhalder & Lu) Recommended: (Broughton 2002b) (FitzGibbon 1998) (Alvard 1994)	Intra-Group Distribution (resource transfer models) Discussion of Readings & Review of EXERCISE #5 Leader:_______________
Week 10 (7 December)		Resource Depletion – Short Term (population ecology models) Discussion of Readings & Review of EXERCISE #6 Leader:_______________

 

• (Boone & Smith 1998)
• (Bettinger et al. 1996)
• (Broughton & O'Connell 1999)
• (Kelly 2000)
• (Laland and Brown 2002)
• (O'Brian & Lyman 2002)
• (Schiffer 1996)
• (Smith et al. 2001)

• (Borgerhoff Mulder 1988)
• (Borgerhoff Mulder 1991)
• (Cronk 1991)
• (Smith 1992a)
• (Smith 1992b)
• (Winterhalder and Smith 2000)

• (Caro 1998)
• (Cronk et al. 2000)
• (Giraldeau and Caraco 2000)
• (Kamil et al. 1987)
• (Kamil and Sargent 1981)
• (Krebs and Davies 1978)
• (Krebs and Davies 1984)
• (Krebs and Davies 1991)
• (Krebs and Davies 1997)
• (Smith and Winterhalder 1992)
• (Stephens and Krebs 1986)
• (Winterhalder and Smith 1981)

• (Broughton 1999)
• (Hill and Hurtado 1996)
• (Piperno and Pearsall 1998)
• (Simms 1987)
• (Smith 1991b)
• (Zeanah et al. 1995)