Bevan A, Crema E R
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London WC1H 0PY, UK.
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2021 Jan 18;376(1816):20190726. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0726. Epub 2020 Nov 30.
This paper responds to a resurgence of interest in constructing long-term time proxies of human activity, especially but not limited to models of population change over the Pleistocene and/or Holocene. While very much agreeing with the need for this increased attention, we emphasize three important issues that can all be thought of as modifiable reporting unit problems: the impact of (i) archaeological periodization, (ii) uneven event durations and (iii) geographical nucleation-dispersal phenomena. Drawing inspiration from real-world examples from prehistoric Britain, Greece and Japan, we explore their consequences and possible mitigation via a reproducible set of tactical simulations. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography'.
本文回应了当前对构建人类活动长期时间代理指标的兴趣再度兴起的现象,特别是但不限于更新世和/或全新世期间人口变化模型。虽然我们非常认同需要更多关注这一领域,但我们强调三个重要问题,这三个问题都可以被视为可修改报告单位问题:(i)考古分期、(ii)事件持续时间不均以及(iii)地理成核 - 扩散现象的影响。我们从史前英国、希腊和日本的实际例子中汲取灵感,通过一组可重复的战术模拟来探讨它们的后果以及可能的缓解措施。本文是“史前人口统计学的跨学科方法”主题特刊的一部分。