Explaining Fortifications in Indo-Pacific Prehistory

This paper puts forward the premise that fortifications are uniquely suited to addressing questions of climatic variation and human response, as they are large, permanent repositories of human history, and also reflect behaviors directly associated with conflict, territorialism, and the limits of local environments. A revision of theoretical perspectives and a model of conflict derived from human behavioral ecology can better direct future research. In application, this model outlines a program of research for fortifications, which can be used to more critically assess the impact of paleoclimatic change on human prehistory.