New World Settlement Evidence for a Two-Stage Neolithic Demographic Transition

Tests the consistency of three New World archaeological settlement data sets with J. Bocquet & P. Appel's (2002) hypothesis that the transition to agricultural village life was associated with a two-stage demographic transition. The Bocquet-Appel study was based on reconstructed population growth rates from standardized age profiles in a sample of European & North African Mesolithic & Neolithic cemeteries. Population growth rates during the first millennium of the Formative period were examined for the Valley of Oaxaca & the Basins of Mexico & Titicaca. Data were obtained from published site population estimates which were derived from a combination of site area & surface artifact density analyses. The results showed all three New World archaeological settlement data sets to be consistent with Bocquet-Appel's two-stage demographic transition; i.e., the earlier half of the millennium was characterized by relatively high population growth rates & the later half by substantially slower growth. The relevance of Neolithic demographic transition for a comparative study of cultural & social evolution at the global level is discussed. Tables, Figures, References. J. Lindroth