Affluent Foragers of the North American Plains

Although trends in anthropological thinking have gradually shifted away from considering prehistoric groups as specialists in subsistence provisioning, many scholars studying the North American Plains still consider man to be the `Bison hunter'. In this study, Marcel Kornfield presents archaeological evidence and a theoretical model for the inhabitants of the Black Hills being `generalists' or broad spectrum hunters. Considering the environment, ecology, sites, landscape and technological organisation required for subsistence provisioning, Kornfield presents a new approach to interpreting foraging patterns in this part of the North American Plains.