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The Numic Spread: A Computer Simulation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David A. Young  and
Robert L. Bettinger
David A. Young
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, Livermore, CA 94550
Robert L. Bettinger
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
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Abstract

We develop a mathematical model for the spread of Numic-speaking peoples across the Great Basin in the second millennium A.D., in accord with the ideas of Bettinger and Baumhoff (1982), who suggested a competitive interaction between the Numic and Prenumic peoples of the region. We construct differential equations representing two competing populations that spread by a diffusion process across an area representing the Great Basin. The demographic variables are fixed to agree with ethnographic data, while the migration rates are fitted to the estimated time for the completion of the spread. The model predicts a spatial distribution of the Numic languages in satisfactory agreement with observations and suggests new avenues of investigation.

Resumen

Resumen

En el presente artículo desarrollamos un modelo matemático de la dispersión de pueblos de habla Numic en la Great Basin durante el segundo milenio A.D. El modelo se basa en las ideas de Bettinger y Baumhoff (1982), quienes proponen una interactión competitiva entrepueblos Numic y Prenumic en la región. Utilizamos ecuaciones diferenciales para representar la migración de las poblaciones mediante un proceso de difusión en un área equivalente a la Great Basin. Las variables demográficas se determinaron en base a datos etnográficos, en tanto que los índices de migratión se ajustan al tiempo requerido para completar la dipersión. El modelo predice una distribución espacial de las lenguas Numic que coincide satisfactoriamente con las observaciones y sugiere nuevas líneas de investigación.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , January 1992 , pp. 85 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1992

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