The effect of spatial clustering on stone raw material procurement

Abstract

Brantingham proposes a neutral model to explain observed data on stone tool raw material procurement. Here we provide the results of investigating how real source locations, and their spatial clustering affect the raw material pattern outcome of the neutral model. Our initial findings are that spatial distributions mimicking empirical data challenge the validity of the neutral model. More specifically, increasing the source clustering increases the amount of time where the forager is without raw materials. In terms of foraging behavior, it is not realistic to expect that foragers go extended periods of time without raw materials to create and repair tools.