Year: 1985
Type: article
Abstract: Optimal foraging theory is that part of evolutionary ecology developed over the last two decades as a tool for analyzing animal subsistence behavior (Pyke et al. 1977; Krebs 1978).A collection of articles (Winterhalder and Smith 1981) that gives foraging models a central role in the analysis of archeological and ethnographic data on hunter-gatherers is the subject of a lengthy review by John Martin ("Optimal Foraging Theory: A Review of Some Models and Their Applications," AA 85:612-629, 1983).As editors of this volume (Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies, hereafter, HGFS), we wish to note some of the serious flaws in Martin's piece.Along with its demonstrated heuristic value, there are some genuine difficulties in optimal foraging theory (review in Krebs et al. 1983) and limitations on its applicability to humans (reviews in Smith 1983; Winterhalder 1983).Some of these are known; we presume that some are unrecognized.One of the central virtues of foraging theory is that it provides a coherent set of concepts and models that can be subjected to criticism, debate, and revision.However, the criticisms should be informed, the debate rigorous, and the proposed revisions carefully constructed to ensure that they truly offer improvements in clarity, scope, or anthropological utility.Because Martin's review fails by these criteria, a critique is in order.A careful response to a 10,000-word essay packed with technical commentary would involve a critique of at least equal length, especially since Martin has misunderstood or misinterpreted fundamental aspects of evolutionary ecology and foraging theory.The editorial policy of this journal severely restricts the
Source: American Anthropologist
Authors: Eric Alden Smith, Bruce Winterhalder
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2145818827