The ecology of population dispersal: Modeling alternative basin-plateau foraging strategies to explain the Numic expansion.

Objectives: The expansion of Numic speaking populations into the Great Basin required individuals to adapt to a relatively unproductive landscape. Researchers have proposed numerous social and subsistence strategies to explain how and why these settlers were able to replace any established populations, including private property and intensive plant processing. Here we evaluate these hypotheses and propose a new strategy involving the use of landscape fire to increase resource encounter rates.