The Archaic period has not been as widely studied in Mesoamerica as it has been in other parts of the Americas. This problem stems from intractable issues such as low archaeological visibility and high post-depositional disturbance. And, while existing Archaic data from northern Belize indicates that foraging groups practiced diverse adaptations, little theoretical effort has been dedicated toward developing frames of reference for understanding the coupled human-landscape interactions ongoing during this period. Here, we outline a multi-method approach for situating hunter-gatherer-fisher-emergent horticultural land use behaviors, including comparative ethnographic data, extant archaeological information, and geospatial modeling. We set out a series of assumptions and expected material correlates for the archaeological record and develop a site suitability model for heuristically exploring existing data, as well as for predicting areas of high archaeological potential for future work. In this way, we are answering the call for more intensive, regional studies that take a holistic approach to understanding foraging practices at multiple scales. The site suitability model described here can be used as an effective way to conduct research remotely during times of travel restrictions and is widely applicable to a range of study areas both in and outside of Mesoamerica.

中文翻译：

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模拟伯利兹中北部古老的土地利用和流动性


中美洲对古风时期的研究并不像美洲其他地区那样广泛。这个问题源于考古可见性低和沉积后扰动高等棘手问题。而且，尽管来自伯利兹北部的现有古代数据表明，觅食群体进行了不同的适应，但很少有理论努力致力于开发参考框架来理解这一时期正在进行的人地相互作用。在这里，我们概述了一种定位狩猎-采集-渔民新兴园艺土地利用行为的多方法方法，包括比较人种学数据、现存考古信息和地理空间建​​模。我们为考古记录提出了一系列假设和预期材料相关性，并开发了一个场地适宜性模型，用于启发式探索现有数据，以及预测未来工作具有高考古潜力的区域。通过这种方式，我们正在响应进行更深入的区域研究的呼吁，这些研究采取整体方法来了解多个尺度的觅食实践。这里描述的场地适宜性模型可以用作在旅行限制期间远程进行研究的有效方法，并且广泛适用于中美洲内外的一系列研究区域。