Concepts of Resource Exploitation: Continuity and Discontinuity in Palaeoeconomy
Author(s)
Bailey, G. N.
Abstract
This paper focuses on the underlying concepts that have influenced explanations of long-term economic change associated with the development of prehistoric agriculture. Existing classificatory schemes, derived from the hunter-gatherer/farmer dichotomy or from concepts of resource husbandry, tend to emphasise discontinuities in the process of economic change or continuities, respectively. An attempt to reconcile these contradictory viewpoints is made through the elaboration of a unifying scheme for classifying man-resource relationships, based on a polarity between opportunistic and controlled patterns of exploitation, and between direct and indirect patterns. The developmental implications of this scheme are briefly examined.
