Abstract

Behavioral or evolutionary ecology differs from the usual anthropological perspective in its focus on individuals rather than cultures. The motives, goals, and strategies of individuals are amenable to direct observation and analysis. It is unclear, by contrast, whether any culture as a whole has definable motives, goals, and strategies at all. In the Lake Baikal region of Siberia, we have access to a unique data set of discrete individuals from numerous mortuary sites. The ability to acquire detailed information about the life history of these individuals, in combination with the environmental and ecological history of the region, provides us with an archaeological opportunity to apply this perspective in unparalleled detail.