Paleoeconomics and Indigenous Issues

How could Homo sapiens survive for so long when all other Homo went extinct? This multidisciplinary book provides a detailed synthesis of published knowledge by archaeologists and other scientists on the production, trade and daily activities of ancient peoples. It locates populations within the changing environment of the planet (glaciations and deglaciations, wet and dry climates, physical, economic, and social periods over the long spans of the Pleistocene and Holocene). Research for this work was sourced from various fields, including archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, geology, zoology, and paleontology. Emerging disciplines such as genomics, paleobiology, paleomedicine and zoopharmacognosy contribute new insights into the living conditions and challenges that confronted our ancestors.

The first part of the book focuses mainly on Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, particularly North America (Canada, United States, and Mexico), although some sources and examples are drawn from other regions of the world. Through case studies based on scholarly records, ancient networks covering distances of thousands of kilometers in Africa, North America and Eurasia are described. The second part addresses ancient modes of survival, communication, storytelling, and migration of Indigenous populations in their traditional natural environments, from the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras to the present. Diet, horticulture, and modes of land, river, and sea transport are detailed, in the context of migration routes from Africa to Eurasia and in the Pacific and the Americas. The third part deals with the past seven and the next seven generations. It provides a description of recent and present-day Indigenous peoples and communities and their interactions with governments and industries. Case studies illustrate issues about the legitimacy of foreign or domestic companies operating on Indigenous territories, both in North America and some other continents. The traditional mindset of certain Indigenous populations in North America is described. The book concludes with an examination of how business legitimacy may be established and the types of engagement approaches recommended by Indigenous communities’ leaders.