Least cost analysis (LCA) has emerged as a favored geospatial method used by archaeologists to model potential pathways of movement. To produce increasingly effective least cost models, we must more thoroughly consider the role that energetics have played throughout human history and understand how physiological conditions tied to energetics, such as fatigue, influence peoples’ decisions when moving. We illustrate this need by modeling a physically demanding case study from the American Southwest and demonstrate that the interpretive consequences of using time- versus energy-based cost function can have meaningful impacts on archaeological reconstructions of the past. Therefore, to better inform the selection of least cost functions in LCA, regardless of the material record in a specific study context, we present a theoretically informed strategy for classifying whether time or energy was a more pertinent cost to past movers by focusing on the role of fatigue and its influence on energetically efficient decision making.

最小成本分析 (LCA) 已成为考古学家用来模拟潜在移动路径的一种受欢迎的地理空间方法。为了产生越来越有效的最低成本模型，我们必须更彻底地考虑能量学在整个人类历史中所扮演的角色，并了解与能量学相关的生理条件（例如疲劳）如何影响人们在移动时的决定。我们通过对来自美国西南部的体力要求高的案例研究进行建模来说明这一需求，并证明使用基于时间与能量的成本函数的解释性后果可以对过去的考古重建产生有意义的影响。因此，为了更好地告知 LCA 中最小成本函数的选择，无论特定研究环境中的材料记录如何，