The Great Basin underwent considerable environmental change during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, such as lower precipitation, increased temperatures, and the diminishment of lakes and wetlands. Archaeologists have long hypothesized that people responded by altering their settlement-subsistence strategies. Models outlining these responses feature predictions that generally fall into two categories: (1) people should have spent more time in remaining productive patches and expanded their diet breadth; and (2) people should have added new habitats to their settlement-subsistence regimes. These responses are not mutually exclusive, and both may have occurred, but they have been difficult to evaluate using empirical data because the region’s archaeological record is predominantly comprised of open-air lithic scatters that lack food remains. Through ecological niche modeling, we test the hypothesis that early Holocene groups added new habitats. We develop two models—one for the Younger Dryas and one for the early Holocene—using recorded Paleoindian sites in Humboldt County, Nevada and a set of environmental variables. Our results show that Younger Dryas sites mostly occur around lowland and upland lakes and within ecotones, while early Holocene sites mostly occur around valley bottoms, riparian corridors, and upland springs. They demonstrate that people added new habitats, presumably in response to disappearing wetlands. This shift may be best explained using the patch choice model.

大盆地在更新世-全新世过渡期间经历了相当大的环境变化，例如降水减少、气温升高以及湖泊和湿地减少。考古学家长期以来一直假设人们通过改变他们的定居生存策略来做出回应。概述这些反应的模型的特征预测通常分为两类：（1）人们应该花更多时间在剩余的生产补丁上并扩大他们的饮食范围；(2) 人们应该在他们的定居-生计制度中增加新的栖息地。这些反应不是相互排斥的，两者都可能发生过，但它们很难使用经验数据进行评估，因为该地区的考古记录主要由缺乏食物残骸的露天石屑组成。通过生态位模型，我们检验了早期全新世群体增加了新栖息地的假设。我们使用内华达州洪堡县记录的古印度遗址和一组环境变量开发了两个模型——一个用于新仙女木，一个用于全新世早期。我们的研究结果表明，新仙女木遗址主要出现在低地和高地湖泊周围以及交错带内，而早期全新世遗址主要出现在谷底、河岸走廊和高地泉水周围。他们证明人们增加了新的栖息地，大概是为了应对消失的湿地。使用补丁选择模型可以最好地解释这种转变。我们使用内华达州洪堡县记录的古印度遗址和一组环境变量开发了两个模型——一个用于新仙女木，一个用于全新世早期。我们的研究结果表明，新仙女木遗址主要出现在低地和高地湖泊周围以及交错带内，而早期全新世遗址主要出现在谷底、河岸走廊和高地泉水周围。他们证明人们增加了新的栖息地，大概是为了应对消失的湿地。使用补丁选择模型可以最好地解释这种转变。我们使用内华达州洪堡县记录的古印度遗址和一组环境变量开发了两个模型——一个用于新仙女木，一个用于全新世早期。我们的研究结果表明，新仙女木遗址主要出现在低地和高地湖泊周围以及交错带内，而早期全新世遗址主要出现在谷底、河岸走廊和高地泉水周围。他们证明人们增加了新的栖息地，大概是为了应对消失的湿地。使用补丁选择模型可以最好地解释这种转变。他们证明人们增加了新的栖息地，大概是为了应对消失的湿地。使用补丁选择模型可以最好地解释这种转变。他们证明人们增加了新的栖息地，大概是为了应对消失的湿地。使用补丁选择模型可以最好地解释这种转变。