Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

It is not my intent to rework the statistical aspects of Thomas' Reese River model with P. monophylla data since that task is well beyond the scope of this paper. However, Thomas (1973: Table 1) predicted only 91 successful pinyon harvests over a 1000-year period, a figure that would appear to be far too low for P. monophylla. Taking into account the actual productivity of P. monophylla and the Forest Service's definition of "success," it may be that Thomas' estimate of pinyon success was low by several hundred percent or more. Pinus monophylla seed crops are considerably more productive than those of P. edulis. This would indicate that the ecosystem of the western and central Great Basin was more productive during the prehistoric period than is currently recognized. The use of P. monophylla (rather than P. edulis) data in subsistence models should result in the prediction of higher population densities, more restricted settlement patterns, and a more stable social organization during the prehistoric period. This change alone could alter perception of the nature of prehistoric settlement subsistence patterns in the Great Basin from one of bare survival to one of greater stability.