Fuel exploitation as a factor in Shoshone winter mobility

Abstract

This paper estimates fuel exploitation as a way of assessing the extent to which use of firewood in the Desert West should be considered an important factor in determining on the basis of seasonal use, how quickly available wood stores would be exploited. Recognizing that more mobile foragers during spring-fall may not be seriously impacted by fuel availability, we focus our discussion on the potential impact of fuel depletion during the winter period. We use Julian Steward and Murphy and Murphy’s locational descriptions of winter villages on the Snake River Plain to calculate fuel return rates of driftwood/deadfall and sagebrush by foraging radii. We argue that fuel depletion is a primary cause of re-location of encampments during the winter period.