What Are Settlement Patterns?

History

In the 1930s, Julian Steward was one of the first exponents of settlement pattern analysis during his research into the connections between population size and the surrounding environment. Settlement pattern analysis developed further in the 1950s as archaeologists began to examine intercommunity outlooks and the varieties of social organizations within a given location.

Settlement pattern analysis developed further in the '80s and '90s as computers were used to analyze large-scale data that could be manipulated by spatial databases to identify common patterns. In addition to population size and community outlook, researchers also began to look at political orientation and the actions of various ethnic groups.

Settlement pattern researchers gather data from a range of sources, including formulated survey programs and by examining archaeological remains. Archaeologists often advocate this "distributional" approach to research, which focuses on how various artifacts are distributed across an excavated landscape. The methods of collection and analysis of data are also important for settlement pattern analysis, as analysis results are only as accurate as the data collected.

Settlement patterns research also involves locational models, which attempt to predict the area in a landscape where a specific human activity will be concentrated. These predictions are then compared with factual data to measure the true effects of environmental and social factors on settlement patterns.

Another technique employed in settlement pattern research is catchment analysis, which measures an area's supply of resources and productivity as predicted from a theoretical economic output. Results are then compared with real plant and animal remains from excavation sites to see how they compare to the predicted results. Other factors studied during settlement pattern analysis include transportation systems and the concentration of religious groups in specific areas.