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hunter-gatherers based on multiple studies may range from 0.01 to 1.0 people per square kilometer (Hassan 1978: 78). Binford, however, expands the range up to 3 people per square kilometer, at which point a change into sedentary culture is supposedly forced (Binford 2001: 425-426). This range is too broad to be useful for calculating an approximate nomadic population for Late Bronze Age Canaan. However, the bounds which it suggests may be applicable depending upon the type of region and climate in which the nomads live. Since Canaan, excluding the desert areas, was a generally fertile region with a warm climate, the expected population density may be towards the higher end of the scale. Yet, Canaan was also a region of sedentary settlement, which would suggest lower numbers and a lower overall density of nomads. More precise data relating to geographically and climatically specific estimates should be used, if possible.

85 Additionally, the average Basseri nomadic household had 6-12 donkeys and approximately 100 adult sheep and goats (Barth 1961: 13). This data supports the records mentioning thousands of livestock belonging to nomads or even sedentary peoples from Late Bronze Age texts.

This nomad data would then be applicable to the nomadic regions of valleys, plains, coastal areas, and desert in Late Bronze Age Canaan.

The overall average population density for Aboriginal groups in Australia was estimated at approximately 0.03 people per square kilometers (Lee and Devore 1968: 190). For all of Nevada, a generally arid region, between 1861 and 1865, the Native American population density was between 0.03 and 0.024 people per square kilometers—nearly identical to the estimated overall population density for Aboriginal groups in Australia (Steward 1938: 48). At first, the general similarity between these population densities may appear to suggest that they are valid figures to use for a section of Late Bronze Age Canaan. However, since in pre-settlement times the densities of both the Australian Aboriginal groups and the Native American Indians would have been higher, and these regions are overall much more arid than Canaan, the population densities would be substantially lower and thus not directly relatable. As would be expected, river and plain areas have higher densities, while mountain and desert regions have lower densities. Similar population density results between studies of nomadic groups in different regions of the world may suggest that rough overall population density constants may exist for nomadic groups in similar geographic, climatic, and technological contexts, even if their religious and cultural practices differ.

This means that the general population density data can be applicable to nomadic groups of Late Bronze Age Canaan. Yet, in comparison to the region of Canaan, California is much more similar than Australia, southern Africa, or the Basin-Plateau of North America in geography and ecology; therefore it is a more useful comparison to Late Bronze Age Canaan. In the California region, the overall population density was calculated considerably higher than the aforementioned regions. A demographic study on the Native American population in California just prior to 1769 and the coming of the Franciscans and eventual settlement of people from Europe and the early United States, which resulted in an overall decline of the Native American population, estimated the population by subdivisions and concluded an overall figure of 310,000 +/-

30,000 for all of California (Cook 1978: 91). ⁸⁶ This equates to an approximate population density for the region of the entire state at 0.8 people per square kilometer on the higher end of the spectrum. The higher population densities for hunter-gatherer nomads in California may be a result of better ecological conditions and perhaps the methodology and data used by Cook to calculate the populations. However, the population density of different sub regions also varied greatly depending upon geography and climate. In coastal areas and well watered plains, the densities were greater; in arid regions and mountain regions the densities were much lower (Cook 1978: 91). A later study of demographic change in California suggested that due to epidemic diseases and the demographic effects, the native population may have been even higher than this estimate prior to 1769 and the entrance of settlers into California (Preston 2002: 69-121). Because of the probable drastic decrease in population due to the introduction of disease, this study suggests the possibility of an even higher population density for the hunter-gatherers California in the pre-settlement period, and by parallel, the possibility of an even higher population density for nomadic Late Bronze Age Canaan. Thus, the California density figures may even be considered very conservative estimates for nomadic population density in Late Bronze Age Canaan.

Similar density ranges from an especially relevant comparison in nomadic population density of a large region are found in a study of the Basseri tribe of South Persia. According to demography studies in the middle of the 20^th century, a population totaling as high as 17,100 people occupied an area between 15,540 km2 and 38,850 km2 (Barth 1961: 1, 12). This would make their approximate population density range between 1.1 and 0.44 people per km2, suggesting that the overall California average is not only plausible, but relatable to a Near Eastern context. As California is geographically and climatically the most similar to Canaan, the slightly higher nomadic population densities found in California and in South Persia—a region of the Near East—should be closer to ancient Canaan than those from southern Africa, Aboriginal Australia, or the North American Basin-Plateau calculated after settlers had already moved to the regions. The California data is also the most useful because it is based on

86 The regions of ancient California that were analyzed do not amount exactly to the entire surface area of the modern state of California, although the total area is close. The eastern fringes of California, especially in the southern half of the region, were desert and almost unpopulated. Cf. Cook 1978: Figure 1.

the pre-settlement period before the hunter-gatherer and nomadic lifestyle and population was drastically affected. The general agreement of the overall population density data from California and Persia suggests that ancient nomadic groups, even from different cultures, could have had similar population densities when living in similar geographical and climatic spheres.