ABSTRACT
In archaeology a similar relationship exists between research progress and analytical complexity. As long as cultural chronology was the focus of the archaeologist's attention, complex analytical methods were unnecessary. The Reese River Ecological Project is a detailed archaeological investigation of a single valley in central Nevada. The Reese river valley is located in the centre of the state of Nevada, about 30 miles south of the town of Austin, Lander County. The Shoshonean economic system was intimately associated with a distinctive settlement pattern. BASIN I is a function-specific model, designed to simulate deposition of archaeological artefacts resulting from a posited ethnographic pattern. Simulation studies are generally attempted as an aid to analytical research as models are constructed to simulate system behaviour. All inductive models derived from the same set of facts have equal epistemological status, for there are no set rules for induction.
