Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 7 · column 4 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
Would a population density of 0.14 persons per square mile satisfy Richmond? No.
It is interesting, though, to note huntergatherer societies were self-sustaining. Population levels remained level. Birth rates were low to balance available resources. Also, men and women were equal. Property and knowledge were shared by all. There were no rich, no poor. Individual tribes or bands were small, running about 25 to 100 people. As a result, conflicts were rare.
People moved from place to place and thus did not decimate any local animal or plant population. More importantly, people knew their terrain like the back of their hand and they lived with, and were extremely observant of, nature. Their lives depended on keeping things in balance.
But this is Rappahannock County in 2000 AD, not the Kalahari in 8000 B.C. No one is going to sit around a campfire, gnawing on freshly killed meat, scarfing down nuts and berries. We need e-mail.
How about shifting the focus? Use 500 people as the optimum size of a town or village. Five hundred people has been found to be about the maximum number of individuals that can be recognized by one another over time in one place.
For example, some feel that the principal of a school can recognize 500 students, or a pastor can recognize 500 church members. Using this criterion, and assuming people live in and around the county's five villages, we arrive at a population of 2,500 people. Will this do? Or is it still too few?
Does the Commonwealth of Virginia have any legal minimum population for a county? Is there a minimum area? Next time, a suggestion on what might be "too few" people.
96.8%