
Quoting Russell Coker (russell@coker.com.au):
Now there have been cases of H-G societies destroying themselves by using all of an important resource (EG Easter Island), but it should be easier to spot such things as they are happening when it's on a scale where everyone knows everyone else in the village and knows what they are doing.
Not the right example. The Polynesians who settled Rapa Nui / Easter Island circa 800 A.D., probably from Mangareva, brought all their agricultural methods with them, and by 1300 A.D. the island was being intensively farmed: yams, sweet potatoes, bottle gourd, sugar cane, taro, and bananas. They also had extensive sets of chicken houses. (Unfortunately, they also brought with them the Pacific rat, which was then a key factor in triggering their subsequent problems by killing off the native palm tree forest.)