Current Northeast paleoethnobotany

252 Pages·1999·17.6 MB·English

by  Hart, John P

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Edited by
John P. Hart
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from
IMLS LG-70-15-0138-15
https://archive.org/details/currentnortheast1199hart
Current Northeast Paleoethnobotany
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Regents of The University
Carl T. Hayden, Chancellor, A.B., J.D.Elmira
Diane O'Neill, McGivem, Vice Chancellor, B.S.N., M.A., PhD.Staten Island
J. Edward Meyer, B.A., LL.B.Chappaqua
Adelaide L. Sanford, B.A., M.A., PhD.Hollis
Saul B. Cohen, B.A., M.A., PhD.New Rochelle
James C. Dawson, A.A.. B.A., M.S., PhD.Peru
Robert M. Bennett, B.A., M.S.Tonawanda
Robert M. Johnson, B.S., J.D.Lloyd Harbor
Anthony S. Bottar, B.A., J.D.Syracuse
Merryl H. Tisch, B.A., M.A.New York
Harold O. Levy, B.S., M.A. (Oxon), J.D.New York
Ena L. Farley, B.A., M.A., PhD.Brockport
Geraldine Chapey, B.A., M.A., Ed.D.Belle Harbor
Ricardo E. Oquendo, B.A., J.D.Bronx
Eleanor P. Bartlett, B.A., M.A.Albany
Arnold B. Gardner, B.A., LL.B.Buffalo
President of The University and Commissioner of Education
Richard P. Mills
Chief Operating Officer
Richard H. Cate
Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education
Carole F. Huxley
Assistant Commissioner for the New York State Museum
Clifford A. Siegfred
The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital
status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its
educational programs, services and activities. Portions of this publication can be made available in a variety of formats,
including Braille, large print or audio tape, upon request. Inquires concerning this policy of nondiscrimination should be
directed to the Department’s Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 1 52, Education Building, Albany, NY
12234.
CurrentNortheast
Paleoethnobotany
Edited by
John P. Hart
New York State Museum Bulletin No. 494
1999
The University of the State of New York
The State Education Department
on
(W
pt.(
© The New York State Education Department, Albany, New York 12230
Published 1999
Printed in the United States of America
Copies may be ordered from:
Publication Sales
New York State Museum
Albany, New York 12230
Phone: [phone]
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-61784
ISSN: 1-55557-164-6
ISBN: 0278-3355
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Cover illustration by Patricia Keman.
/lERTZ LIBRARY
NEW YORK
BOTANICAL
IV
Contents
List of Figures .vi
List of Tables .ix
Preface .xi
Chapter 1—Introduction .1
John P. Hart
Chapter 2—Changing Evidence for Prehistoric Plant Use in Pennsylvania.11
Frances B. King
Chapter 3—Sunflower in the Seneca Iroquois Region of Western New York .27
Connie Cox Bodner
Chapter 4—Dating Roundtop's Domesticates: Implications
for Northeast Late Prehistory.47
John P. Hart
Chapter 5—Corncobs and Buttercups: Plant Remains from the Goldkrest Site.69
Tonya B. Largy, Lucianne Lavin, Marina E. Mozzi, and Kathleen Furgerson
Appendix I: Maize Age and Isotope Values at the Goldkrest Site
Elizabeth A. Little
Chapter 6—New Data on the Chronology of Maize Horticulture
in Eastern New York and Southern New England .85
Daniel Cassedy and Paul Webb
Chapter 7—Prehistoric Use of Plant Foods on Long Island
and Block Island Sounds .101
David J. Bernstein
Chapter 8—Chenopodium in Connecticut Prehistory: Wild, Weedy,
Cultivated, or Domesticated? .121
David R. George and Robert E. Dewar
Chapter 9—Changing Strategies in the Pre- and Post-Contact Subsistence Systems
of Southern New England: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Evidence .133
Jeffrey C. Bendremer
Chapter 10—Mobile Farmers of Pre-Contact Southern New England: The
Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Evidence.157
Elizabeth S. Chilton
v
Contents
Chapter 11—Paleogeographic Changes in Wetland and Upland Environments in
the Milford Drainage Basin of Central Maine in Relation to Holocene Human
Settlement History .177
Heather Almquist-Jacobson and David Sanger
Chapter 12—Prehistoric Plant Use in Maine: Paleoindian to Contact Period 191
Nancy Asch Sidell
Chapter 13—Northeastern Paleoethnobotany: How Are We Doing?.225
Gary W. Crawford
Contributors.235
List of Figures
1.1 Location of studies presented in this volume.1
3.1 Sunflower recovered from archaeological contexts dating to 2,300 B.C.-A.D. 200.31
3.2 Sunflower recovered from archaeological contexts dating to A.D. 200-900.33
3.3 Sunflower recovered from archaeological contexts dating to A.D. 900-1700.33
3.4 Locations of Seneca sites discussed in the text.35
3.5 Sunflower achenes recovered from the Alhart, Fugle, and Steele Sites.37
3.6 Sunflower achenes recovered from the Dann, Marsh, Rochester Junction,
and Townley Read sites.37
4.1 Location of the Roundtop site, Broome County, New York.47
4.2 Site plan of the Roundtop site (from Ritchie 1973).49
4.3 Profile of Feature 35 (from Ritchie 1973).51
4.4 Pottery from Feature 35, Layer 5 (a. Owasco Corded Collar, b. Carpenter Brook Cord-on-Cord
and c. Carpenter Brook Cord-on-Cord).57
4.5 Owasco Corded Collar Rim Sherd from Feature 35, Layer 7.58
4.6 Pottery from Feature 35, Layer 7 (a. Carpenter Brook Cord-on-Cord, b. Collared Plain).58
4.7 Carpenter Brook Cord-on-Cord Sherds from Feature 30.59
4.8 Pottery from Feature 30 (a. Owasco Corded Horizontal, b. Owasco Platted).59
vi
Figures
5.1 Approximate location of the Goldkrest site in the Hudson River Valley..69
5.2 Postmold and Feature Distribution Mao of Locus 1 at the Goldkrest site.71
5.3 Sample of Charred Ranunculus Seeds Recovered from Feature 59.76
5.4 Modern Uncharred Ranunculus abortivus Seeds for Comparison.76
5.5 Maize Kernel Recovered from Red Stain A.79
5.6 Paired Cupules of Maize Recovered from Feature 59.79
6.1 Location of Sites 211-1, 294A-AF2-1, and 294A-25-2.86
6.2 The Feature 30 Complex at Site 211-1-1.90
6.3 Chronological Distribution of Uncalibrated Radiocarbon Dates Associated with Maize in the
Northeast (at two standard deviations).94
7.1 Map of Long Island and Block Island Sound region.103
7.2 Map of Narragansett Bay. .112
8.1 Locations of the archaeological sites.123
8.2 A profile of Feature 6 from the Burnham-Shepard site.125
8.3 A profile of Feature 8 from the Burnham-Shepard site.126
8.4 A symmetric dot density plot of the diameters of Chenopodium seeds from three
features at the Burnham-Shepard site.127
8.5 Variation in reported mean seed diameters in relation to latitude for wild, weedy
morphs, and the Burnham-Shepard combined sample.127
8.6 A symmetric dot density plot of testa thickness for Chenopodium seeds from
three features at the Burnham-Shepard site.128
8.7 Testa thicknesses for seeds from Features 6 and 8.128
8.8 A comparison of mean and range of testa thickness for various populations of
Chenopodium, arranged by testa thickness.129
8.9 Seed-coat patterns for seeds from Feature 6 (smooth) and Feature 8 (reticulate).129
9.1 Location of Sites Mentioned in the Text.135
10.1. Map of Southern New England, showing the locations of archaeological sites
with prehistoric cultigens and key sites.158
10.2. Plan view of the Pine Hill site, showing the locations of excavation units and key features.166
vii
Figures
10.3. Feature 148b plan view, Pine Hill site, showing Harris Matrix levels.168
10.4. Feature 148b profile. Pine Hill site, showing Harris Matrix levels.169
11.1 Location of the Penobscot River and the Milford Drainage Basin in central Maine, U.S.A.178
11.2 Location of the Milford Drainage Basin, including the North Caribou Bog complex,
Mansell Pond, and local archaeological sites.179
11.3 Map of the study area, including modern extent of open water and peatland and
locations of the Young and Hirundo archaeological sites.180
11.4 Sediment characteristics and macrofossil assemblages of eighty selected samples
interpreted as representing peatland, marsh, and lake environments.183
11.5 Summary pollen and charcoal diagram from Mansell Pond.185
11.6 Time-slice maps of wetland type and distribution.186-187
12.1 Site Location Map.194
12.2 Location of selected Maine sites in relation to presettlement forest types.
Sites are (1) Hedden, (2) Sharrow, (3) Hunter Farm, (4) 27.60, (5) Fort Halifax,
(6) Little Ossipee North, (7) Early fall, (8) Sandy River, (9) Tracy Farm, and
(10) Norridgewock Mission.195
12.3 Distribution of nut trees in Maine (after Little 1971, 1977; American hazelnut mapped from
specimens on file in University of Maine Herbarium at Orono).196
12.4 Reconstructed landscape at 11,000 B.P. (after Davis and Jacobson 1985).200
12.5 Distribution of archaeological maize and cucurbit in relation to modern corn heat
units or growing degree days (GDDs) in Maine (after Demeritt 1991:188).216
13.1 Location of Sites Mentioned in the Text.226
viii