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Additional Evidence for Early Cucurbit Use in the Northern Eastern Woodlands East of the Allegheny Front

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John P. Hart  and
Nancy Asch Sidell
John P. Hart
Affiliation:
Anthropological Survey, New York State Museum, Albany, NY 12230
Nancy Asch Sidell
Affiliation:
19 Heath Street, Oakland, ME 04963
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Abstract

Two accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates, 5404 ± 552 B.P. (AA-19129) and 2625 ± 45 B.P. (AA-19128), confirm the presence of mid-Holocene and early late Holocene cucurbit (Cucurbita pepo), respectively, at the Memorial Park site (36CN164) in north-central Pennsylvania. This is the second documented occurrence of mid-Holocene cucurbit and the first documented occurrence of domesticated early late Holocene cucurbit in the northern Eastern Woodlands east of the Allegheny Front. These occurrences help to establish the use of cucurbits in the Northeast on a timescale equivalent to that in the riverine interior, with the exception of the very earliest riverine interior dates. The Northeast has contributed little toward our understanding of prehistoric agricultural evolution in the Eastern Woodlands. The Memorial Park cucurbits and the mid-Holocene cucurbit recently reported at the Sharrow site in Maine indicate that greater efforts are needed to document pre-maize agricultural behavior in this area to increase our knowledge of the full range of pre-maize agricultural behavior in the Eastern Woodlands.

Dos fechas obtenidas mediante aceleraçión de espectrometría de masa, 5404 ± 552 B.P. (AA-19129) y 2625 ± 45 B.P. (AA-19128), confirman la presencia de cucúrbita (Cucurbita sp.) al comienzo y mediados del Holoceno, respectivamente, en la localidad de Memorial Park en el norte y centro de Pensilvania. Este es el segundo hallazgo documentado de cucúrbita en el Holoceno Medio y es el primer hallazgo documentado de cucúrbita domesticada al comienzo del final del Holoceno al norte de Eastern Woodlands, al este de Allegheny Front. Estos hallazgos contribuyen a establecer el uso de cucúrbita en el noreste en una escala temporal equivalente a la del interior fluvial, con la excepción de las primeras fechas del interior fluvial. El noreste ha contribuido muy poco al entendimiento de la evolución de la agricultura prehistórica en Eastern Woodlands. Los hallazgos de cucúrbita en Memorial Park y aquéllos del Holoceno Medio recientemente citados para la localidad del Sharrow en Maine, sugieren que se necesitan aún mayores esfuerzos para documentor la práctica agricola premaiz en esta área y así aumentar nuestro conocimiento acerca de la distribución total de la práctica agrícola premaiz en Eastern Woodlands.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , July 1997 , pp. 523 - 537
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1997

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