Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:29:29.291Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Early Agricultural Diet in Eastern North America: Evidence from Two Kentucky Rockshelters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kristen J. Gremillion
Kristen J. Gremillion*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, 244 Lord Hall, 124 West 17th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210–1364
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Systematic quantitative analysis of desiccated human paleofeces from two rockshelters in eastern Kentucky has yielded new evidence for early agricultural diet in eastern North America. Results indicate that native cultigens (including sumpweed, sunflower, and chenopod) were sometimes significant dietary constituents as early as ca. 1000 B.C., at least a millennium before agricultural economies became widespread across the region. However, variability in the quantity and frequency of cultigen remains suggests a dietary role that was somewhat limited compared to the practices of later Woodland period farmers. The predictions of foraging theory suggest that the utilization of cultigens would have been most advantageous in spring and summer (when many other foods were scarce) or in years of poor production by nut-bearing trees. The causal link between food storage and the development of food production in eastern Kentucky receives some empirical support and warrants further investigation.

El análisis cuantitativo y sistemático de paleofeces humanos disecadas provenientes de dos cavernas en la parte este de Kentucky haproducido nueva evidencia de una dieta agrícola temprana en el este de Norte América. Los resultados indican que cultivos nativos (incluyendo Iva annua, Helianthus annuus, y Chenopodium berlandieri) fueron parte significativa de la dieta desde 3000 a.C, por lo menos un milenio antes de que economías agrícolas adoptaran en la región. Sin embargo, la variabilidad en cantidad y frequencia de restos de cultivos sugiere un papel algo limitado en la dieta cuando se lo compara a las prácticas más recientes de agrícultores del período Woodland. Las predicciones de la teoría de forraje sugiere que el uso de cultivos habría sido más ventajoso durante la primavera y el verano (cuando muchos otros alimentos eran escasos) o en años en que la producción de nueces era pobre. La relatión causal entre el almacenamiento de comida y el desarrollo de productión de alimentos en el este de Kentucky tiene algún sustentamiento empírico y por lo tanto debería ser investigada más afondo.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 520 - 536
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Ambrose, S. H. 1987 Chemical and Isotopic Techniques of Diet Reconstruction in Eastern North America. In Emergent Horticultural Economies of the Eastern Woodlands, edited by Keegan, W. F., pp. 87–107. Center for Archaeological Investigations Occasional Papers No. 7. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Asch, D. L., and Asch, N. B. 1977 Chenopod as Cultigen : A Reevaluation of Some Prehistoric Collections from Eastern North America. MidcontinentalJournal of Archaeology 2 : 3–45.Google Scholar
Asch, D. L., and Asch, N. B. 1985 Prehistoric Plant Cultivation in West-Central Illinois. In Prehistoric Food Production in North America, edited by Ford, R. I.. Anthropological Papers No. 75. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Asch, N. B., and Asch, D. L. 1978 The Economic Potential of Iva annua and Its Prehistoric Importance in the Lower Illinois Valley. In The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany, edited by Ford, R. I., pp. 301–341. Anthropological Papers No. 67. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. W. 1974 The Role of Coprolite Analysis in Archaeology. Bulletin of the Texas Archaeological Society 45 : 1–28.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. W., and Williams-Dean, G. 1975 The Coprolites of Man. Scientific American 232(1) : 100–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callen, E. O. 1963 Diet as Revealed by Coprolites. In Science in Archaeology, edited by Brothwell, D. and Higgs, E., pp. 186–194. Basic Books, New York.Google Scholar
Callen, E. O. 1989 Testing the Color Parameter of Coprolite Rehydration Solution. Paleopathology Newsletter 68 : 9–11.Google Scholar
Chapman, J., and Shea, A. B. 1981 The Archaeobotanical Record : Early Archaic Period to Contact in the Lower Little Tennessee River Valley. Tennessee Anthropologist 6 : 61–84.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. W 1978a Seasonal Nutritional Stress in a Late Woodland Population : Suggestions from Some Eastern Kentucky Coprolites. Tennessee Anthropologist 3 : 117–128.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. W 1978b The Prehistoric Use and Distribution of Maygrass in Eastern North America : Cultural and Phytogeographical Implications. In The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany, edited by Ford, R. I., pp. 263–288. Anthropological Papers No. 67. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. W 1985a Understanding the Evolution of Plant Husbandry in Eastern North America : Lessons from Botany, Ethnography and Archaeology. In Prehistoric Food Production in North America, edited by Ford, R. I., pp. 205–243. Anthropological Papers No. 75. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. W 1985b From Foraging to Incipient Food Production : Subsistence Change and Continuity on the Cumberland Plateau of Eastern Kentucky. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. W 1997 Evolutionary Changes Associated with the Domestication of Cucurbita pepo : Evidence from Eastern Kentucky. In People, Plants, and Landscapes : Studies in Paleoethnobotany, edited by Gremillion, K. J., pp. 23^41. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. W., Jackson, H. E., Moore, K., Nickelhoff, A., 1981 The Cloudsplitter Rockshelter, Menifee County, Kentucky : A Preliminary Report. Southeastern Archaeological Conference Bulletin 24 : 60–75.Google Scholar
Crane, H. R. 1956 University of Michigan Radiocarbon Dates I. Science 124 : 664–672.Google Scholar
Crites, G. D. 1991 Investigations into Early Plant Domesticates and Food Production in Middle Tennessee : A Status Report. Tennessee Anthropologist 16 : 69–87.Google Scholar
Crites, G. D. 1993 Domesticated Sunflower in Fifth Millennium B.P. Temporal Context : New Evidence from Middle Tennessee. American Antiquity 58 : 146–148.Google Scholar
Densmore, F. 1974 How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine, and Crafts. Reprinted. Originally published 1928, “Uses of Plants by the Chippewa Indians,” Forty-fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1926-27, pp. 275–397. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Esau, K. 1960 Anatomy of Seed Plants. 2nd ed. Wiley, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faulkner, C. T. 1991 Prehistoric Diet and Parasitic Infection in Tennessee : Evidence from the Analysis of Desiccated Human Paleofeces. American Antiquity 56 : 687–700.Google Scholar
Fritz, G. J. 1986 Prehistoric Ozark Agriculture, The University of Arkansas Rockshelter Collections. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.Google Scholar
Fritz, G. J. 1990 Multiple Pathways to Farming in Precontact Eastern North America. Journal of World Prehistory 4 : 387–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fry, G. F. 1985 Analysis of Fecal Material. In The Analysis of Prehistoric Diets, edited by Gilbert, R. and Mielke, J., pp. 127–154. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Funkhouser, W. D., and Webb, W. S. 1929 The So-Called “Ash Caves” in Lee County, Kentucky. Reports in Archaeology and Anthropology Vol. 1, No. 2. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Funkhouser, W. D., and Webb, W. S. 1930 Rock Shelters of Wolfe and Powell Counties, Kentucky. Reports in Archaeology and Anthropology Vol. 1, No. 4. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Gardner, P. S. 1987 New Evidence Concerning the Chronology and Paleoethnobotany of Salts Cave, Kentucky. American Antiquity 52 : 358–366.Google Scholar
Gardner, P. S. 1992 Diet Optimization Models and Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Eastern Woodlands. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.Google Scholar
Gardner, P. S. 1997 The Ecological Structure and Behavioral Implications of Mast Exploitation Strategies. In People, Plants, and Landscapes : Studies in Paleoethnobotany, edited by Gremillion, K. J., pp. 161–178. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Gilmore, M. R. 1931 Vegetal Remains of the Ozark Bluff-Dweller Culture. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters 14 : 83–102.Google Scholar
Goslin, R. M. 1957 Food of the Adena People. In The Adena People II, edited by Webb, W. S. and Baby, R.S. pp. 41–16. Ohio Historical Society, Columbus.Google Scholar
Gremillion, K. J. 1993a Crop and Weed in Prehistoric Eastern North America : The Chenopodium Example. American Antiquity 58 : 496–509.Google Scholar
Gremillion, K. J. 1993b The Evolution of Seed Morphology in Domesticated Chenopodium : An Archaeological Case Study. Journal of Ethnobiology 13 : 149–169.Google Scholar
Gremillion, K. J. 1993c Paleoethnobotany. In The Development of Southeastern Archaeology, edited by Johnson, J., pp. 132–159. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Gremillion, K. J. 1993d Plant Husbandry at the Archaic/Woodland Transition : Evidence from the Cold Oak Shelter, Kentucky. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 18 : 162–189.Google Scholar
Gremillion, K. J. 1995 Macrobotanical Contents of Salts and Mammoth Cave Paleofeces. Manuscript on file, Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, Columbus.Google Scholar
Gremillion, K. J. 1997 New Perspectives on the Paleoethnobotany of the Newt Kash Shelter. In People, Plants, and Landscapes : Studies in Paleoethnobotany, edited by Gremillion, K. J., pp. 23–41. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Gremillion, K. J., and Ison, C. R. 1992 Terminal Archaic and Early Woodland Plant Utilization at the Cold Oak Shelter. In Upland Archaeology in the East : Symposium IV, edited by Barber, M. B. and Barfield, E.B. pp. 121–132.Cultural Resource Management Report No. 92-1, USDA Forest Service Southern Region, Atlanta, Georgia.Google Scholar
Gremillion, K. J., and Sobolik, K. D. 1996 Dietary Variability Among Early Forager-Farmers of Eastern North America. Current Anthropology 37 : 529–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haag, W G. 1974 The Adena Culture. In Archaeological Researches in Retrospect, edited by Willey, G. R., pp. 119–145. Winthrop, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Harrington, M. R. 1924 The Ozark Bluff-Dwellers. American Anthropologist 26 : 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrington, M. R. 1943 Geology of Kentucky. University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
O'Malley, N., Tune, T. W, and Blustain, M. S. 1983 Technological Examination of Fayette Thick Ceramics : A Petrographic Analysis and Review. Southeastern Archaeology 2 : 145–154.Google Scholar
O'Steen, L. D., Gremillion, K. J., and Ledbetter, R. J. 1991 Archaeological Testing of Five Sites in the Big Sinking Creek Oil Field, Lee County, Kentucky. Report submitted to the Forest Archaeologist, Daniel Boone National Forest, Stanton Ranger District, Stanton, Kentucky.Google Scholar
Payne, W. W., and Jones, V H. 1962 The Taxonomic Status and Archaeological Significance of A Giant Ragweed from Prehistoric Bluff Shelters in the Ozark Plateau Region. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters 47 : 147–163.Google Scholar
Pearsall, D. 1989 Paleoethnobotany : A Handbook of Procedures. Academic Press, San Diego.Google Scholar
Pearson, G. W, and Stuiver, M. 1993 High-Precision Bidecadal Calibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale 500-2500 B.C. Radiocarbon 35 : 25–33.Google Scholar
Purrington, B. L. 1967 Prehistoric Horizons and Traditions in the Eastern Mountains of Kentucky. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Radford, A. E., Ahles, H. E., and Bell, C. R. 1968 A Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.Google Scholar
Reinhard, K. J. 1992 Parasitology as an Interpretive Tool in Archaeology. American Antiquity 57 : 231–245.Google Scholar
Reinhard, K. J., and Bryant, V M. 1992 Coprolite Analysis : A Biological Perspective on Archaeology. In Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 4, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 245–286. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Smith, B. D. 1985a The Role of Chenopodium as a Domesticate in Pre- Maize Garden Systems of the Eastern United States. Southeastern Archaeology 4 : 51–72.Google Scholar
Smith, B. D. 1985b Chenopodium berlandieri ssp.jonesianum : Evidence for a Hopewellian Domesticate from Ash Cave, Ohio. Southeastern Archaeology 4 : 107–133.Google Scholar
Smith, B. D. 1989 Origins of Agriculture in Eastern North America. Science 246 : 1566–1571.Google Scholar
Smith, B. D. 1992 Prehistoric Plant Husbandry in Eastern North America. In The Origins of Agriculture : An International Perspective, edited by Cowan, C. W. and Watson, P.J. pp. 101–120. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Smith, B. D., and Cowan, C. W 1987 Domesticated Chenopodium in Prehistoric Eastern North America : New Accelerator Dates from Eastern Kentucky. American Antiquity 52 : 355–357.Google Scholar
Stephens, D. W, and Krebs, J. R. 1986 Foraging Theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P. J. 1993 Extended 14C Data Base and Revised CALIB 14C Age Calibration Program. Radiocarbon 35 : 215–230.Google Scholar
Talalay, L., Keller, D. R., and Munson, P. J. 1984 Hickory Nuts, Walnuts, Butternuts, and Hazelnuts : Observations and Experiments Relevant to their Aboriginal Exploitation in Eastern North America. In Experiments and Observations on Aboriginal Wild Plant Food Utilization in Eastern North America, edited by Munson, P. J., pp. 338–359. Prehistory Research Series VI(2), Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis.Google Scholar
Watson, P. J. 1974a Prehistoric Horticulturists. In Archaeology of the Mammoth Cave Area, edited by Watson, P. J., pp. 233–238. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Watson, P. J. 1974b Theoretical and Methodological Difficulties Encountered in Dealing with Paleofecal Material. In Archaeology of the Mammoth Cave Area, edited by Watson, P. J., pp. 239–242. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Watson, P. J. 1985 The Impact of Early Horticulture in the Upland Drainages of the Midwest and Midsouth. In Prehistoric Food Production in North America, edited by Ford, R. I., pp. 99–148. Anthropological Papers No. 75. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Watson, P. J., and Yarnell, R. A. 1986 Lost John's Last Meal. Missouri Archaeologist 47 : 241–255.Google Scholar
Webb, W. S., and Funkhouser, W D. 1936 Rock Shelters in Menifee County, Kentucky. Reports in Archaeology and Anthropology Vol. 3, No. 4. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Wills, W H. 1988 Early Prehistoric Agriculture in the American Southwest. School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico.Google Scholar
Winterhalder, B. 1981 Optimal Foraging Strategies and Hunter-Gatherer Research in Anthropology : Theory and Models. In Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies, edited by Winterhalder, B. and Smith, E.A. pp. 13–35. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Winterhalder, B., and Goland, C. 1997 An Evolutionary Ecology Perspective on Diet Choice, Risk, and Plant Domestication. In People, Plants, and Landscapes : Studies in Paleoethnobotany, edited by Gremillion, K. J., pp. 123–160. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Yarnell, R. A. 1964 Aboriginal Relationships Between Culture and Plant Life in the Upper Great Lakes Region. Anthropological Papers No. 23. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yarnell, R. A. 1969 Contents of Human Paleofeces. In The Prehistory of Salts Cave, Kentucky, edited by Watson, P. J., pp. 41–54. Report of Investigations No. 16. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Yarnell, R. A. 1972 Iva annua var. macrocarpa : Extinct American Cultigen? American Anthropologist 74 : 335–341.Google Scholar
Yarnell, R. A. 1974a Intestinal Contents of the Salts Cave Mummy and Analysis of the Initial Salts Cave Flotation Series. In Archaeology of the Mammoth Cave Area, edited by Watson, P. J., pp. 109–112. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Yarnell, R. A. 1974b Plant Foods and Cultivation of the Salts Cavers. In Archaeology of the Mammoth Cave Area, edited by Watson, P. J., pp. 113–122. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Yarnell, R. A. 1978 Domestication of Sunflower and Sumpweed in Eastern North America. In The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany, edited by Ford, R. I., pp. 289–300. Anthropological Papers No. 67. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Yarnell, R. A. 1982 Problems of Interpretation of Archaeological Plant Remains of the Eastern Woodlands. Southeastern Archeology 1 : 1–7.Google Scholar
Yarnell, R. A. 1986 A Survey of Prehistoric Crop Plants in Eastern North America. Missouri Archaeologist 47 : 47–59.Google Scholar
Yarnell, R. A., and Black, M. J. 1985 Temporal Trends Indicated by a Survey of Archaic and Woodland Plant Food Remains from Southeastern North America. Southeastern Archaeology 4 : 93–106.Google Scholar
Young, B. R. 1910 The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky. Filson Club Publications No. 25. John P. Morton, Louisville, Kentucky.Google Scholar