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Seasons of Change: Using Seasonal Morphological Changes in Brodiaea Corms to Determine Season of Harvest from Archaeobotanical Remains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kristina M. Gill
Kristina M. Gill*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 ([email protected])
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Abstract

I present archaeobotanical evidence for intensive and long-term harvesting of edible geophytes in the Brodiaea complex, most likely blue dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum), during multiple seasons on California’s Santa Cruz Island. Ethnographic data indicate that Brodiaea corms were an important food source throughout prehistoric California, usually harvested in the late spring–early summer, after flowering. However, at least two ethnographic sources may suggest multiple seasons of harvest, an idea supported by careful examination of seasonal morphological changes in modern and ancient Brodiaea corms. Archaeobotanical identification of features associated with these morphological changes allows inferences about the specific seasons in which Brodiaea corms were harvested, a conclusion that has the potential to provide higher resolution seasonality data for geophyte remains recovered in western North America and other areas around the world.

Resumen

Resumen

En este artículo presento evidencia arqueobotánica de la recolección intensiva y a largo plazo de geófitos comestibles pertenecientes al complejo Brodiaea, muy probablemente Covenas (Dichelostemma capitatum), durante múltiples temporadas en la Isla Santa Cruz en California. Los datos etnográficos indican que los bulbos de plantas Brodiaea constituyeron una fuente importante de alimento a lo largo de la prehistoria de California, y fueron usualmente recolectados después de su florecimiento durante la parte tardía de la primavera e inicios del verano. Sin embargo, al menos dos fuentes etnográficas adicionales sugieren múltiples temporadas de recolección, una posibilidad sustentada por el cuidadoso estudio de cambios morfológicos estacionales en bulbos de Brodiaea antiguos y modernos. La identificación arqueobotánica de rasgos asociados a estos cambios morfológicos permite establecer inferencias sobre las estaciones específicas en que los bulbos de Brodiaea fueron recolectados, y esta conclusión tiene el potencial de brindar datos de estacionalldad de mayor resolución para los restos de geófitos recuperados en el oeste de Norteamérica y otras áreas alrededor del mundo.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 79 , Issue 4 , October 2014 , pp. 638 - 654
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2014

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