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University of South Florida Ch018-P369364.qxd 20/2/2006 4:58 PM Page 249 CHAPTER 18 Evidence for Early Use of Maize in Peninsular Florida JENNIFER A. KELLY*, ROBERT H. TYKOT†, AND JERALD T. MILANICH‡ *Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida †Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida ‡Florida Maseam of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida Introduction 249 A focus on nine coastal, estuarine, and inland sites is syn- The Natural Setting of Peninsular Florida 250 thesized and combined with ethnohistoric and stable isotope Historic Evidence for Plant Foods in Florida 251 analysis to shed light on the subsistence practices and life- Stable Isotope Studies in Florida 251 ways of prehistoric Floridians, and how these practices may Human Skeletal Samples in This Study 252 have changed over time. Site Background 252 Stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains has Processing and Analyzing the Skeletal Material 253 profoundly redefined our knowledge of the importance of Stable Isotope Results for All Sites 254 maize to prehistoric Native Americans in Florida. Although Discussion 257 ethnohistoric data are available for the Contact period, pale- Conclusion 259 obotanical remains are rare for all periods. Isotopic data is presented here for the inland sites of Cross Creek and Melton Mound I, the estuarine site of Crystal River, and the Glossary coastal sites of Horr’s Island, Bay Pines, Pillsbury, Weeden Island, Dunwoody, and Bayshore Homes. These sites range Crystal River site An important west-central Florida site from the Late Archaic period through the Late Caloosa- located in an estuarine environment with at least five hatchee period in an effort to more accurately reflect the mounds still preserved. introduction of maize to populations living along the west- Ecozones Areas with different ecological settings based central Gulf Coast and interior Florida from 1000 BC to on geological and environmental variation. about AD 1750. Fontaneda’s Memoirs Sixteenth-century written chroni- Local ecology often determined subsistence adaptations cles about the New World, including a section on vege- for ancient groups. Isotope results interpreted in this chapter tation and its use by Indians. suggest that areas outside of the local geography were not Fort Center Archaeological site in south-central Florida exploited by specific populations, and that maize was intro- where some maize pollen grains were found and thought duced into peninsular Florida, both inland and along the Gulf by the excavator to date as early as the Late Archaic Coast, perhaps 1000 years before the arrival of Europeans. period. Mangrove swamps Common in tropical and subtropical coastline areas with brackish to saline tidal waters with INTRODUCTION trees, shrubs, and other plants as well as many inverte- brate and vertebrate animal species. The purpose of this research was to investigate dietary Pillsbury site A Manatee County site dating ca. AD adaptations in peninsular Florida, and to reconstruct the life- 600–900 on the south side of Tampa Bay where more ways of its prehistoric residents. Specifically, the combina- than 130 individuals were excavated from a single burial tion of archaeological evidence, and historic, ethnohistoric, mound. and ethnographic documentation with stable isotope analy- Weeden Island The St. Petersburg, Florida, type-site for sis of human skeletal remains, sheds light on the behaviors the far-reaching Weeden Island culture, ca. AD 300–600. of the prehistoric populations in this region. Copyright © 2006 by Academic Press. Histories of Maize 249 All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. Ch018-P369364.qxd 20/2/2006 4:58 PM Page 250 250 J. A. Kelly et al. A central part of behavior for all ancient people was their helped to bring about the extinction of many large animal economy. Food procurement strategies are particularly species such as mastodon, long-horned bison, and giant important. Stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains ground sloth. Beginning about 10,000 BP, changes in pro- reflects the diet of an individual, and subsequent interpreta- jectile points indicate changes in subsistence practices and tion of the results allows us to understand a part of daily pre- begin what is known as the Early Archaic stage or period historic activity. It further indicates interactions between throughout the Southeast. In Florida, pottery first appeared groups, differences in status within a group that may reflect in the Late Archaic around 4000 BP in the form of fiber- the formation of polities, or sex and age differences. It may tempered Orange wares [7, 8, 50]. The use of pottery, and also indicate the reason for such differences. the dependence on marine, or freshwater food and water To reconstruct the behavior of prehistoric peninsular resources, indicate that prehistoric Florida groups may have Florida populations, it was necessary to determine subsis- practiced a more sedentary lifestyle. Archaeological evi- tence patterns for groups living in similar—Gulf Coast— dence for this is reflected in more sites, a greater range of and different—central interior—environments in Florida. tools, and burials [34]. Skeletal remains from these types of sites date to the Late Following the Archaic, cultural time period classifica- Archaic (2000–1000 BC), Deptford (1000–500 BC), tions begin to take on discrete divisions based on pottery Manasota-Weeden Island, Weeden Island I and II (AD styles and geographic locations. The prehistoric Indians 300–1000), and Late Caloosahatchee phase (after AD who inhabited Florida during these times were more settled 850–ca. AD 1750) in Florida. Stable isotope analysis helps than many earlier groups, and, although hunting remained a determine if populations living during these cultural time part of their subsistence practices, smaller mammals were periods may have practiced similar subsistence adaptations, also collected. Coastal sites in Florida are numerous, and or whether agriculture was introduced into coastal and inte- it appears that fishing and gathering shellfish replaced rior areas at the same time. Comparisons of coastal, estuar- hunting as the main subsistence strategy practiced for many ine, and inland sites also help to determine if there were groups beginning during the middle Archaic. Prehistoric differences in dietary consumption based on geography and inhabitants of the Gulf Coast of Florida, as well as some ecology, or whether prehistoric groups in Florida exploited inland populations, according to stable isotope results that resources that were not local. will be discussed later, appear to have eaten what was This type of research is significant for interpreting available locally. That is, they became dependent on their Woodland-related and Mississippian-related cultures in immediate environment which provided their food peninsular Florida, and their interactions with other south- resources. Florida is unique in that it has nine distinct eco- eastern U.S. cultures. Although there are similar mounds zones: mangrove swamps, flatwoods, freshwater swamps, and other aspects of settlement organization, ceramic and rivers and springs, hardwood forests and hammocks, scrub, lithic styles, and evidence of trade and other contact with sandhills, prairies, and coastal areas [56]. Understanding the Southeast, it has been hypothesized that the Native what types of resources available from within these areas Americans of peninsular Florida, in particular along the indicates the different types of foods available to coastal Gulf Coast, adopted and developed these characteristics of and inland prehistoric Floridians. Florida has the longest complex societies without adopting maize agriculture. It is coastline in the United States—8497 miles. Bays and not our intention here to broach the subject of chiefdom-level estuaries are numerous and form highly productive marine societies, merely to provide quantitative data from which habitats. Freshwater and saltwater wetlands within these further research may be done. It is, however, our objective larger areas contribute to a rich food web [30]. Mangrove to examine the available archaeological evidence, and eth- communities are particularly important when determining nohistoric (written documents, oral literature, material ancient resources because they provide habitats for many culture, and ethnographic data) information, and to apply this species of invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, information to new data obtained from stable isotope analy- and mammals. Odum and McIvor [44] reviewed the sis all in an effort to further understand the behaviors of the numbers of species reported from Florida mangrove prehistoric people who inhabited the Gulf Coast of Florida, systems, and found listings for 220 species of fishes, 24 and their place within Southeast archaeology. species of reptiles and amphibians, 18 species of mammals, and 181 species of birds. Sea grass beds are particularly productive features of THE NATURAL SETTING marine habitats. They provide refuges from predators and OF PENINSULAR FLORIDA act as nurseries and feeding areas [30]. Salt marshes require moderation of alternating terrestrial and aquatic environ- For Native Americans, the end of the Ice Age brought ments. They have the qualities of marine and terrestrial about many changes, particularly in subsistence practices. ecosystems. Species diversity in salt marshes is low, but for The hunting activities of Paleo-Indians in Florida may have those able to adapt, the number
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