Current Northeast Paleoethnobotany II the UNIVERSITY of the STATE of NEW YORK
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Current Northeast Paleoethnobotany II THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of The University ROBERT M. BENNETT, Chancellor, B.A., M.S. Tonawanda MERRYL H. TISCH, Vice Chancellor, B.A., M.A. Ed.D. New York SAUL B. COHEN, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. New Rochelle JAMES C. DAWSON, A.A., B.A., M.S., Ph.D. Peru ANTHONY S. BOTTAR, B.A., J.D. Syracuse GERALDINE D. CHAPEY, B.A., M.A., Ed.D. Belle Harbor ARNOLD B. GARDNER, B.A., LL.B. Buffalo HARRY PHILLIPS, 3rd, B.A., M.S.F.S. Hartsdale JOSEPH E. BOWMAN,JR., B.A., M.L.S., M.A., M.Ed., Ed.D. Albany JAMES R. TALLON,JR., B.A., M.A. Binghamton MILTON L. COFIELD, B.S., M.B.A., Ph.D. Rochester ROGER B. TILLES, B.A., J.D. Great Neck KAREN BROOKS HOPKINS, B.A., M.F.A. Brooklyn CHARLES R. BENDIT,B.A. ........................................................................ NewYork BETTY A. ROSA, B.A., M.S. in Ed., M.S. in Ed., M.Ed., Ed.D. Bronx LESTER W. YOUNG JR., B.S., M.S., Ed.D. Oakland Gardens President of The University and Commissioner of Education RICHARD P. MILLS Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education JEFFREY W. CANNELL Director of the New York State Museum CLIFFORD A. SIEGFRIED Director, Research and Collections Division JOHN P. HART The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national ori- gin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services and activities. Portions of this pub- lication can be made available in a variety of formats, including braille, large print or audio tape, upon request. Inquiries concerning this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department’s Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 530, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234. Requests for additional copies of this publication may be made by contacting Publications Sales, Room 3140, Cultural Education Center, New York State Museum, Albany, NY 12230. ii Current Northeast Paleoethnobotany II Edited by John P. Hart New York State Museum Bulletin Series 512 © 2008 The New York State Education Department Printed in the United States of America Copies may be ordered from: Publication Sales 3140 CEC New York State Museum Albany, New York 12230 Phone: (518) 402-5344 Fax: (518) 486-2034 Email: [email protected] Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008930479 ISSN: 0278-3355 ISBN: 1-55557-245-6 iv This volume is dedicated to the late Frances B. King, Elizabeth A. Little, and James B. Petersen, each of whom made substantive, lasting contributions to paleoethnobotany in the Northeast v vi TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................................................. viii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................................................................. ix Preface .................................................................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 John P. Hart Chapter 2: Current Issues in Paleoethnobotanical Research from Pennsylvania and Vicinity ................................ 9 Mark A. McConaughy Chapter 3: The Impact of Maize-based Agriculture on Prehistoric Plant Communities in the Northeast .............. 29 Nancy Asch Sidell Chapter 4: So Little Maize, So Much Time: Understanding Maize Adoption in New England ............................ 53 Elizabeth S. Chilton Chapter 5: Dichotomies and the “Maize Debate” in Late Woodland and Contact Period Southern New England ...................................................................................................................................... 61 Ninian R. Stein Chapter 6: Maize Agriculture in Coastal Rhode Island: Imaginative, Illusive, or Intensive? ................................ 73 Tonya Largy and E. Pierre Morenon Chapter 7: Evolving the Three Sisters: The Changing Histories of Maize, Bean, and Squash in New York and the Greater Northeast ........................................................................................................ 87 John P. Hart Chapter 8: Cultigens of the American Northeast: A Phytolith Study ........................................................................ 101 Katy Serpa Chapter 9: Starch Grain Analysis: Methodology and Applications in the Northeast ............................................ 111 Timothy C. Messner, Ruth Dickau, and Jeff Harbison Chapter 10: Visible Clues: The Analysis of Visible Pottery Residues from New York State with Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry ........................................................................................ 129 Eleanora A. Reber and John P. Hart Chapter 11: Chronology and Evolution of the Green Point Flood Plain and Associated Cucurbita pepo ............ 141 William A. Lovis and G. William Monaghan Chapter 12: Settlement and Subsistence Change in the Turn of the First Millenium: The View from the Holemdale Site, Brantford, Ontario ............................................................................ 151 Robert H. Pihl, Stephen G. Monckton, David A. Robertson, and Robert F. Williamson Chapter 13: Late Prehistoric Plant Use in the Western Minas Basin Area, Nova Scotia .......................................... 173 Michael Deal and Sara Halwas Chapter 14: Maize Agriculture in the Colonial Period: A View from Mohegan ........................................................ 183 Jeffrey C. Bendremer and Elaine L. Thomas vii Chapter 15: Exploring New Dimensions in the Study of Archaeological Plants ...................................................... 191 Jack Rossen Chapter 16: Domesticated Landscapes of the Prehistoric Northeast ............................................................................ 199 John Edward Terrell Index Plant Common Names ...................................................................................................................................... 205 Plant Scientific Names ...................................................................................................................................... 206 Plant Common Names in Current Northeast Paleoethnobotany New York State Museum Bulletin 494 .......................................................................................................... 209 Plant Scientific Names in Current Northeast Paleoethnobotany New York State Museum Bulletin 494 .......................................................................................................... 210 Contributors .......................................................................................................................................................................... 213 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2-1 Figure 1: General location of sites mentioned in this chapter. 10 Figure 3-1 Site location map and forest regions of the Northeast (based on Braun 1950). 31 Figure 3-2. Wood charcoal from archaeological sites arranged by site/component, from oldest to youngest (lefttoright)withineachforestregion. .......................................................................... 36 Figure 3-3. Nutshell density (dashed line) in relation to percentage of oak, hickory, and chestnut wood charcoal (black line) and maize index (dotted line). 37 Figure 3-4. Iva annua var. macrocarpa,domesticatedmarshelder. ............................................................. 40 Figure 3-5. Chenopodium berlandieri,MansfieldBridgesite. .................................................................. 41 Figure 3-6. Chenopodium berlandieri,DepositAirportIsite. .................................................................. 42 Figure 3-7. Chenopodium berlandieri,Scuddersite. ......................................................................... 42 Figure 3-8. Helianthus annuus var. macrocarpus,domesticatedsunflower ...................................................... 43 Figure 3-9. Helianthus spp.,wild/ruderalsunflower. ......................................................................... 43 Figure 3-10. Polygonum erectum, erect knotweed, early season phenotype . 44 Figure 3-11. Nicotiana spp.,tobacco. ..................................................................................... 44 Figure 6-1. Maize recovered in 1974 from Fort Ninigret (RI15) in Charlestown, Rhode Island. 73 Figure 6-2. Maize from four archaeological sites in Rhode Island discovered after 1990. 74 Figure 6-3. Locations of seven archaeological sites in Rhode Island with maize, ordered by year of discovery. 75 Figure 6-4. Champlain map of Nauset Harbor on Cape Cod in 1605, with enlarged detail (insert) of a house surrounded by a corn field. After Salwen 1978:165. 77 Figure 6-5. 279 calibrated radiocarbon dates from all Rhode Island sites plotted by century from B.C. 4100 to A.D. 1900, and all calibrated maize dates. 83 Figure 7-1. Simplified two-dimensional fitness landscape (after Sewall Wright 1932). 92 Figure 8-1. Common disarticulated phytolith types (Madella et al. 2005:253-260) . 103 Figure 8-2. Zea mays ssp. mays inflorescence cross shape phytolith. 104 Figure 8-3. Articulated dendriform phytoliths – Elymus repens inflorescence.