The Ecology of Human Diets During the Holocene at North Creek Shelter, Utah

The Ecology of Human Diets during the Holocene at North Creek Shelter, Utah Lisbeth A. Louderback A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2014 Reading Committee: Donald K. Grayson, Chair Joel Janetski David Rhode Alison Wylie Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Anthropology Copyright 2014 Lisbeth A. Louderback University of Washington Abstract The Ecology of Human Diets during the Holocene at North Creek Shelter, Utah Lisbeth A. Louderback Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Donald K. Grayson Department of Anthropology This research examines the ecology of human diet using archeological evidence from a specific site in western North America – North Creek Shelter (NCS) near Escalante, Utah. I use ecological measures and theory to quantify human dietary change during the early to middle Holocene and in the context of local ecosystems that supplied plant and animal food resources. Vegetation sampling techniques are used to quantify the landscape and dietary palettes that may have been available to the occupants of NCS during the Holocene. According to my sampling, the pinyon-juniper woodland and cool desert scrub vegetation types would have supplied the majority of dietary plant resources, while the other types were either devoid of, or had low cover by, dietary species. I also combine evidence from dietary plant macro- and microfossil remains with dietary faunal remains to examine this comprehensive dataset in the context of ground stone abundance and environmental change. Two periods of increased dietary species richness occurred at 9400 and 8000 14C BP, when people were focusing their subsistence on deer and Chenopodium seeds, respectively. The shift in emphasis between deer and Chenopodium was accompanied by a shift in stone tool technology. The assemblage of chipped stone tools in substratum 3e (9400 14C BP) was dominated by hunting and bone-processing implements. Ground stone tools became dominant in substratum 5t (8000 14C BP), simultaneous with a peak in Chenopodium abundance. Increasing aridity began by 9000 14C BP and had progressed significantly by 8000 14C BP, indicated by a shift in vegetation from a mixed conifer forest of cool-adapted species to a semi- arid woodland and shrub mosaic. This coincided with a broadening of the diet dependent upon an intensified use of small seeds and ground stone technology. Intensive processing of small seeds on ground stone tools was not the only such practice at NCS. Underground storage organs were also processed and possibly roasted in pits uniquely found on the living surface of substratum 5t (8000 14C BP). Although taxonomic assignments for the starch grains are difficult at this point, there are minimally two “taxa” (“centric” and “eccentric”) that can be added to the tally of dietary species richness developed from macrobotanical remains (above). Adding these starch-producing plants to dietary species richness would accentuate a shift toward broader diet concurrent with a period of rapid environmental change during the middle Holocene. University of Washington Graduate School This is to certify that I have examined this copy of a doctoral dissertation by Lisbeth A. Louderback and have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made. Chair of the Supervisory Committee: ___________________________________________ Donald K. Grayson Reading Committee ___________________________________________ Donald K. Grayson ___________________________________________ Joel C. Janetski ___________________________________________ David E. Rhode ___________________________________________ Alison Wylie Date:________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................1 North Creek Shelter ......................................................................................................................2 Dissertation Structure ...................................................................................................................4 USING MODERN VEGETATION AND ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA TO UNDERSTAND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DIET AT NORTH CREEK SHELTER ...................................11 Introduction ................................................................................................................................11 Methods ......................................................................................................................................14 Results ........................................................................................................................................17 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................20 DIET BREADTH AND RESOURCE INTENSIFICATION IN RELATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE.................................................................................................31 Introduction ................................................................................................................................31 Foraging Theory .........................................................................................................................32 Hypotheses .................................................................................................................................34 i Methods......................................................................................................................................36 Results ........................................................................................................................................45 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................55 ANALYSIS OF STARCH GRAINS FROM THE GROUND STONE TOOLS OF NORTH CREEK SHELTER .....................................................................................................................78 Introduction ................................................................................................................................78 Methods......................................................................................................................................80 Results ........................................................................................................................................86 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................90 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................108 REFERENCES CITED .............................................................................................................115 APPENDIX A: ETHNOGRAPHIC INVENTORY OF DIETARY PLANTS ....................127 APPENDIX B: FAUNAL INVENTORY AND SYNONOMY FOR DETERMINING SPECIES RICHNESS (NTAXA) ............................................................................................131 APPENDIX C: FAUNAL COUNTS FROM SUBSTRATA AT NCS ..................................133 APPENDIX D: CULTURAL MARKERS ON MAMMALIAN TAXA FROM NCS ........139 ii APPENDIX E: INVENTORY OF FLOATED SEDIMENT SAMPLES FROM NCS .......140 APPENDIX F: INVENTORY OF PLANT AND ANIMAL REMAINS FROM NCS .......141 APPENDIX G: GROUND STONE TOOL DESCRIPTIONS FROM NCS .......................147 APPENDIX H: ARTIODACTYL INDEX VALUES FROM SUBSTRATA AT NCS ......150 APPENDIX I: INVENTORY OF DIETARY PLANT REMAINS FROM NCS ................151 APPENDIX J: RAW COUNTS OF POLLEN FROM NCS SEDIMENTS ........................157 APPENDIX K: INVENTORY OF NON-DIETARY PLANT REMAINS FROM NCS HEARTHS ..................................................................................................................................159 APPENDIX L: IMAGES OF REFERENCE STARCH GRAINS .......................................162 APPENDIX M: IMAGES OFARCHAEOLOGICAL STARCH GRAINS ........................170 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. View of North Creek Shelter (NCS). ............................................................................7 Figure 1.2. Location of NCS on the Colorado Plateau. ...................................................................8 Figure 1.3. Stratigraphic profile of NCS ........................................................................................10 Figure 2.1. Map of vegetation sampling locations in the vicinity of NCS ....................................27 Figure 3.1. Relative abundances of dietary faunal remains at NCS ..............................................61 Figure 3.2. Artiodactyl Index for dietary faunal assemblages at NCS ..........................................62 Figure 3.3. Relationship between Artiodactyl Index and Log NISP for all faunal remains at NCS ................................................................................................................................................63

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