The Paleoethnobotany of Schwerdt (20AE127): an Early Fifteenth Century Encampment in the Lower Kalamazoo River Valley
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Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 4-1991 The Paleoethnobotany of Schwerdt (20AE127): An Early Fifteenth Century Encampment in the Lower Kalamazoo River Valley Gregory R. Walz Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the Paleobiology Commons Recommended Citation Walz, Gregory R., "The Paleoethnobotany of Schwerdt (20AE127): An Early Fifteenth Century Encampment in the Lower Kalamazoo River Valley" (1991). Master's Theses. 1009. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1009 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PALEOETHNOBOTANY OF SCHWERDT (20AE127): AN EARLY FIFTEENTH CENTURY ENCAMPMENT IN THE LOWER KALAMAZOO RIVER VALLEY by Gregory R. Walz A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan April 1991 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE PALEOETHNOBOTANY OF SCHWERDT (20AE127): AN EARLY FIFTEENTH CENTURY ENCAMPMENT IN THE LOWER KALAMAZOO RIVER VALLEY Gregory R. Walz, M.A. Western Michigan University, 1991 Carbonized macrobotanical remains from the Schwerdt Site, an Upper Mississippian sturgeon fishery in the Lower Kalamazoo River Valley are identified and analyzed in terms of their implications for localized subsistence-settlement systems operating during the Berrien Phase in southwestern Michigan. The exploitation of wild plant foods at this limited-activity, spring sturgeon fishery and the environmental composition of the site environs are reconstructed from their representation in flotation samples derived from excavated feature and midden contexts. Botanical data indicate a strong wetland-aquatic orientation in plant procurement, with aquatic tubers being the primary plant resource exploited at the site. Data from several sites of comparable age and cultural affiliation reveal a similar orientation toward seasonal usage of aquatic habitats by Late Prehistoric occupants of the eastern Lake Michigan littoral. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my profound gratitude to the members of my thesis committee, Dr. Elizabeth Garland and Dr. Robert Sundick, without whose critical comments and direction this manuscript would surely have suffered. My special thanks go to Dr. William Cremin, my advisor and principal investigator of the Schwerdt site, who has been a major influence and driving force behind my interest in paleobotanical research and whose encouragement has been greatly appreciated over the years. I would also like to thank the faculty of the Department of Anthropology for maintaining an environment highly conducive to the students’ academic progress, both in encouraging research and in classroom situations. Thanks to Lee Ann Claussen for her efforts in putting the manuscript into its final form. Finally, I cannot overlook the support of my wife Karrie whose efforts and patience have been instrumental in the completion of this thesis. Any omissions and/or errors are mine alone. Gregory R. Walz ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 1343935 The paleoethnobotany of Schwerdt (20AE127): An early fifteenth century encampment in the lower Kalamazoo River Valley Walz, Gregory R., M.A. Western Michigan University, 1991 Copyright ©1991 by Walz, Gregory R. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Gregory R. Walz 1991 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Site H isto ry ............................................................................................... 1 Environmental Context.......................................................................... 7 Summary of Analyses .......................................... 9 II. PALEOETHNOBOTANY: OBJECTIVES AND PROCEDURES . 15 The Contexts of Preservation............................................................ 16 The Value of Paleoethnobotany......................................................... 18 Field Procedures................................................................................... 19 Analytic Methods ................................................................................ 23 III. THE SCHWERDT FEATURES............................................................. 25 Analogous Features on Other Upper Mississippian Sites................................................................................ 31 Regional Distribution of Roasting F acilities................................................................................ 36 IV. PRESENTATION OF THE SCHWERDT MACROBOTANICAL DATA ............................................................... 40 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents-Continued S eeds........................................................................................................ 42 Rubus spp.......................................................................................... 43 Comus florida................................................................................. 44 Crataegus spp ................................................................................... 44 Smilax spp........................................................................................ 45 Prunus sp.......................................................................................... 45 Helianthus annuus ........................................................................ 45 Vaccinium sp.................... ............................................................... 47 Vitis sp.............................................................................................. 48 T u b e rs ..................................................................................................... 48 Nelumbo lutea .............................................................................. 48 N u t s ........................................................................................................ 51 Other Remains....................................................................................... 53 Seasonality of Occupation................................................................... 54 V. SCHWERDT IN THE CONTEXT OF REGIONAL UPPER MISSISSIPPIAN ADAPTATIONS ........................................ 57 Adjacent Drainages.............................................................................. 60 The Berrien Phase Subsistence- Settlement System ................................................................................