Assessing Diet and Seasonality in the Lower Pecos
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ASSESSING DIET AND SEASONALITY IN THE LOWER PECOS CANYONLANDS: AN EVALUATION OF COPROLITE SPECIMENS AS RECORDS OF INDIVIDUAL DIETARY DECISIONS A Dissertation by TIMOTHY E. RILEY Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2010 Major Subject: Anthropology Assessing Diet and Seasonality in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands: An Evaluation of Coprolite Specimens as Records of Individual Dietary Decisions Copyright 2010 Timothy E. Riley ASSESSING DIET AND SEASONALITY IN THE LOWER PECOS CANYONLANDS: AN EVALUATION OF COPROLITE SPECIMENS AS RECORDS OF INDIVIDUAL DIETARY DECISIONS A Dissertation by TIMOTHY E. RILEY Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Vaughn M. Bryant Committee Members, Alston Thoms Lori Wright Andreas Holzenburg Head of Department, Donny Hamilton December 2010 Major Subject: Anthropology iii ABSTRACT Assessing Diet and Seasonality in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands: An Evaluation of Coprolite Specimens as Records of Individual Dietary Decisions. (December 2010) Timothy E. Riley, B.A., The College of the University of Chicago Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Vaughn M. Bryant This dissertation presents an evaluation of coprolite specimens from the Lower Pecos canyonlands as records of individual dietary decisions. Prior studies of coprolites from this region have greatly expanded our knowledge of Archaic subsistence patterns, but have not taken full advantage of the record of individual dietary decisions recorded in each coprolite specimen. The menu, or dietary combinations, reflected in individual coprolite specimens are assessed through the identification of several congruent botanical components derived from the same food resource, phytoliths, fiber ultimates, and epidermal sheets. The data is analyzed with hierarchical cluster analysis, an exploratory statistical technique. The resultant menus reflected in these clusters are evaluated with reference to the diet-breadth model developed for the known staple resources of the canyonlands as well as the seasonal subsistence patterns observed in the ethnohistoric record of modern-day Mexico and Texas. This same technique is also applied to the coprolite data available from previous studies in the Lower Pecos canyonlands. iv Overall, the combined dietary data available for the Lower Pecos canyonlands presents a similar dependence on desertic plant resources throughout the Archaic. Three main menus are apparent in the specimens. The first menu consists of prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) cladodes, or nopales, and was principally, although not exclusively, consumed in the late spring. This menu is primarily consumed when other resources were not readily available and may be considered a dependable but undesirable meal. The second menu consists of pit-baked lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla) and sotol (Dasylirion sp.) caudices, or hearts, common throughout the cool season. This menu entails high processing costs, but would provide a reliable caloric return. The third menu exhibits a monolithic reliance on prickly pear fruits, or tunas, during the summer. The ease of harvest and consumption is reflected in the seasonal dominance of this resource, which was assuredly a highly desirable meal. The dietary patterns recorded in the coprolite specimens from the Lower Pecos canyonlands demonstrate a seasonally variable diet-breadth that incorporated low-ranked resources during times of seasonal scarcity as well as a monolithic dependence on high-ranked resources when they were available in the local landscape. v DEDICATION To Janet, Lita and Cecily. A mother, a wife, a daughter. I would not be the man I am today without these three women in my life. To my mother, Janet, who raised me with a boundless curiosity that informs my research to this day. To my wife, Lita, for her patience, love, and understanding over the course of my graduate career. To Cecily Rosemary Riley, my inspiration and hope for the future. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Bryant, and my committee members, Dr. Thoms, Dr. Wright, and Dr. Holzenburg, for their guidance and support throughout the course of this research. This dissertation would not have been possible without their guidance and support during my graduate career. Thanks also go to my friends and colleagues and the faculty and staff of the Anthropology department. The camaraderie and collegial atmosphere I encountered throughout the department was vital to my personal and professional development over the past seven years. While I am indebted to too many people to thank them all individually here, I want to specifically mention several cohorts. First, the archaeological faculty of the department. Each of you have been incredibly helpful and encouraging throughout this process. Second, the Palynology/Ecological Archaeology graduate students. I have learned a great deal from each of you over my graduate experience and I hope you can say the same. Having a group of other scholars interested in related topics of subsistence and microbotanical analysis has greatly enriched my research and personal perspective. Third, all of the students who I taught in graduate labs in Paleoethnobotany. Helping each of you develop an independent paleoethnobotanical research project has been the most rewarding and challenging aspect of my teaching career to date. I would also like to thank Phillip Johnson and Charlotte Pevny, dear friends and wonderful colleagues. I look forward to continued collaboration with both of you in the decades to come. vii This dissertation would not have been possible without the efforts of prior researchers. This includes the crew who excavated Hinds Cave in the mid-seventies, previous coprolite specialists both at TAMU and beyond, and the ongoing efforts of researchers such as Steve Black, Phil Dering, and the SHUMLA School. Finally, thanks to my mother and father for their encouragement in pursuing my academic interests and to my wife for her love. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER I DIET AND SEASONALITY IN THE LOWER PECOS CANYONLANDS ............................................................................... 1 II OPTIMAL FORAGING THEORY AND DIET-BREADTH MODELS 8 The Hinds Cave Assemblage and Optimal Foraging Theory ........ 8 Optimal Foraging Theory............................................................... 10 Diet-Breath and Dietary Staples of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands 16 A Model of Lower Pecos Diet Breadth.......................................... 23 III SUBSISTENCE AND COPROLITES IN ARCHAEOLOGY............ 25 A Brief History of Coprolite Research........................................... 25 Deconstructing Coprolites ............................................................. 28 Biochemical Analysis of Coprolites............................................... 39 AMS C-14 Radiocarbon Dating of Coprolites............................... 49 Summary ........................................................................................ 50 IV THE LOWER PECOS CANYONLANDS .......................................... 51 Defining the Lower Pecos Canyonlands ........................................ 53 Paleoenvironmental Overview for the Lower Pecos Canyonlands 60 Prior Research in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands........................... 77 ix CHAPTER Page Human Habitation and Cultural Chronology of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands ................................................................................. 83 Paleoindian Period.......................................................................... 84 Early Archaic Period ...................................................................... 86 Middle Archaic Period ................................................................... 89 Late Archaic Period........................................................................ 91 Late Prehistoric Period................................................................... 93 Historic Period (350 B.P. to Present) ............................................. 94 V ECOLOGY AND ETHNOHISTORY OF THE STAPLE PLANT RESOURCES OF THE LOWER PECOS CANYONLANDS ......... 96 Environmental Background............................................................ 97 Photosynthesis and Stable Isotopes................................................ 105 Carbohydrate Storage and Food Value .......................................... 109 Seasonality of Resource Use and Ethnohistoric Accounts ............ 113 Ethnographic Data from the Greater Southwest ............................ 125 Ethnohistoric Subsistence Patterns................................................. 130 Ethnographic Expectations and the