APPENDIX F STARCH ANALYSIS OF GROUNDSTONE ARTIFACTS Starch Analysis of Groundstone Artifacts from the Siren Site (41WM1126), Williamson County, Texas Prepared for SWCA ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS 4407 Monterey Oaks Blvd. Building 1, Suite 110 Austin, Texas 78749 www.swca.com Prepared by Timothy E. Riley, Masahiro Kamiya, and Laura Short Palynology Laboratory, Texas A&M University Department of Anthropology 4352 TAMU College Station, TX 77844 1 This report presents the results of a starch analysis performed on ten groundstone artifacts recovered during excavation of the Siren Site (41WM1126), Williamson County, Texas. Starch was recovered on six of the ten groundstone artifacts submitted for analysis. While the taxonomic associations of the recovered granules remains preliminary, the starch data point to a foraging population with broad diet breadth during the Transitional Archaic. From this component, four of the five groundstone artifacts indicate a dependence on low ranked resources such as grass and other small seeds. The remaining artifact has starch grains derived from a geophyte. The single groundstone artifact from the younger Austin Phase component also has large starch grains derived from an unknown geophyte. Starch in Archaeology Starch granules have been observed in archaeological contexts since the late 1970s (Anderson 1980; Ugent, et al. 1981, 1982, 1984) but this line of evidence has only recently become a major component of microbotanical research (Torrence and Barton 2006, Fullager et al. 2006, Loy et al. 1992). Starch analysis can provide evidence of the use of plants as food resources where macrobotanical remains are rare or uninformative. In some cases, starch granules have been found that predate other evidence of domestication (Perry et al. 2007). Piperno and Holst (1998) examined ground stones and found maize (Zea mays), Manihot esculenta, Dioscorea sp., and Maranta arundinacea starch grains from Central Panama, providing evidence for the use of tuber crops since 8000 B.P. Loy et al. (1992) studied lithic flakes from 28,000-year-old cave sediments on the Solomon Islands and recovered starch grains from them. Some of the granules were identified as Colocasia sp. To date, most starch research has focused on tools and soils recovered from the Tropics, with very little focus on the potential of this line of research in temperate climates (Fullagar and Field 1997; Fullagar, et al. 2006; Fullagar, et al. 1996; Fullagar, et al. 1998; Horrocks, et al. 2004; Horrocks, et al. 2002; Horrocks and Lawlor 2006; Horrocks and Nunn 2007; Horrocks and Weisler 2006; Irwin, et al. 2004; Lentfer, et al. 2002; Pearsall, et al. 2004; Perry 2004a-b, 2005; Perry, et al. 2007; Piperno 1998; Piperno and Holst 1998; Piperno, et al. 2004; Smith, et al. 2001). A handful of temperate Old World sites have been investigated. Shibutani (2008) studied anvil stones, grinding slab, and grinding stones from four archaeological sites in southern part of Japan, dating from Japanese Paleolithic to incipient Jomon period. She recovered intact and damaged starch grains from grinding surfaces of the tools. The recovered starch grains are not identified to taxa conclusively. Piperno et al. (2004) reported the earliest evidence of grass seed processing. They identified starch grains of barley and possibly wheat from an Upper Paleolithic ground stone found in Israel. While Loy had some early publications on starch recovered from North American artifacts, only two recently published studies examines starch recovered from North America (Boyd, et al. 2006; Zarrillo and Kooyman 2006). The Zarrillo and Kooyman (2006) article focuses on the recovery of maize and berry starch on late prehistoric groundstone from the northern Great Plains. In addition, there have been a handful of studies done for contract projects, mostly from the Southwest and Great Basin (Cummings 1992 a-c, 1993 a-b, 1997 a-b)). Only two studies evaluating starch from groundstone artifacts recovered in Texas has been encountered in the current literature review (Cummings 1993c; Perry 2008). The paucity of publications on the recovery of starch from North American groundstone highlights some of the potential for this line of research as well as a dearth of qualified researchers currently investigating starch with a 2 regional focus on North America. This is surprising in light of the fact that much of the continent has copious groundstone artifacts associated with both incipient horticulture and hunter-gatherer sites. As Piperno et al. (2004) state, the association of macroscopic remains from economically important plants with potential plant processing tools such as grinding slabs, mortars and pestles is rarely evident. Starch analysis of groundstone provides direct evidence of past human food processing. Stone tools, including both ground and flaked stone, provide an excellent opportunity for archaeological starch research for several reason. First, the artifact acts as a protected environment for the granules trapped on or near the surface of the tool. This leaves the granules less susceptible to decay. Second, the starch recovered from a tool can provide direct evidence on how the tool was used as well as aid in the reconstruction of past human subsistence patterns. These type of studies can be conducted independently or in conjunction with use-wear studies or chemical analyses. The current report presents information based solely on the recovered starch granules and does not include a traditional groundstone analysis. Ethnographic Use of Groundstone. Groundstone is a potentially excellent source of archaeological starch due to the dominant use of this type of artifact in plant processing, particularly grinding small starchy seeds and processing underground storage organs that may contain starch. This section presents information on the role of groundstone in the North American ethnographic record. Ethnographic accounts of grinding/pounding in and near Texas. The Wichitas, occupied the area from Arkansas to the north and Waco, Texas to the south, depended upon hunting and garden crops, including maize, beans, and squash. Women of the Wichita cut squash into long strips, pounded them flat, and dried to preserve. Dried corn was ground into meal in wooden mortars or on stone slabs. Wooden mortars and stone slabs were used to grind dried corn (Newcomb 2001). It is not certain what type of tool was used for pounding strips of squash, but reportedly stone metates and manos were used in the 1780’s (Bell et al. 1974). The Hasinais of the Caddo from the East Texas used mortars and pestles made of wood to pound and grind corn, other grains, nuts and roots (Bolton 1987; Griffith 1954; Rogers and Sabo 2004). The Lipan Apaches from Edwards Plateau south to South Texas reportedly pounded agave after being cooked for two days in earth oven (Opler 2001). It is not known if they used stone tools or wooden tools for pounding. The Karankawas of Texas Gulf Coast processed nuts and seeds with milling stones (Newcomb 2001). The Mariames, one of the Coahuiltecan groups who lived in Nuevo Leon, used wooden mortars to pulverize mesquite beans and pods into flour (Campbell 1983). There is no mention of the use of stone metate and mano, or mortar and pestle. The Comanches of Oklahoma in 1933 used pounding tools for various plant resources. They gathered hackberrys, pounded them fine, mixed with lard, and then rolled and roasted the mixture on a stick (Kavanagh 2008:139). Mesquite beans were pounded and the pods ground into meal. Mesquite beans were pounded on a rawhide mortar (a hide-lined hole on the ground). Wooden pestles made of mesquite or stone pestles made of schist were used to pound mesquite beans (Kavanagh 2008:139). Ethnographic accounts on the use of grinding stones from North America . 3 In the case of basketry hopping mortar used by the Pomo and Yuki, a flat slab is used as the base for mortar and basketry hopper is used as walls to hold food being processed (Barrett 1952; Kennedy 1955; Treganza and Smith 1950). The Hopi used coarse- and fine-grained metates to grind corn (Beaglehole and Beaglehole 1937; Dennis 1940). Dried corn was ground first on a coarse metate with a mano and then on a fine metate. The Pomo and Yokuts used anvils, or flattish stones to crack acorns (Barrett 1952; Gayton 1948; Kennedy 1955; Latta 1949). The Pomo used anvil to crack acorns, nuts, and to pound meat. For grinding and pounding acorns and grinding seeds the Pomo used mortar and pestle as well. The Western Apache used a long stone pestle with two hands to pound and grind mesquite beans (Buskirk 1986). They used bedrock mortars for this job. They also dug a hole in the ground and place rocks in it as a sheet to create a mortar. Manos are hand-held, movable stones for grinding and pounding. Mortars are bowl- shaped and used with pestles, which have round or flat bottoms. The Klamath used both metates and mortars for grinding seeds and mashing roots (Spier 1930). The Western Apache cached metates in winter grounds and women carried manos with them on trips. The Navajo used manos and metates to grind seeds and corn (Bailey 1940). The ethnographic and ethnohistoric record from Texas and, more generally, North America indicates that grinding and pounding tools were associated with a great variety of subsistence activities, including the processing of many different plant resources as well as meat and fat from hunted game. While the records do provide some broad parameters for understanding past subsistence in the region, the utility of this information is limited by a lack of specificity. The European observers fail to document what types of resources were being processed in any detail. Other than maize, mesquite, and hackberry, the record is composed of broad categories such as nuts, roots, and seeds. This limits the usefulness of the ethnographic record for developing a modern starch reference collection for Texas hunter-gatherers.