I /07 I 3 I Western Vlrglnla Vegetation, Wildlife, and Human Foraglng ln Prehistoric ° by . Seth J. Diamond Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University K in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Fisheries and Wildlife Science APPROVED: · Dr. éobert H. GiIes,·Jr. Chairéan r. Roy . Ki patrick Dr. an Heikkenen Department I-lead Dr. Daätel B. Tayé " Dr. Gerald H. Cross, February, 1989 Blacksburg, Virginia Ä ‘ 1 1 1 S Vegetatlon, Wildlife, and Human Foraglng ln Prehlstorlc Western Vlrglnla bv Seth J. Diamond Dr. Robert H. Giles, Jr. Chairman Fisheries and Wildlife Science (ABSTRACT) To improve the study and management of Havens Wildlife Management Area (HWMA) in Roanoke County, Virginia, the ecological history of the Ridge and Valley Province of Virginia was investigated. Palynological, paleontological, archaeological, and historical data were synthesized into a comprehensive history of the region’s U vegetation, fauna, and humans from 25,000 B.P. to Euroamerican settlement. A linear programming model was developed to examine the relationship between the energy demand of a human band and the food resources of HWMA 2,500 years ago. The model was based on the assumption that prehistoric human foraging was impelled by the need to satisfy energy requirements and that prehistoric human foragers strove for maximum energetic efficiency. The model was driven by an objective function, that minimized the cost (expressed in hours of labor) ofthe human foragers’ diet. Constraints on the achlevement of this goal were the available metabolizable energy in selected mountain food resources and the energy demand of a 25-person band. The product of the model was a regimen of food resources that met the band’s annual energy requirement at the lowest cost. The model predicted that fall was the 1 dominant foraging season on HWMA. Chestnut was the major food l resource,satisfying54% of the band’s annual energy demand. Additional primary resources were opossum and raccoon, elk, woodchuck, white-tailed deer, and black bear. : Secondary and tertiary resources were passenger pigeon, bitter acorns, hickory nuts, l and false Solomon’s seal rhizomes. Marginal food resources were wild turkey,Jack·in·the-pulpitcorms, eastern cottontail, gray squirrel, sweet acorns, and box : turtle. An annual foraging strategy with a falI·winter focus in mountain ecosystems ' and a spring-summer focus in lowland ecosystems was suggested by the model. Acomparisonof the model results withtarchaeological data indicated that hickory nuts were overrepresented and chestnuts underrepresented at archaeological sites, and that clothing, not food, limited human population density in upland western Virginia ecosystemss l l AcknowledgementsI iv I I I I I V I I Table of Contents Objectives ............................................................. 1 Introduction and Justlfication ............................................... 2 10 An Ecological History ot Virginia’s Ridge and Valley Provlnce ..................... 10 Vegetational History .................................................... 10 FuIl·Glacial Interval ................................................... Late-Glacial Interval ................................................... 13 16 Early-Holocene Interval ................................................ Middle-Holocene Interval ............................................... 18 Late-Holocene Interval ................................................. 20 23 Vegetational impact of Prehistoric Humans ................................. 28 Faunal History ......................................................... 37 Human Prehistory ...................................................... 37 Paleo·lndian Period ................................................... Archaic Period ....................................................... 40 44 ; Woodland Period ..................................................... E I Contents vl Table of I I 1 Z Early and Middle Woodland Foraging: A Llnear Programming Model ................ 52Introductionand Justilication .............................................. 52 Assumptions .........................................,................ 55 Methods ............................................................. 60 Objective Function Coefticients ........................................... 60 Cost Phases .................................................60 Animals .....................................................64 Plants ......................................................66 Plant and Animal Resource Constraints 67 Estimating Available Plant Resource Energy .........................70 Estimating Available Animal Resource Energy ........................71 Energy Requirement Constraint .......................................... 74 Plant and Animal Resource Parameters .....................,............... 76 Plant Resource Estimates ............................................... 76 Animal Resource Estimates ............................................ 102 Energy Requirement Estimate .......................................... 153 Results ............................................................. 155 Interpretation ....................................................... 155 Fall Results .................................................156 Winter Results ...............................................159 Spring Results ...............................................161 Summer Results .............................................163 Annual Foraging Strategy ......................................165 Discussion ........................................................... 167 Model Results and the Archeological Record ............................... 167 Table of Contents vll _ 1 1 1 l I Results of Model Run Without Storage Capabilities ............,............. 173 .......................................................... 182 Overview I' I Literature Clted ....................................................... 186 I I Appendlces .......................................................... 226 Appendix A: Martha Wachacha Interview .................................. 226 I I I I I I I I Table ol Contents VIII I I List of Illustrations Figure 1. Percentages of food resource contributions to the annual ME demand of the Havens foragers during the Early and Middle ‘ Woodland period. ...................................................................................... 180 Figure 2. Percentages of food resource contributions to annual ME demand of the Havens foragers when stored food was unavailable. ................. 181 A List of Illustratlons lxI I List of Tables Table 1. Vegetational periods in western Virginia (23,000 B.P.‘to Present). ......... 27 Table 2. Prehistoric cultural periods in western Virginia. ..................................... 51 Table 3. Reconstruction of forest stocking and composition on Havens, Woodland period (3,000·1,200 B.P.), based on Foster and Ashe (1908)... 69 Table 4. Characteristics of food-producing trees and shrubs on Woodland-period Havens -· summary data. ............................................. 95 Table 5. Characteristics of edible tubers from author’s analyses of samples obtained from the Havens area. ............................................................... 100 Table 6. Cost estimates for procuring and processing fresh plant resources and procuring and processing stored plant resources on Havens during the Early and Middle Woodland period. .......................... 101 Table 7. Harvest characteristics of animal resources on Havens during the Early and Middle Woodland period. .......................................................... 150 Table 8. Cost estimates for procuring and processing fresh animal resources and procuring and processing stored animal resources on Havens during the Early and Middle Woodland period. ................... 151 Table 9. Life table for an Early to Middle Woodland population of 25 with a sex ratio of 100:100. Age classes extrapolated from Weiss' table MT 15-50 (1973:119). .............................................................. 154 Table 10. Predicted fall food use on Havens of an Early and Middle Woodland band. ..........................,............................................................. 158 Table 11. Predicted winter food use on Havens of an Early and Middle Woodland band. ........................................................................................ 160 Table 12. Predicted spring food use on Havens of an Early and Middle Woodland band. ........................................................................................ 162 List of Tables X I I I Table 13. Predicted summer food use on Havens of an Early and Middle Woodland band. ........................................................................................ 164 Table 14. Predicted fall food use by a prehlstoric band on Havens without storage capabilities. ................................................................................. 176 Table 15. Predicted winter food use by a prehlstoric band on Havens without storage capabilities. ................................................................................ 177 Table 16. Predicted spring food use by a prehlstoric band on Havens without storage capabilities .................................................................................. 178 Table 17. Predicted summer food use by a prehlstoric band on Havens without storage capabilities .................................................................................