University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 8-2013 Plant Remains from the Smokemont Site in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina Gabrielle Casio Purcell [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Purcell, Gabrielle Casio, "Plant Remains from the Smokemont Site in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2013. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/2447 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Gabrielle Casio Purcell entitled "Plant Remains from the Smokemont Site in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. Kandace D. Hollenbach, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Gerald Schroedl, Michael Logan Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) i Plant Remains from the Smokemont Site in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina A Thesis Presented for the Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Gabrielle Casio Purcell August 2013 ii Copyright © 2013 by Gabrielle Casio Purcell All rights reserved. iii Dedication To my wonderful grandmother, Lorene Vernard Bush. iv Acknowledgements I am endlessly grateful for the guidance I have received from my advisor, Dr. Kandi Hollenbach, who has been instrumental in my development as a researcher and as a professional. I could not have asked for a better advisor and mentor. More than that, Kandi has been a great friend, and her door has always been open to me whenever I have needed someone to talk to about work, school, or life in general. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to my committee members, Dr. Gerald F. Schroedl and Dr. Michael H. Logan for their input and assistance. Dr. Schroedl has directed me to think about how the data in this thesis fit into the larger picture, and has influenced how I have approached archaeological methods. Dr. Logan has expanded how I conceptualize plant use in human culture, emphasizing that people in the past had a familiarity with plants often beyond modern knowledge. My committee members have significantly helped shape the approach and interpretations of this research. I would like to thank the staff at the Tribal Historic Preservation Office of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for their support, and I would also like to thank the high school students from Cherokee High School who were a part of the Cherokee field school that produced the samples used in my thesis.John McDade and Eric Kreusch of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for permitting the archaeological excavations at Smokemont. My special thanks are extended to the staff of the Archaeological Research Laboratory. Not only did they conduct the excavations at Smokemont, but they have also played a substantial role in my archaeological training over the past three years. Dr. Elizabeth DeCorse and Mike Angst have served as v wonderful role models for the importance of engaging descendant communities and the public when conducting archaeological research. Finally, I would like to thank fellow graduate students Gaby Maldonado and Esther Rimer for being such great friends the past three years. And of course many thanks to my sister Dañell Bush, my brother Jason Purcell, and my best friends, Amy Eve and Rosemary Smith, for the limitless support they have provided me throughout my academic career. vi Abstract Smokemont (31Sw393) is a multicomponent site consisting of deposits from Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian, Cherokee, and Euro-American occupations. Located in Swain County in the Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina, two structures have been identified at Smokemont, one as a Mississippian Pisgah phase house, and the other a Contact period Qualla phase house. Beneath the Pisgah house are several Connestee period pit features. Archaeobotanical remains have been collected from Woodland, Mississippian, and Cherokee contexts. Floral analysis of Middle Woodland features indicate some horticultural activity, with wild plants remaining important but supplementary to maize agriculture during the Mississippian and Cherokee occupations. This thesis provides an analysis of the plant remains found in Woodland, Mississippian, and Cherokee features. Archaeobotanical remains from the three components are compared to examine how site function and plant use change through time at this location. Finally, activities at Smokemont will be compared to other sites in the Appalachian Summit to determine if the settlements at Smokemont share trends in plant use found throughout the region. vii Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 The Smokemont Site (31Sw393) ................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 1 Background ................................................................................................................... 6 The Ecological Setting ................................................................................................................ 6 The Cultural Setting .................................................................................................................... 8 Relevant Archaeobotanical Research in the Blue Ridge and the Ridge and Valley Provinces 21 Sites in the Blue Ridge Province .......................................................................................... 22 Sites in the Tennessee Ridge and Valley Province ............................................................... 27 Features and Structures at Smokemont ..................................................................................... 31 Connestee Features (Features 122 and 132) ......................................................................... 31 Pisgah Structures (Structures 2 and 4) .................................................................................. 32 Qualla Structures (Structures 1 and 3) .................................................................................. 33 Chapter 2 Materials and Methods ................................................................................................. 39 Preservation and Recovery ....................................................................................................... 39 Plant Recovery Methods at Smokemont and Comparable Sites ........................................... 44 Identification ............................................................................................................................. 49 Quantitative Methods ................................................................................................................ 51 Chapter 3 Results and Discussion ................................................................................................ 58 Connestee Phase........................................................................................................................ 59 Feature 122............................................................................................................................ 59 Feature 132............................................................................................................................ 68 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 71 Pisgah Phase.............................................................................................................................. 72 Feature 93.............................................................................................................................. 72 Feature 151............................................................................................................................ 74 Feature 157............................................................................................................................ 81 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 83 Late Qualla Phase ..................................................................................................................... 87 Feature 87.............................................................................................................................. 87 Test Unit 5............................................................................................................................. 88 Test Unit 7............................................................................................................................. 92 Test Unit 10..........................................................................................................................