Rivers of Change

by Smith, Bruce D.; Cowan, C. Wesley (CON); Hoffman, Michael P. (CON)

• ISBN13: 9780817354251
• ISBN10: 0817354255
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Alabama Pr

Summary

Organized into four sections, the twelve chapters of Rivers of Changeare concerned with prehistoric Native American societies in eastern North America and their transition from a hunting and gathering way of life to a reliance on food production. Written at different times over a decade, the chapters vary both in length and topical focus. They are joined together, however, by a number of shared ;rivers of change. ;

Author Biography

Bruce D. Smith is an archaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History

Table of Contents

Introduction to the New Edition	p. xi
Rivers of Change
Introduction: Fields of Opportunity, Rivers of Change	p. 3
The History of Maize in Eastern North America and the Existence of Premaize Farming Economies	p. 9
Early Gourds in the East-Introduced Tropical Domesticate or Indigenous Wild Plants?	p. 10
Plant Domestication in Eastern North America	p. 11
Premaize Farming Economies in Eastern North America	p. 13
Notes	p. 16
Literature Cited	p. 16
An Independent Center of Plant Domestication
The Floodplain Weed Theory of Plant Domestication in Eastern North America	p. 19
Introduction	p. 19
Edgar Anderson and the Plants of Open Habitats	p. 21
Jack Harlan, J. M. J. de Wet, and the Adaptive Syndrome of Domestication	p. 24
Technological Advance and Documenting Eastern Domesticates	p. 26
The Initial Appearance of Anthropogenic Open Areas in Eastern North America	p. 27
The Floodplain Niche of Indigenous Domesticates	p. 28
Conclusions	p. 29
Literature Cited	p. 32
The Independent Domestication of Indigenous Seed-Bearing Plants in Eastern North America	p. 35
Introduction: An Independent Origin	p. 35
The 1920s: Linton and "Various Small Grains in the Southeast"	p. 35
The 1930s: Gilmore and Jones	p. 36
The 1940s: Carter and Quimby	p. 37
The 1950s: Anderson and Fowler	p. 37
The 1960s: Yarnell and Struever	p. 37
The 1970s: Discovery of Middle Holocene Cucurbits	p. 38
Middle Holocene Cucurbits in the Eastern Woodlands	p. 40
Cucurbita Terminology and Taxonomy	p. 40
Cucurbita Rinds	p. 41
Cucurbita Seeds	p. 41
Geographical Range Arguments	p. 45
Alternative Explanations	p. 46
The Archaeobotanical Evidence for Initial Domestication of Seed-Bearing Plants	p. 49
Iva annua	p. 49
Helianthus annuus	p. 49
Chenopodium berlandieri	p. 50
The Fourth Millennium Transition	p. 50
The Domestication of Indigenous Seed Crops	p. 51
Early Holocene Foragers	p. 51
The Hypsithermal	p. 51
Sedentism and the Emergence of Domestilocalities	p. 52
The "Natural" Floodplain Habitat Situations of Initial Indigenous Domesticates	p. 53
Selective Pressures and the Coevolution of Domesticates within Domestilocalities	p. 54
Discussion: A Coevolutionary Explanation	p. 57
The Initial Establishment of Domestilocalities	p. 58
Selective Encouragement	p. 58
Deliberate Planting of Harvested Seeds	p. 58
Notes	p. 60
Acknowledgments	p. 62
Literature Cited	p. 62
Is It an Indigene or a Foreigner?	p. 67
Introduction	p. 67
Single Origin Explanations of the Late 1970s and 1980s	p. 68
The Emergence of a Multiple Origins Explanation for the Domestication of Cucurbita pepo	p. 69
Documenting a Developmental Dichotomy	p. 70
The Cophyletic Model: Recasting the Question of "Wild" versus "Escape"	p. 71
Recent Single Mesoamerican Origin Models	p. 74
Wilson's 1990 Explanation	p. 74
Kirkpatrick and Wilson's 1988 Explanations	p. 75
The Asches' 1991 Explanation	p. 77
The Geographical Range of Free-Living Gourds in Eastern North America	p. 80
The Niche and Habitat of Free-Living Cucurbita Gourds in Eastern North America	p. 88
Herbarium Sheet and Published Habitat Descriptions	p. 88
The Western Ozarks	p. 89
Bryant Creek and the Gasconade River	p. 89
The Buffalo River	p. 90
The White River	p. 94
Cucurbita Gourds as Agricultural Weeds	p. 95
The Niche and Habitat of Free-living Cucurbita Gourds	p. 95
Conclusions	p. 96
Acknowledgments	p. 98
Literature Cited	p. 98
Premaize Farming Economies in Eastern North America
The Role of Chenopodium as a Domesticate in Premaize Garden Systems of the Eastern United States	p. 103
Introduction	p. 103
The Continuum of Human-Plant Relationships	p. 104
Wild Status Plants	p. 105
Weedy Plants	p. 105
Cultivated Plants	p. 106
Domesticated Plants	p. 107
Placing the Plants of Premaize Garden Systems along the Wild to Domesticated Continuum	p. 107
Modern Weed Analogs	p. 107
Prehistoric Range Extension	p. 107
Archaeological Abundance Relative to Modern Occurrence	p. 107
"Plausibility Arguments"	p. 108
Morphological Change	p. 108
Premaize Plant Husbandry Systems	p. 108
Morphological Indicators of Domestication in Chenopodium	p. 110
Infructescence Compaction	p. 110
Loss of Natural Shatter Mechanisms	p. 111
Uniform Maturation of Fruit	p. 111
Increased Perisperm Food Reserves for Seed Germination and Seedling Growth	p. 111
Loss or Reduction in Thickness of Outer Epiderm	p. 114
Archaeological Indicators of Domestication in Chenopodium	p. 115
Building a Case for Domesticated Chenopodium in Premaize Plant Husbandry Systems	p. 116
The Russell Cave Chenopodium Assemblage	p. 117
Rediscovery: The Basket and its Temporal and Cultural Context	p. 118
Initial Processing and General Condition of the Fruits	p. 119
Unruptured Fruits	p. 120
Ruptured Fruits	p. 121
Scanning Electron Microscopy	p. 121
Fruit Size	p. 121
Pericarp Morphology	p. 122
Margin Configuration	p. 122
Outer Epiderm Thickness Measurements	p. 123
The Strength of the Case for Domestication	p. 123
Discussion	p. 125
Notes	p. 128
Acknowledgments	p. 129
Literature Cited	p. 129
Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. jonesianum: Evidence for a Hopewellian Domesticate from Ash Cave, Ohio	p. 133
Introduction	p. 133
The Andrews Excavation	p. 134
Subsequent Excavations by Wilson, Moorehead, and Goslin	p. 136
The Temporal Context of the Ash Cave Deposits	p. 138
The Cultural Context of the Ash Cave Chenopod Assemblage	p. 139
The Ash Cave Chenopodium Assemblage	p. 141
General Description	p. 141
Maximum Fruit Diameter	p. 142
Pericarp Morphology	p. 145
Testa or Outer Epiderm	p. 146
The Case for Domestication: Summary of a Comparative Morphological Analysis	p. 154
Taxonomic Considerations: C. berlandieri ssp. jonesianum	p. 155
Discussion: Hopewellian Plant Husbandry Systems	p. 156
Notes	p. 158
Acknowledgments	p. 158
Collections	p. 159
Literature Cited	p. 159
The Economic Potential of Chenopodium berlandieri in Prehistoric Eastern North America	p. 163
Introduction and Research Design	p. 163
Methods	p. 164
Results	p. 165
Wayne County, Michigan	p. 165
Fulton County, Pennsylvania	p. 168
Mississippi County, Arkansas	p. 168
Cherokee County, South Carolina	p. 169
Prince Georges County, Maryland	p. 169
Washington County, Maryland	p. 169
Pike County, Ohio	p. 169
Mississippi County, Missouri	p. 170
Hardin County, Tennessee	p. 172
Cullman County, Alabama	p. 172
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama	p. 173
Discussion	p. 173
The Habitat of C. berlandieri in the Eastern United States	p. 173
The Economic Potential of Chenopodium berlandieri	p. 175
Harvest Yield Comparisons	p. 176
Notes	p. 180
Acknowledgments	p. 181
Literature Cited	p. 181
The Economic Potential of Iva annua in Prehistoric Eastern North America	p. 185
Introduction	p. 185
Methods	p. 185
Results	p. 187
Marshall County, Kentucky	p. 187
Obion County, Tennessee	p. 188
Crittenden County, Arkansas	p. 188
Chicot County, Arkansas	p. 189
East Carroll Parish, Louisiana	p. 189
Hinds County, Mississippi	p. 189
Rankin County, Mississippi	p. 190
Crenshaw County, Alabama	p. 190
Mississippi County, Missouri	p. 190
Crittenden County, Arkansas	p. 190
Hardin County, Tennessee	p. 191
Acorn County, Mississippi	p. 191
Colbert County, Alabama	p. 191
Jefferson County, Alabama	p. 191
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama	p. 192
Discussion	p. 192
The Habitats of Iva annua in the Eastern Woodlands	p. 192
The Economic Potential of Iva annua	p. 195
Harvest Yield Comparisons	p. 197
Marshelder as a Premaize Field Crop: Half-Hectare Fields of Iva annua and Chenopodium berlandieri	p. 197
Notes	p. 200
Acknowledgments	p. 200
Literature Cited	p. 200
Hopewellian Farmers of Eastern North America	p. 201
Introduction	p. 201
The Nature and Development of Hopewellian Food Production Economies	p. 205
Hopewellian Farming Communities	p. 209
The Upper Duck River Valley of Central Tennessee	p. 215
Bynum Mounds	p. 225
Pinson Mounds	p. 225
The Lower Illinois River Valley	p. 229
The American Bottom	p. 236
Conclusions	p. 239
Acknowledgments	p. 243
Literature Cited	p. 243
In Search of Choupichoul, the Mystery Grain of the Natchez	p. 249
Introduction	p. 249
Le Page, the Natchez, and Choupichoul	p. 250
The Passages that Refer to Choupichoul	p. 252
In Search of Belle Dame Sauvage	p. 256
The Case for Chenopodium berlandieri	p. 257
Along the Sand Banks of the Mississippi River	p. 259
Chenopodium berlandieri in Prehistory	p. 261
Conclusion	p. 262
Acknowledgments	p. 262
Literature Cited	p. 262
Synthesis
Origins of Agriculture in Eastern North America	p. 267
Introduction	p. 267
An Independent Center of Plant Domestication	p. 268
The Emergence of Food Production Economies	p. 272
The Shift to Maize-Centered Agriculture	p. 274
Notes	p. 276
Literature Cited	p. 276
Prehistoric Plant Husbandry in Eastern North America	p. 281
Introduction	p. 281
Early and Middle Holocene Foragers prior to 7,000 B.P. (5050 B.C.)	p. 282
Middle Holocene Collectors 7,000 to 4,000 B.P. (5050 to 2050 B.C.)	p. 282
The Initial Domestication of Eastern Seed Plants 4,000 to 3,000 B.P. (1050 to 1050 B.C.)	p. 287
The Development of Farming Economies 3,000-1,700 B.P. (1050 B.C. to A.D. 250)	p. 288
The Expansion of Field Agriculture 1,700 to 800 B.P. (A.D. 250 to 1150)	p. 291
Maize-Centered Field Agriculture after 800 B.P. (A.D. 1150)	p. 292
Acknowledgments	p. 296
Literature Cited	p. 296
Index	p. 301
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