Rivers of Change: Essays on Early Agriculture in Eastern North America
by Bruce D. Smith
University of Alabama Press, 2007 Paper: 978-0-8173-5425-1 | eISBN: 978-0-8173-8431-9 Library of Congress Classification E59.A35S65 2007 Dewey Decimal Classification 630.97
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Organized into four sections, the twelve chapters of Rivers of Change are 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 and is the author, coauthor, or editor of a wide range of works, including The Emergence of Agriculture.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Introduction to the New Edition
I
Rivers of Change
1
Introduction: Fields of Opportunity, Rivers of Change
The History of Maize in Eastern North America and the Existence of Premaize Farming Economies
Early Gourds in the East—Introduced Tropical Domesticate or Indigenous Wild Plants?
Plant Domestication in Eastern North America
Premaize Farming Economies in Eastern North America
Notes
Literature Cited
II
An Independent Center of Plant Domestication
2
The Floodplain Weed Theory of Plant Domestication in Eastern North America
Introduction
Edgar Anderson and the Plants of Open Habitats
Jack Harlan, J. M. J. de Wet, and the Adaptive Syndrome of Domestication
Technological Advance and Documenting Eastern Domesticates
The Initial Appearance of Anthropogenic Open Areas in Eastern North America
The Floodplain Niche of Indigenous Domesticates
Conclusions
Literature Cited
3
The Independent Domestication of Indigenous Seed-Bearing Plants in Eastern North America
Introduction: An Independent Origin
The 1920s: Linton and “Various Small Grains in the Southeast”
The 1930s: Gilmore and Jones
The 1940s: Carter and Quimby
The 1950s: Anderson and Fowler
The 1960s: Yarnell and Struever
The 1970s: Discovery of Middle Holocene Cucurbits
Middle Holocene Cucurbits in the Eastern Woodlands
Cucurbita Terminology and Taxonomy
Cucurbita Rinds
Cucurbita Seeds
Geographical Range Arguments
Alternative Explanations
The Archaeobotanical Evidence for Initial Domestication of Seed-Bearing Plants
Iva annua
Helianthus annuus
Chenopodium berlandieri
The Fourth Millennium Transition
The Domestication of Indigenous Seed Crops
Early Holocene Foragers
The Hypsithermal
Sedentism and the Emergence of Domestilocalities
The “Natural” Floodplain Habitat Situations of Initial Indigenous Domesticates
Selective Pressures and the Coevolution of Domesticates within Domestilocalities
Discussion: A Coevolutionary Explanation
The Initial Establishment of Domestilocalities
Selective Encouragement
Deliberate Planting of Harvested Seeds
Notes
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
4
Is It an Indigene or a Foreigner?
Smith,
Bruce D.
Cowan,
C. Wesley
Hoffman,
Michael P.
Introduction
Single Origin Explanations of the Late 1970s and 1980s
The Emergence of a Multiple Origins Explanation for the Domestication of Cucurbita pepo
Documenting a Developmental Dichotomy
The Cophyletic Model: Recasting the Question of “Wi1d” versus “Escape”
Recent Single Mesoamerican Origin Models
Wilson's 1990 Explanation
Kirkpatrick and Wilson's 1988 Explanations
The Asches' 1991 Explanation
The Geographical Range of Free-Living Gourds in Eastern North America
The Niche and Habitat of Free-Living Cucurbita Gourds in Eastern North America
Herbarium Sheet and Published Habitat Descriptions
The Western Ozarks
Bryant Creek and the Gasconade River
The Buffalo River
The White River
Cucurbita Gourds as Agricultural Weeds
The Niche and Habitat of Free-living Cucurbita Gourds
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
III
Premaize Farming Economies in Eastern North America
5
The Role of Chenopodium as a Domesticate in Premaize Garden Systems of the Eastern United States
Introduction
The Continuum of Human-Plant Relationships
Wild Status Plants
Weedy Plants
Cultivated Plants
Domesticated Plants
Placing the Plants of Premaize Garden Systems along the Wild to Domesticated Continuum
Modern Weed Analogs
Prehistoric Range Extension
Archaeological Abundance Relative to Modern Occurrence
“Plausibility Arguments”
Morphological Change
Premaize Plant Husbandry Systems
Morphological Indicators of Domestication in Chenopodium
Infructescence Compaction
Loss of Natural Shatter Mechanisms
Uniform Maturation of Fruit
Increased Perisperm Food Reserves for Seed Germination and Seedling Growth
Loss or Reduction in Thickness of Outer Epiderm
Archaeological Indicators of Domestication in Chenopodium
Building a Case for Domesticated Chenopodium in Premaize Plant Husbandry Systems
The Russell Cave Chenopodium Assemblage
Rediscovery: The Basket and its Temporal and Cultural Context
Initial Processing and General Condition of the Fruits
Unruptured Fruits
Ruptured Fruits
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Fruit Size
Morphology Pericarp
Margin Configuration
Outer Epiderm Thickness Measurements
The Strength of the Case for Domestication
Discussion
Notes
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
6
Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. jonesianum: Evidence for a Hopewellian Domesticate from Ash Cave, Ohio
Introduction
The Andrews Excavation
Subsequent Excavations by Wilson, Moorehead, and Goslin
The Temporal Context of the Ash Cave Deposits
The Cultural Context of the Ash Cave Chenopod Assemblage
The Ash Cave Chenopodium Assemblage
General Description
Maximum Fruit Diameter
Pericarp Morphology
Testa or Outer Epiderm
The Case for Domestication: Summary of a Comparative Morphological Analysis
Taxonomic Considerations: C. berlandieri ssp. jonesianum
Discussion: Hopewellian Plant Husbandry Systems
Notes
Acknowledgments
Collections
Literature Cited
7
The Economic Potential of Chenopodium berlandieri in Prehistoric Eastern North America
Introduction and Research Design
Methods
Results
Wayne County, Michigan
Fulton County, Pennsylvania
Mississippi County, Arkansas
Cherokee County, South Carolina
Prince Georges County, Maryland
Washington County, Maryland
Pike County, Ohio
Mississippi County, Missouri
Hardin County, Tennessee
Cullman County, Alabama
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
Discussion
The Habitat of C. berlandieri in the Eastern United States
The Economic Potential of Chenopodium berlandieri
Harvest Yield Comparisons
Notes
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
8
The Economic Potential of Iva annua in Prehistoric Eastern North America
Introduction
Methods
Results
Marshall County, Kentucky
Obion County, Tennessee
Crittenden County, Arkansas
Chicot County, Arkansas
East Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Hinds County, Mississippi
Rankin County, Mississippi
Crenshaw County, Alabama
Mississippi County, Missouri
Crittenden County, Arkansas
Hardin County, Tennessee
Acorn County, Mississippi
Colbert County, Alabama
Jefferson County, Alabama
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
Discussion
The Habitats of Iva annua in the Eastern Woodlands
The Economic Potential of Iva annua
Harvest Yield Comparisons
Marshelder as a Premaize Field Crop: Half-Hectare Fields of Iva annua and Chenopodium berlandieri
Notes
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
9
Hopewellian Farmers of Eastern North America
Introduction
The Nature and Development of Hopewellian Food Production Economies
Hopewellian Farming Communities
The Upper Duck River Valley of Central Tennessee
Bynum Mounds
Pinson Mounds
The Lower Illinois River Valley
The American Bottom
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
10
In Search of Choupichoul, the Mystery Grain of the Natchez
Introduction
Le Page, the Natchez, and Choupichoul
The Passages that Refer to Choupichoul
In Search of Belle Dame Sauvage
The Case for Chenopodium berlandieri
Along the Sand Banks of the Mississippi River
Chenopodium berlandieri in Prehistory
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
IV
Synthesis
11
Origins of Agriculture in Eastern North America
Introduction
An Independent Center of Plant Domestication
The Emergence of Food Production Economies
The Shift to Maize-Centered Agriculture
Notes
Literature Cited
12
Prehistoric Plant Husbandry in Eastern North America
Introduction
Early and Middle Holocene Foragers prior to 7,000 B.P. (5050 B.C.)
Middle Holocene Collectors 7,000 to 4,000 B.P. (5050 to 2050 B.C.)
The Initial Domestication of Eastern Seed Plants 4,000 to 3,000 B.P. (2050 to 1050 B.c.)
The Development of Farming Economies 3,000–1,700 B.P. (1050 B.C. to A.D. 250)
The Expansion of Field Agriculture 1,700 to 800 B.P. (A.D. 250 to 1150)
Maize-Centered Field Agriculture after 800 B.P. (A.D. 1150)
Rivers of Change: Essays on Early Agriculture in Eastern North America
by Bruce D. Smith
University of Alabama Press, 2007 Paper: 978-0-8173-5425-1 eISBN: 978-0-8173-8431-9
Organized into four sections, the twelve chapters of Rivers of Change are 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 and is the author, coauthor, or editor of a wide range of works, including The Emergence of Agriculture.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Introduction to the New Edition
I
Rivers of Change
1
Introduction: Fields of Opportunity, Rivers of Change
The History of Maize in Eastern North America and the Existence of Premaize Farming Economies
Early Gourds in the East—Introduced Tropical Domesticate or Indigenous Wild Plants?
Plant Domestication in Eastern North America
Premaize Farming Economies in Eastern North America
Notes
Literature Cited
II
An Independent Center of Plant Domestication
2
The Floodplain Weed Theory of Plant Domestication in Eastern North America
Introduction
Edgar Anderson and the Plants of Open Habitats
Jack Harlan, J. M. J. de Wet, and the Adaptive Syndrome of Domestication
Technological Advance and Documenting Eastern Domesticates
The Initial Appearance of Anthropogenic Open Areas in Eastern North America
The Floodplain Niche of Indigenous Domesticates
Conclusions
Literature Cited
3
The Independent Domestication of Indigenous Seed-Bearing Plants in Eastern North America
Introduction: An Independent Origin
The 1920s: Linton and “Various Small Grains in the Southeast”
The 1930s: Gilmore and Jones
The 1940s: Carter and Quimby
The 1950s: Anderson and Fowler
The 1960s: Yarnell and Struever
The 1970s: Discovery of Middle Holocene Cucurbits
Middle Holocene Cucurbits in the Eastern Woodlands
Cucurbita Terminology and Taxonomy
Cucurbita Rinds
Cucurbita Seeds
Geographical Range Arguments
Alternative Explanations
The Archaeobotanical Evidence for Initial Domestication of Seed-Bearing Plants
Iva annua
Helianthus annuus
Chenopodium berlandieri
The Fourth Millennium Transition
The Domestication of Indigenous Seed Crops
Early Holocene Foragers
The Hypsithermal
Sedentism and the Emergence of Domestilocalities
The “Natural” Floodplain Habitat Situations of Initial Indigenous Domesticates
Selective Pressures and the Coevolution of Domesticates within Domestilocalities
Discussion: A Coevolutionary Explanation
The Initial Establishment of Domestilocalities
Selective Encouragement
Deliberate Planting of Harvested Seeds
Notes
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
4
Is It an Indigene or a Foreigner?
Smith,
Bruce D.
Cowan,
C. Wesley
Hoffman,
Michael P.
Introduction
Single Origin Explanations of the Late 1970s and 1980s
The Emergence of a Multiple Origins Explanation for the Domestication of Cucurbita pepo
Documenting a Developmental Dichotomy
The Cophyletic Model: Recasting the Question of “Wi1d” versus “Escape”
Recent Single Mesoamerican Origin Models
Wilson's 1990 Explanation
Kirkpatrick and Wilson's 1988 Explanations
The Asches' 1991 Explanation
The Geographical Range of Free-Living Gourds in Eastern North America
The Niche and Habitat of Free-Living Cucurbita Gourds in Eastern North America
Herbarium Sheet and Published Habitat Descriptions
The Western Ozarks
Bryant Creek and the Gasconade River
The Buffalo River
The White River
Cucurbita Gourds as Agricultural Weeds
The Niche and Habitat of Free-living Cucurbita Gourds
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
III
Premaize Farming Economies in Eastern North America
5
The Role of Chenopodium as a Domesticate in Premaize Garden Systems of the Eastern United States
Introduction
The Continuum of Human-Plant Relationships
Wild Status Plants
Weedy Plants
Cultivated Plants
Domesticated Plants
Placing the Plants of Premaize Garden Systems along the Wild to Domesticated Continuum
Modern Weed Analogs
Prehistoric Range Extension
Archaeological Abundance Relative to Modern Occurrence
“Plausibility Arguments”
Morphological Change
Premaize Plant Husbandry Systems
Morphological Indicators of Domestication in Chenopodium
Infructescence Compaction
Loss of Natural Shatter Mechanisms
Uniform Maturation of Fruit
Increased Perisperm Food Reserves for Seed Germination and Seedling Growth
Loss or Reduction in Thickness of Outer Epiderm
Archaeological Indicators of Domestication in Chenopodium
Building a Case for Domesticated Chenopodium in Premaize Plant Husbandry Systems
The Russell Cave Chenopodium Assemblage
Rediscovery: The Basket and its Temporal and Cultural Context
Initial Processing and General Condition of the Fruits
Unruptured Fruits
Ruptured Fruits
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Fruit Size
Morphology Pericarp
Margin Configuration
Outer Epiderm Thickness Measurements
The Strength of the Case for Domestication
Discussion
Notes
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
6
Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. jonesianum: Evidence for a Hopewellian Domesticate from Ash Cave, Ohio
Introduction
The Andrews Excavation
Subsequent Excavations by Wilson, Moorehead, and Goslin
The Temporal Context of the Ash Cave Deposits
The Cultural Context of the Ash Cave Chenopod Assemblage
The Ash Cave Chenopodium Assemblage
General Description
Maximum Fruit Diameter
Pericarp Morphology
Testa or Outer Epiderm
The Case for Domestication: Summary of a Comparative Morphological Analysis
Taxonomic Considerations: C. berlandieri ssp. jonesianum
Discussion: Hopewellian Plant Husbandry Systems
Notes
Acknowledgments
Collections
Literature Cited
7
The Economic Potential of Chenopodium berlandieri in Prehistoric Eastern North America
Introduction and Research Design
Methods
Results
Wayne County, Michigan
Fulton County, Pennsylvania
Mississippi County, Arkansas
Cherokee County, South Carolina
Prince Georges County, Maryland
Washington County, Maryland
Pike County, Ohio
Mississippi County, Missouri
Hardin County, Tennessee
Cullman County, Alabama
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
Discussion
The Habitat of C. berlandieri in the Eastern United States
The Economic Potential of Chenopodium berlandieri
Harvest Yield Comparisons
Notes
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
8
The Economic Potential of Iva annua in Prehistoric Eastern North America
Introduction
Methods
Results
Marshall County, Kentucky
Obion County, Tennessee
Crittenden County, Arkansas
Chicot County, Arkansas
East Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Hinds County, Mississippi
Rankin County, Mississippi
Crenshaw County, Alabama
Mississippi County, Missouri
Crittenden County, Arkansas
Hardin County, Tennessee
Acorn County, Mississippi
Colbert County, Alabama
Jefferson County, Alabama
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
Discussion
The Habitats of Iva annua in the Eastern Woodlands
The Economic Potential of Iva annua
Harvest Yield Comparisons
Marshelder as a Premaize Field Crop: Half-Hectare Fields of Iva annua and Chenopodium berlandieri
Notes
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
9
Hopewellian Farmers of Eastern North America
Introduction
The Nature and Development of Hopewellian Food Production Economies
Hopewellian Farming Communities
The Upper Duck River Valley of Central Tennessee
Bynum Mounds
Pinson Mounds
The Lower Illinois River Valley
The American Bottom
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
10
In Search of Choupichoul, the Mystery Grain of the Natchez
Introduction
Le Page, the Natchez, and Choupichoul
The Passages that Refer to Choupichoul
In Search of Belle Dame Sauvage
The Case for Chenopodium berlandieri
Along the Sand Banks of the Mississippi River
Chenopodium berlandieri in Prehistory
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
IV
Synthesis
11
Origins of Agriculture in Eastern North America
Introduction
An Independent Center of Plant Domestication
The Emergence of Food Production Economies
The Shift to Maize-Centered Agriculture
Notes
Literature Cited
12
Prehistoric Plant Husbandry in Eastern North America
Introduction
Early and Middle Holocene Foragers prior to 7,000 B.P. (5050 B.C.)
Middle Holocene Collectors 7,000 to 4,000 B.P. (5050 to 2050 B.C.)
The Initial Domestication of Eastern Seed Plants 4,000 to 3,000 B.P. (2050 to 1050 B.c.)
The Development of Farming Economies 3,000–1,700 B.P. (1050 B.C. to A.D. 250)
The Expansion of Field Agriculture 1,700 to 800 B.P. (A.D. 250 to 1150)
Maize-Centered Field Agriculture after 800 B.P. (A.D. 1150)