Paleoethnobotany (Other Keyword)
126-150 (461 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Advancing the Archaeology of Indigenous Agriculture in North America" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Evidence of agriculture during the Mississippian period in the Midwest derives largely from the identification and analysis of cultivar macrobotanicals from refuse contexts. However, research that investigates how and where crops were grown on Midwestern sites is scant. As a result, few sites have been identified that...
Evidence of Mid-Holocene Environmental Change at the Submerged Archaeological Site, Manasota Key Offshore, Florida (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Liquid Landscapes: Recent Developments in Submerged Landscape Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Manasota Key Offshore (MKO) site is submerged under the gulf of Mexico off the shore of Manasota Key, Florida. This site, which was occupied over 7,000 years ago, provides a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of early Holocene environmental change on hunter-gatherers, particularly relating to...
Evidence of Specialization and Intensification of Small Seed Exploitation on Santa Cruz Island, California (2015)
This paper reconstructs shifts in botanical foraging behavior on Santa Cruz Island, California and quantitatively demonstrates specialization and intensification in the exploitation of small oily and starchy seeds from the terminal Early Period (ca. 3000 cal. BP) through the late Middle Period (ca. 1000 cal. BP). This shift accompanied an increased reliance on terrestrial food resources overall. A recently recognized climatic transition (2800 cal. BP-1800 cal. BP) likely altered the geographic...
An Examination of Circum-Alpine Lake Dwelling Botanicals at the Milwaukee Public Museum (2018)
The lake dwelling sites of circum-Alpine Europe were discovered by the archaeological community in the mid-19th century and their artifacts were dispersed to museum collections in the United States and Europe. The Milwaukee Public Museum houses one such collection, which includes zoological material, textile fragments, tools, and carbonized botanicals and food. This paper focuses on the collection of plants and food, which come from Robenhausen, a lake-dwelling site south of Zurich. In studying...
Examining Settlement Reorganization and Plant Food Use in the Greater Cibola Region A.D. 900-1400 (2015)
Investigations at varying scales have been undertaken to understand the role of maize in the diets and daily lives of prehistoric societies in the U.S. Southwest. In the Cibola region, around the modern Pueblo of Zuni, archaeological studies provide a detailed temporal and spatial picture of rapid settlement reorganization and aggregation in the Pueblo III and IV periods between A.D. 1150-1400. Less well understood, however, is how daily subsistence practices and interactions with local...
Examining the Bread-Basket Model: Puuc Intra and Inter-Site Diversity in Plant Foods (2018)
The Puuc mountains in the northwestern Maya lowlands have proven themselves to be double-faced in regard to pre-Columbian human settlement. On one side, the valleys exhibit the region's most fertile soils. On the other hand, rainfall is scarce and access to the underground water table is comparatively difficult. Nonetheless, authors such as Smyth (1991) have long suggested that the Puuc represented some of the bread-basket for the wider northwestern lowlands. As part of a broader study, in this...
Examining the Shift in Seed-Dispersal Mechanisms During Early Plant Domestication (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Frontiers of Plant Domestication" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Scholarship is reframing the study of plant evolution under cultivation to focus on the effects of complex human harvesting practices (seed predation), increased human population size, and sedentism, while turning away from conscious human selection. Research has pointed out that parallelism in domestication is linked to seed-dispersal mechanisms, but...
Experimental Archaeology as a Tool for Understanding Microbotanical Taphonomy (2018)
Microbotanical residue analysis, particularly starch grain and phytolith analysis, of ground stone artifacts has become a well-established method for investigating subsistence practices, plant processing patterns, and tool use at prehistoric sites around the world. Within the Aegean, however, where wheat and barley are the primary staple grains, microbotanical analysis of stone tools has only recently been incorporated into on-going research. A collaboration between PlantCult, a European...
Exploitation of Canarium versus African Oil Palm by Ancient Hunter-Gatherers in Tropical Africa (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Numerous oleaginous (oil-producing) tree species exist across tropical Africa. Indigenous populations both past and present used many of these species in a variety of ways including for fuel, cooking, medicinal, and cosmetic purposes. Current emphasis in the literature is often placed on the importance of E. guineensis (African oil palm) likely due to it being...
Exploring Macrobotanicals of Tenehaha from the Cotahuasi Valley, Peru (2015)
In this paper we present macrobotanical data from the Peruvian archaeological site of Tenehaha in the Cotahuasi Valley. Soil samples from archaeological excavation areas were recovered by Justin Jennings and his field crew from the Tenehaha site. These soil samples were floated in order to sieve out the botanical remains of the ancient past lives of Peruvians at a ritual and ceremonial burial site of Tenehaha. Our analysis revealed new insights into site use and the distribution of botanical...
Exploring the Edible Forest: Food Values and Archaeological Visibility of Indigenous Food Plants of the Maya Lowlands (2018)
A review of 28 ethnographic, ethnobotanical, and botanical studies published since the 1930s identified 497 species of indigenous food plants used by the Maya in the lowlands of southeastern Mexico and upper Central America. This consideration of the Maya cornucopia focuses on the relative food values of the plants and the visibility of the species in the archaeological record. The diversity of food plants has significant implications for the reconstruction of ancient foodways, agricultural...
Exploring the Role of Fire in Tarascan Ritual Contexts of the Zacapu Basin, Michoacan, Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Journeying to the South, from Mimbres (New Mexico) to Malpaso (Zacatecas) and Beyond: Papers in Honor of Ben A. Nelson" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Studies of ritual activities often focus on paraphernalia, architectural structures, and other aspects of performance. While these are all important features, other more subtle elements that are nevertheless crucial to these activities are often not considered in...
Exploring the Social and Physical Landscapes of Colonial New Mexico (2015)
Reshaping the settlement landscape is a significant aspect of the colonial encounter in that it provided the ecological context for social interactions. In the American Southwest, the Spaniards’ introduction of Eurasian plants and animals as well as new land use practices had a profound effect on the physical and cultural environment. We use palynological data from a 500-year period that illustrates both the impact of indigenous Pueblo peoples’ engagement with the pre-colonial landscape as well...
Exudates and Resins Used by the Maya as Potential Candidates for Natural Bioactive Adhesives, Gums, and Protective Coatings (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Plant Exudates and Other Binders, Adhesives, and Coatings in the Americas" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Both the ancient and modern Maya have employed a broad range of plant exudates, gums, resins, and other natural products for many centuries. Numerous plant species indigenous to Mesoamerica possess bioactive compounds that have served as medicine, pesticides, fish poisons, dyes, adhesives, unguents, tanning...
Fabrics of the South American Desert Coast: The Study of the Marine Hunter-Gatherer's Plant Fiber Technology in the Atacama Desert (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Textile Tools and Technologies as Evidence for the Fiber Arts in Precolumbian Societies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This research aims to study the earliest fabric artifacts made by marine hunter-gatherers who inhabited the Peru-Chile desert coast. Thanks to the aridity of this area, I use a remarkable amount of well-preserved plant-fiber materials, most belonging to the world’s oldest Chinchorro mummies buried...
Fanning the Flames of Complexity: Archaeobotanical Approaches to the Study of Fuel Economies at Late Chalcolithic Sites in Northern Mesopotamia (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The burning of fuel resources for the heating and lighting homes, preparing food and craft goods, and eliminating waste is an essential daily domestic practice on par with the acquisition of food and shelter. With the emergence of socioeconomically complex societies in Northern Mesopotamia during the Late Chalcolithic, ever greater resources would have been...
Farming and Foraging in Late Ceramic Period Society at Sitio Drago, Western Caribbean Panama (2015)
This paper examines patterns in plant and animal remains excavated from midden contexts at Sitio Drago, a 1400-year-old village site located on a Caribbean island in Panama. To date, most studies of farming and foraging in ancient Panama have focused on villages located in the central highlands and Pacific foothills – regions with a cooler, drier tropical climate that better facilitates agricultural productivity. Although highly informative, these studies alone do not provide us with a complete...
Farming, Warfare, Drought, and Soil Fertility in the Mississippian Central Illinois River Valley: Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes on Maize Kernels from Five Sites Spanning Two Centuries (2018)
We report on carbon and nitrogen isotope results from a total of 60 maize kernels from five sequentially-occupied sites in the Central Illinois River Valley that span the Mississippian period (AD 1100-1300). The sites span: (1) the onset of and intensification of warfare in the region; and (2) a long period of drought that eventually gave way to wetter conditions during the last 50 years of the sequence. C13 and N15 isotope values from these maize kernels provide independent support for the...
Feasting, exchange, sociopolitical interaction: Assessing the Tiwanaku presence in the Kallawaya region (2015)
In the Tiwanaku era, the Kallawaya territory was part of a web of an inter-ecologic exchange networks that provided altiplanic polities with a myriad of resources flowing from the valleys and tropical Yunga mountains. In this context, Tiwanaku centers were important places of exchange, storage, and ritual celebrations. By looking at the botanical remains, this paper will explore the changes in feasting and consumption patterns, and the ways in which various resources were utilized in funerary...
Feasts for the People, Crumbs for the Bird: Communicating Archaeological Data on Ancient Crop Diversity (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Advancing Public Perceptions of Sustainability through Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Food security and food adequacy are at the core of many sustainability debates. Growing urban populations and a simultaneous decline in staple crops are severe threats to both. While the relation between rising demographics and subsistence has been a focus of scholarly debate in anthropology, crop diversity in ancient...
Fedickschrift: Notes on a Prominent Historical Figure in Ethnoecology, Ethnoarchaeology, and Landscape Studies (2015)
The legacy of Scott Fedick in ethnoecology, ethnoarchaeology, and landscape studies cannot be understated. Aside from years of active collaborative work and mentorship, the dissemination of his research has led to rich interpretations far beyond his immediate influence. In the first part of this paper, I follow impacts of Fedick's scholarship in several fields, as tracked through citations and students. I also trace his impacts on public policy and common understandings of Maya lifeways. In...
Feeding the Gods, Calling the Rains: Archaeobotanical Remains from a Monumental Fire Shrine at El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala (2015)
The discovery of a fire shrine atop the adosada of Structure M13-1 at El Perú-Waka’ supports the archaeological and epigraphic records which have at various places in the Maya region (including Waka’) made reference to the arrival in AD 378 of Siyaj K’ak’. This event resulted in the introduction of the fire shrine cult, glossed as Wite Naah in Mayan, from Teotihuacan to the Maya Lowlands. M13-1’s cal AD 7th century fire shrine is the final phase of the main temple’s fronting platform. Careful...
Feeding the Mountain: Plant Remains from Ritual Contexts On and Around Structure M13-1 at El Perú-Waka’ (2017)
Structure M13-1, a major civic-ceremonial building at the center of the Classic Maya city El Perú-Waka’ in northwestern Petén, Guatemala, held special significance to its citizenry. While it was likely ritually significant since the Early Classic period, evidence indicates it was the focus of sustained and repeated ceremonial acts of likely varying scales, accouterment, and practitioners throughout the Late and Terminal Classic periods (circa A.D. 600-900). In this paper, we explore data from...
Feral Fields of the Eastern Adriatic Coast (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Finding Fields: Locating and Interpreting Ancient Agricultural Landscapes" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. On Mediterranean islands and coastal areas of southern Europe, extensive field systems of drystone walls, terraces, and clearance cairns are common landscape features that attest to generations of landscape modification for cultivation. Tracing the precise chronologies of these fields is perennially challenging....
Fiber Identifications of Paisley Caves Textiles: Exploring Plant Selection for Technology in the Northern Great Basin (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Far West Paleoindian Archaeology: Papers from the Next Generation" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Plant fiber identifications were made for a subset of Oregon’s Paisley Caves cordage and netting in order to explore plant selection for fiber technologies. Fiber artifacts from this assemblage include basketry, matting, netting, cordage, and rope, with the oldest braided rope dating to ca. 12,000 years ago....