The Emergence and Distribution of Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) in the Upper Tennessee River Valley

Summary

This is a preliminary study of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) recovered from late prehistoric and historic Native American sites in East Tennessee. Beans are known to be the last domesticated plant that was adopted by late prehistoric cultures in the Eastern Woodlands. In the Southeast, the emergence of beans is not clearly understood because no regional studies have been done and very few samples have been directly dated to establish a chronology. This problem is addressed by analyzing the spatial and chronological distribution of beans recovered within and across sites from the Upper Tennessee River Valley.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage