Domestication and Management of Indigenous Plants in the U.S. Southwest: Case Studies of Little Barley (Hordeum pusillum Nutt.) and a Wild Potato (Solanum Jamesii)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Frontiers of Plant Domestication" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Although the histories of major New World plant domestications of beans, corn, squash, gourd, and tobacco are well-known, histories of regional plant domestications from local wild plants are not. In the pre-Hispanic U.S. Southwest, a wild late winter/early spring-ripening annual grass known as Little Barley (Hordeum pusillum Nutt.) became a crop of interest. One notable mutation, likely occurring regularly in nature but not normally perpetuated, resulted in unprotected hull-less grains that were easy to harvest and therefore appealing to humans. This crop was particularly important in the Hohokam Pre-Classic period. A case for pre-Hispanic management of a wild potato (Solanum jamesii) is based on the association of modern populations with archaeological sites, range extensions, and supportive plausibility arguments such as long dormancy, nutritional value, and broad use by historic groups. Case studies could also be developed for other wild plants (Descurainia, Astragalus, Plantago, Salvia) that researchers consider may have been domesticated or managed in the past. Such regional plant histories suggest that domestication/management may have been an easier/more common occurrence than previously realized.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Frontiers of Plant Domestication   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23646