Modeling Mississippian Subsistence: Diet and Food Production at Angel Mounds, Indiana

Summary

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.

Agricultural research in archaeology has predominantly focused on the presence or absence of food refuse, dietary data from isotopic studies, or the origins of agriculture. Fewer studies exist that focus on how crops were actually grown and what yields would be needed to viably support a specific population, considering years of both surplus and scarcity. During the Mississippian period in the US Midwest, the cultivation of maize is discussed as a dietary focal point, with contributions from gourds, chenopods, and protein sources like terrestrial and aquatic fauna. However, studies surrounding maize in this region have focused on the timing and introduction in the archaeological record, potential ritual significance, and the relationship of maize reliance to political unification of local communities. In this paper, we apply mathematical modeling to estimate agricultural production at the Mississippian site of Angel Mounds in southern Indiana, USA, in 1200 CE.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Advancing the Archaeology of Indigenous Agriculture in North America   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35935.0