An Analysis of Cherokee Foodways during European Colonization

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Cherokees, like other Native American groups, experienced significant disruptions in their lifeways as a result of European colonization. However, there is also evidence that Cherokees adjusted to these changes and continued to live in relative stability. For example, historic accounts from Europeans indicate that Cherokees underwent a period of what they described as “prosperity” in the late-eighteenth century, during which Cherokees grew large amounts of maize and adopted a new staple crop, the sweet potato. I use the macrobotanical remains from several archeological sites occupied before and during European colonization to clarify how Cherokees experienced colonization. I compare sites in the Appalachian highlands region occupied from the Mississippian period (circa A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1540) through the early-nineteenth century (A.D. 1540 to circa 1830) to examine changes and continuity in subsistence practices before and during European colonization.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37166.0