Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

distribution, with 39.4 percent of the features having an
L/D ratio between 2 and 3. This unimodal distribution
suggests that there may have been an ideal length-todepth
ratio for Thomas/Luckey features. No clear
modes are apparent for L/D at Broome Tech, which
indicates that many of the Broome Tech features lack
formal construction.
To evaluate feature plan shape, a maximum lengthto-width
ratio (L/W) was calculated for each feature.
Perfectly circular features score 1, and increasing
values indicate more oblong, or irregularly shaped
features. Thomas/Luckey features more closely
approximate a circle, with an average score of 1.16,
compared with the 1.33 score for Broome Tech. The
noncircular features at Broome Tech again highlight
the irregularly shaped surface hearths, which have a
very high average length-to-width ratio of 1.46. The
single storage pit nearly approximates a circle, with a
score of 1.08, very similar to the L/W average for all
Thomas/Luckey features.
Data on feature type, frequency, size, and shape
taken together suggest very different sets of behaviors
occurred at these two Late Prehistoric sites. Only
three feature types (hearth, large storage pit, and
small storage pit) were used at Broome Tech and are
numerically dominated by very shallow, irregularly
shaped surface hearths. These thermal features lack
formal construction and were apparently lit upon
largely unmodified surfaces. This contrasts with the
single storage pit, which was clearly planned and
involved excavation of a large amount of soil for construction.
This large pit is nearly circular in plan view
and is approximately twice as long as it is deep, which
approaches the “ideal” pit profile noted at
Thomas/Luckey. In contrast, features at
Thomas/Luckey include a greater variety of types
(large storage pit, small storage pit, hearth, earth oven,
grave, and smudge pit) and are overwhelmingly dominated
by in-ground storage facilities. Features are on
average much larger, implying a greater labor investment,
and exhibit a much higher degree of planning.
Residents constructed features that approximate a circle
in plan view and, regardless of feature size, there
appears to have been a model of pit proportions where
features should be approximately twice as long as they
are deep.
Plant Data
One of the most direct approaches for exploring subsistence
and settlement variability is the detailed identification
and analysis of macrobotanical remains.
Recovery of flotation samples was an integral component
of the research design for both Thomas/Luckey
and Broome Tech. Over one hundred soil samples have
been secured and processed from Thomas/Luckey features;
of these, 14 samples from 7 features have been
analyzed (Scarry 1995). A very intensive program of
flotation sample recovery was undertaken for the multicomponent
Broome Tech site, with over 1,400 samples
collected and processed. Samples recovered from the
early Late Prehistoric occupation include samples from
features and from the midden. Ninety-seven samples
collected from 19 early Late Prehistoric features have
been examined and are included in this study (Asch
Sidell 1999) 3 .
The raw counts of plant remains recovered from
Thomas/Luckey and Broome Tech are presented in
Table 9.4. Given that botanical remains are subject to a
number of potential biases, including differential
preservation and differences in sample size and sample
abundance, the raw quantities of specific plant remains
should not be used to directly assess dietary contribution.
However, archaeobotanists have developed quantitative
methods for interpreting plant data that
provide useful tools for gauging intersite variation in
plant use (Miller 1988; Pearsall 1989; Popper 1988).
Potentially important methods include comparison of
burning activities, percentage composition, densities,
and ratios.
The density of plant weight (calculated as carbon
weight divided by processed soil volume) at
Thomas/Luckey (.45 g/l) and Broome Tech (.52 g/l)
are almost identical (Table 9.5). At sites where the only
preserved plant remains of any antiquity are carbonized,
as is true for these sites, similarity of charred
plant densities indicates like amounts of burning activities
occurred at the two sites (Pearsall 1989:197).
According to Pearsall (1989:197), “demonstrating that
the level of burning activity is similar among contexts,
components, and sites reduces concern about preservation
biases in data.” Following from this, the nearly
identical plant densities suggest similar botanical
preservation at Broome Tech and Thomas/Luckey,
thereby reducing the concern for potential preservation
biases and facilitating intersite comparisons.
Where the two sites dramatically differ is in the ratio
of non-wood plants to carbonized plant weight (Table
9.5). At Thomas/Luckey there are 33.8 non-wood plant
remains per gram of carbon, more than seven times the
4.6 non-wood plants per gram at Broome Tech. If we
accept that the two assemblages were subject to similar
preservation conditions, then the dramatic difference
in these ratios indicates that non-wood plant resources
178 Knapp