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

CHAPTER 13
PALEOETHNOBOTANICAL INDICATORS OF SUBSISTENCE
AND SETTLEMENT CHANGE IN THE NORTHEAST
Nancy Asch Sidell
INTRODUCTION
Early Late Prehistoric subsistence and settlement
changes in the Northeast are expressed in archaeobotanical
assemblages as differences in wood charcoal,
nutshell, and seed assemblages through time. There
are changes in proportions of wild and domesticated
plants as well as other indications of changes in plant
communities. Interpretation of differences between
regions must take into account inherent differences in
the native vegetation and how that vegetation is likely
to be affected by human activities, or anthropogenesis.
Reviewing the first comprehensive summary of
paleoethnobotany in the Northeast, Crawford (1999)
observed that none of the papers had addressed the
topic of anthropogenesis. To correct that deficiency,
this chapter will focus on anthropogenesis using data
on plant remains accumulated from quantitative
analysis of Archaic through Contact period (ca. 4400
B.C.-A.D. 1760) sites in Maine, New York,
Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, concentrating on the
period of initial agriculture, ca. A.D. 750-1300.
In 1964, Yarnell’s landmark study of aboriginal
influences on the distribution, habitat, and genetic
variation of plants in the upper Great Lakes region
provided a baseline for later paleoecological work.
Based upon the ethnobotanical literature, he estimated
that Indians made use of at least 20 percent of the
plant species that grew in the area (Yarnell 1964).
Minnis (1978) demonstrated the potential for using
macroplant remains from archaeological contexts as a
relative measure of vegetational disturbance resulting
from human activity in southwestern New Mexico.
Minnis noted that all agricultural systems share a similar
general model for the effects on local vegetation,
with three stages in the cycle of disturbance. First, the
pristine vegetation is cleared. Second, a less diverse
ecosystem of cultivated fields must be maintained.
Plants adapted to disturbed habitats thrive in the fields
and in some cases are encouraged or tolerated because
of their economic potential. And third, after abandonment,
a successional cycle is set in motion. Minnis used
wood charcoal and seeds as indicators of agricultural
disturbance. The wood charcoal assemblage revealed a
reduction of floodplain species during the population
peak in the Classic Mimbres period because of the
location of fields in the floodplain. With increased agriculture,
the effect on archaeological seeds was an
increase in weed species adapted to disturbed soils.
Yarnell (1984), in his study of the Late Archaic
McIntyre site from southern Ontario, grouped food
plants according to the biotic community in which they
would most likely be collected. Indicating degree of
disturbance on a scale of 1 to 4, from most disrupted to
most mature, he characterized habitats as (1) open
degraded; (2) clearings and thickets; (3) open woods; or
(4) mature forest. At McIntyre, most of the plant foods
came from open woods and clearings, including the
borders or intermediate zone between the two types of
communities. He envisioned a site layout that was similar
to the Algonquin summer camps he observed in
western Quebec during 1964 to 1979:
Typically, these people occupy sizeable clearings
directly on lake shores. One does not live in
the forest during the late spring and summer
because of the insufferable hordes of black flies
and mosquitoes. It is essential to have the benefit
of any available breeze and the desiccating sunshine
which are more vital to comfort than is
shade. Generally, there is not much woody vegetation
directly on the site, especially in the activity
areas. There are various forbs and grasses but
few trees, though some work areas are shaded.
Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700–1300 by John P. Hart and Christina B. Rieth. New York State Museum
© 2002 by the University of the State of New York, The State Education Department, Albany, New York. All rights reserved.
Chapter 13 Paleoethnobotanical Indicators of Subsistence and Settlement Change in the Northeast 241