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

1325 [1425] 1460) (Boyd et al. 1998a). The earliest date
associated with maize from a village site is 1080±70
B.P. (cal 2σ A.D. 800 [985] 1115) at the Petenbrink site
(Boyd et al. 1998b), which is also the earliest definite
date for a village site in the region. A storage feature
dated to 770±60 B.P. (cal 2σ 1175 [1270] 1305) from
Pony Farm Triangle East, a possible village site
(Means and Fischler 1998), contained the largest
quantity of maize from a single context in the area
(Raymer and Bonhange-Freund 1999:8). In total,
maize has been recovered from sites dated to the tenth
through fifteenth centuries A.D.
Nucleated villages are evident in the region by the
end of the tenth century A.D., if not earlier. Hamlets
and seasonally occupied specialized procurement
camps continued to be used after the appearance of
the first villages, which had 10 or fewer dwellings.
Considerably larger villages with over 30 dwellings
occurred during and after the thirteenth century A.D.
Some of these villages, such as Peck No. 1, appear to
have increased in size from the absorption of singlehousehold
hamlets (Means 1998a). Comparatively
small villages are seen throughout the early Late
Prehistoric period, perhaps representing daughter
settlements from larger communities. This latter pattern,
along with an apparent increase in the use of
attached and detached semisubterranean storage
facilities, had already been noted by Hart (1993, 1995).
Despite claims that the region was abandoned after
A.D. 1250 (Johnson 2001; Johnson et al. 1989), clear
evidence of settlement and the cultivation of maize is
found in the region through the fifteenth century,
although it is possible that aboriginal inhabitants of
the region were no longer living in nucleated villages
by this time.
Susquehanna River Basin
West Branch. There have been no reports of early
maize in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River
basin comparable to those in the Ohio River basin and
around Lake Erie. The earliest radiocarbon date associated
with maize is at the Fisher Farm site 1245±70
B.P. (cal 2σ A.D. 656 [776] 976) (Hatch 1980). Maize is
commonly found on sites beginning in the ninth century
A.D. (Hart and Asch Sidell 1996). No SCIA studies
have been published for this region, although
Stewart (2000) citing unpublished δ 13 C values on
bone from ca. A.D. 1250 to 1300 indicated it was an
important component of at least some individuals’
diets.
From ca. A.D. 750 to 1250 settlements consisted of
hamlets, some of which were apparently fortified
(Custer et al. 1996; Hart and Asch Sidell 1996; Stewart
1990). Storage pits are common on sites during this
period of time (Hart and Asch Sidell 1996; Stewart
1990). Hamlets persisted after the appearance of
nucleated fortified villages around A.D. 1250. Larger,
nucleated, fortified villages occur after ca. A.D. 1300
to 1350 (Stewart 1990).
Upper Susquehanna. The Upper Susquehanna
River basin in New York has a much shorter known
history of maize. The earliest date associated with
maize is 1000±70 B.P. (cal 2σ A.D. 890 [1008] 1207)
from the Binghamton Mall site (Wurst and Versaggi
1993). Maize is frequently reported from sites beginning
in the twelfth century A.D. (Cassedy and Webb
1999). SCIA has been reported for only two individuals
from this area (Vogel and ver der Merwe 1977),
which does not permit an assessment of when maize
became an important dietary component for some
individuals.
Prior to A.D. 1000, settlements apparently consisted
of seasonally occupied camps or hamlets (Funk 1993;
Prezzano and Rieth 2001). Nucleated villages occur as
early as the eleventh century A.D. (Prezzano and
Rieth 2001), although a recent dating project at what
was once thought to be the best example of an early
village with large longhouses, the Roundtop site, raises
serious questions about this traditional view (Hart
1999b, 2000). By the thirteenth century A.D. there is
clear evidence in this region for nucleated, palisaded
villages with large longhouses or circular houses
(Hart 2000; Prezzano 1992; Prezzano and Rieth 2001).
Large storage pits are common during the early Late
Prehistoric period (Ritchie and Funk 1973). As shown
by Ritchie and Funk (1973), Funk (1993), Knapp (this
volume), Miroff (this volume), and Rieth (this volume),
hamlets and camps continue to be occupied
after the appearance of nucleated villages.
New England
Southern New England. The oldest date associated
with maize in southern New England is 1100 B.P. ± 70
B.P. (cal 2σ AD 776 [904, 910, 976] 1145) from site 211-
1-1 in the lower Hudson River drainage of far eastern
New York. This site also produced the oldest direct
AMS date in southern New England, 1050±50 B.P. (cal
2σ A.D. 891 [997] 1149) (Cassedy and Webb 1999). In
the lower Connecticut River basin, the oldest date
associated with maize is 1060±70 B.P. (cal 2σ AD 782
[991] 1157), from the Sheldon Island site. The oldest
Chapter 18 Maize and Villages: A Summary and Critical Assessment of Current Northeast Early Late Prehistoric Evidence 349