Table Of Content

CM rrent JsJorth east £ dlcocthnobotutiy Edited by John P. Hart NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from IMLS LG-70-15-0138-15 https://archive.org/details/currentnortheast1199hart Current Northeast Paleoethnobotany THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of The University Carl T. Hayden, Chancellor, A.B., J.D.Elmira Diane O'Neill, McGivem, Vice Chancellor, B.S.N., M.A., PhD.Staten Island J. Edward Meyer, B.A., LL.B.Chappaqua Adelaide L. Sanford, B.A., M.A., PhD.Hollis Saul B. Cohen, B.A., M.A., PhD.New Rochelle James C. Dawson, A.A.. B.A., M.S., PhD.Peru Robert M. Bennett, B.A., M.S.Tonawanda Robert M. Johnson, B.S., J.D.Lloyd Harbor Anthony S. Bottar, B.A., J.D.Syracuse Merryl H. Tisch, B.A., M.A.New York Harold O. Levy, B.S., M.A. (Oxon), J.D.New York Ena L. Farley, B.A., M.A., PhD.Brockport Geraldine Chapey, B.A., M.A., Ed.D.Belle Harbor Ricardo E. Oquendo, B.A., J.D.Bronx Eleanor P. Bartlett, B.A., M.A.Albany Arnold B. Gardner, B.A., LL.B.Buffalo President of The University and Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills Chief Operating Officer Richard H. Cate Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education Carole F. Huxley Assistant Commissioner for the New York State Museum Clifford A. Siegfred The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services and activities. Portions of this publication can be made available in a variety of formats, including Braille, large print or audio tape, upon request. Inquires concerning this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department’s Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 1 52, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234. CurrentNortheast Paleoethnobotany Edited by John P. Hart New York State Museum Bulletin No. 494 1999 The University of the State of New York The State Education Department on (W pt.( © The New York State Education Department, Albany, New York 12230 Published 1999 Printed in the United States of America Copies may be ordered from: Publication Sales New York State Museum Albany, New York 12230 Phone: (518) 449-1404 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-61784 ISSN: 1-55557-164-6 ISBN: 0278-3355 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Cover illustration by Patricia Keman. /lERTZ LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL IV Contents List of Figures .vi List of Tables .ix Preface .xi Chapter 1—Introduction .1 John P. Hart Chapter 2—Changing Evidence for Prehistoric Plant Use in Pennsylvania.11 Frances B. King Chapter 3—Sunflower in the Seneca Iroquois Region of Western New York .27 Connie Cox Bodner Chapter 4—Dating Roundtop's Domesticates: Implications for Northeast Late Prehistory.47 John P. Hart Chapter 5—Corncobs and Buttercups: Plant Remains from the Goldkrest Site.69 Tonya B. Largy, Lucianne Lavin, Marina E. Mozzi, and Kathleen Furgerson Appendix I: Maize Age and Isotope Values at the Goldkrest Site Elizabeth A. Little Chapter 6—New Data on the Chronology of Maize Horticulture in Eastern New York and Southern New England .85 Daniel Cassedy and Paul Webb Chapter 7—Prehistoric Use of Plant Foods on Long Island and Block Island Sounds .101 David J. Bernstein Chapter 8—Chenopodium in Connecticut Prehistory: Wild, Weedy, Cultivated, or Domesticated? .121 David R. George and Robert E. Dewar Chapter 9—Changing Strategies in the Pre- and Post-Contact Subsistence Systems of Southern New England: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Evidence .133 Jeffrey C. Bendremer Chapter 10—Mobile Farmers of Pre-Contact Southern New England: The Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Evidence.157 Elizabeth S. Chilton v Contents Chapter 11—Paleogeographic Changes in Wetland and Upland Environments in the Milford Drainage Basin of Central Maine in Relation to Holocene Human Settlement History .177 Heather Almquist-Jacobson and David Sanger Chapter 12—Prehistoric Plant Use in Maine: Paleoindian to Contact Period 191 Nancy Asch Sidell Chapter 13—Northeastern Paleoethnobotany: How Are We Doing?.225 Gary W. Crawford Contributors.235 List of Figures 1.1 Location of studies presented in this volume.1 3.1 Sunflower recovered from archaeological contexts dating to 2,300 B.C.-A.D. 200.31 3.2 Sunflower recovered from archaeological contexts dating to A.D. 200-900.33 3.3 Sunflower recovered from archaeological contexts dating to A.D. 900-1700.33 3.4 Locations of Seneca sites discussed in the text.35 3.5 Sunflower achenes recovered from the Alhart, Fugle, and Steele Sites.37 3.6 Sunflower achenes recovered from the Dann, Marsh, Rochester Junction, and Townley Read sites.37 4.1 Location of the Roundtop site, Broome County, New York.47 4.2 Site plan of the Roundtop site (from Ritchie 1973).49 4.3 Profile of Feature 35 (from Ritchie 1973).51 4.4 Pottery from Feature 35, Layer 5 (a. Owasco Corded Collar, b. Carpenter Brook Cord-on-Cord and c. Carpenter Brook Cord-on-Cord).57 4.5 Owasco Corded Collar Rim Sherd from Feature 35, Layer 7.58 4.6 Pottery from Feature 35, Layer 7 (a. Carpenter Brook Cord-on-Cord, b. Collared Plain).58 4.7 Carpenter Brook Cord-on-Cord Sherds from Feature 30.59 4.8 Pottery from Feature 30 (a. Owasco Corded Horizontal, b. Owasco Platted).59 vi Figures 5.1 Approximate location of the Goldkrest site in the Hudson River Valley..69 5.2 Postmold and Feature Distribution Mao of Locus 1 at the Goldkrest site.71 5.3 Sample of Charred Ranunculus Seeds Recovered from Feature 59.76 5.4 Modern Uncharred Ranunculus abortivus Seeds for Comparison.76 5.5 Maize Kernel Recovered from Red Stain A.79 5.6 Paired Cupules of Maize Recovered from Feature 59.79 6.1 Location of Sites 211-1, 294A-AF2-1, and 294A-25-2.86 6.2 The Feature 30 Complex at Site 211-1-1.90 6.3 Chronological Distribution of Uncalibrated Radiocarbon Dates Associated with Maize in the Northeast (at two standard deviations).94 7.1 Map of Long Island and Block Island Sound region.103 7.2 Map of Narragansett Bay. .112 8.1 Locations of the archaeological sites.123 8.2 A profile of Feature 6 from the Burnham-Shepard site.125 8.3 A profile of Feature 8 from the Burnham-Shepard site.126 8.4 A symmetric dot density plot of the diameters of Chenopodium seeds from three features at the Burnham-Shepard site.127 8.5 Variation in reported mean seed diameters in relation to latitude for wild, weedy morphs, and the Burnham-Shepard combined sample.127 8.6 A symmetric dot density plot of testa thickness for Chenopodium seeds from three features at the Burnham-Shepard site.128 8.7 Testa thicknesses for seeds from Features 6 and 8.128 8.8 A comparison of mean and range of testa thickness for various populations of Chenopodium, arranged by testa thickness.129 8.9 Seed-coat patterns for seeds from Feature 6 (smooth) and Feature 8 (reticulate).129 9.1 Location of Sites Mentioned in the Text.135 10.1. Map of Southern New England, showing the locations of archaeological sites with prehistoric cultigens and key sites.158 10.2. Plan view of the Pine Hill site, showing the locations of excavation units and key features.166 vii Figures 10.3. Feature 148b plan view, Pine Hill site, showing Harris Matrix levels.168 10.4. Feature 148b profile. Pine Hill site, showing Harris Matrix levels.169 11.1 Location of the Penobscot River and the Milford Drainage Basin in central Maine, U.S.A.178 11.2 Location of the Milford Drainage Basin, including the North Caribou Bog complex, Mansell Pond, and local archaeological sites.179 11.3 Map of the study area, including modern extent of open water and peatland and locations of the Young and Hirundo archaeological sites.180 11.4 Sediment characteristics and macrofossil assemblages of eighty selected samples interpreted as representing peatland, marsh, and lake environments.183 11.5 Summary pollen and charcoal diagram from Mansell Pond.185 11.6 Time-slice maps of wetland type and distribution.186-187 12.1 Site Location Map.194 12.2 Location of selected Maine sites in relation to presettlement forest types. Sites are (1) Hedden, (2) Sharrow, (3) Hunter Farm, (4) 27.60, (5) Fort Halifax, (6) Little Ossipee North, (7) Early fall, (8) Sandy River, (9) Tracy Farm, and (10) Norridgewock Mission.195 12.3 Distribution of nut trees in Maine (after Little 1971, 1977; American hazelnut mapped from specimens on file in University of Maine Herbarium at Orono).196 12.4 Reconstructed landscape at 11,000 B.P. (after Davis and Jacobson 1985).200 12.5 Distribution of archaeological maize and cucurbit in relation to modern corn heat units or growing degree days (GDDs) in Maine (after Demeritt 1991:188).216 13.1 Location of Sites Mentioned in the Text.226 viii