Early Maize in Northeastern North America: A Comment on Emerson and Colleagues

2021 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-427
Author(s):  
John P. Hart ◽  
William A. Lovis ◽  
M. Anne Katzenberg
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Northeastern North America ◽  
Isotopic Evidence ◽  
St Lawrence River

Emerson and colleagues (2020) provide new isotopic evidence on directly dated human bone from the Greater Cahokia region. They conclude that maize was not adopted in the region prior to AD 900. Placing this result within the larger context of maize histories in northeastern North America, they suggest that evidence from the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River valley for earlier maize is “enigmatic” and “perplexing.” Here, we review that evidence, accumulated over the course of several decades, and question why Emerson and colleagues felt the need to offer opinions on that evidence without providing any new contradictory empirical evidence for the region.

Freight Capacity and Utilization of the Erie and Great Lakes Canals before 1850

1976 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 852-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas F. McIlwraith
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
North America ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Canal Enlargement ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Eastern Half ◽  
St Lawrence River

This paper deals with the relationship between tonnage capacity and utilization of the Erie, Welland and St. Lawrence River canals before 1850. Estimates are presented for the capacities of the canals, as built and modified. Comparison with the actual tonnage carried eastward for selected years shows that the British canals were grossly and increasingly underutilized, while the Erie's utilization was closely correlated with its capability, particularly through its eastern half. Reasons for this situation are given and it is argued that had British funds been redirected away from canal enlargement and applied to the construction of vessels and harbor facilities, the British might have entered upon a prosperous carrying trade within North America in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.

The Significance of New Faunal Identifications Attributed to an Early Paleoindian (Gainey Complex) Occupation at the Udora Site, Ontario, Canada

1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter L. Storck ◽  
Arthur E. Spiess
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Arctic Fox ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Northeastern North America ◽  
South Central ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Calcined Bone ◽  
Adaptive Zone

Analysis of calcined bone from the Udora site in south-central Ontario, Canada, indicates that the subsistence of Early Paleoindian (Gainey complex) peoples in the lower Great Lakes region included a mix of both large and small mammals: caribou, hare, and arctic fox. The presence of arctic fox and other paleoecological data indicate that the Paleoindian occupation at Udora occurred in a spruce parkland environment between 10,000 and 10,500 years ago, the minimum age of that habitat, or earlier. Evidence that Paleoindian peoples in northeastern North America also hunted caribou suggests that the concept of a “northern” adaptive zone in the greater Northeast (including the Great Lakes region) has some validity; however, the presence of both parkland and forested environments in this zone and presumed caribou behavioral responses to those environments indicate that Paleoindian adaptations to caribou may have been quite variable.

“Codex canadiensis”, an early illustrated manuscript of Canadian natural history

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry M. Reeves ◽  
FrançOis-Marc Gagnon ◽  
C. Stuart Houston
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
French Canadian ◽  
French Canada ◽  
Histoire Naturelle ◽  
History Of ◽  
St Lawrence River

ABSTRACT: “Codex canadiensis” consists of 79 leaves with 180 illustrations of plants, birds, mammals, fishes, and a few fabulous animals. This manuscript arguably is the most obscure and enigmatic surviving document pertaining to the early natural history of French Canada. It was lost until 1930, when Baron Marc de Villiers first published a facsimile. Two inferior editions later appeared in Canada. The codex was acquired about 1949 by Oklahoma oil baron Thomas Gilcrease and then deposited in the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Under the direction of one of us (Gagnon), French-Canadian scholars have established the codex's author was Father Louis Nicolas (1634–c. 1678), a Jesuit priest who laboured among tribes along the St Lawrence River and the Great Lakes during 1664–1675. This rejects the previous attribution to Charles Bécard (correctly Bécart), Sieur de Granville. The codex likely was completed in part, if not entirely, after Nicolas' return to France in 1675, and it is closely related to a much larger undated work by Nicolas, “Histoire naturelle des Indes Occidentales”. “Codex canadiensis” is among the most valuable extant manuscripts illustrating the natural history of North America as explored by early European naturalists.

The Barnes Site: A Fluted Point Assemblage from the Great Lakes Region

1966 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 850-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry T. Wright ◽  
William B. Roosa
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Northeastern North America ◽  
Spruce Stands ◽  
Fluted Points

AbstractA collection from a small Late Wisconsin site is described. This assemblage exhibits a distinctive coreworking technique and a distinctive variety of fluted points. It is dated on geological grounds to between 11,000 B.C. and 9000 B.C. at a time when spruce stands were probably becoming established in the area. The contrasts between this assemblage and others described from Northeastern North America suggest a number of hypotheses not testable with the available data.

Domestic ballast operations on the Great Lakes: potential importance of Lakers as a vector for introduction and spread of nonindigenous species

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Rup ◽  
Sarah A. Bailey ◽  
Chris J. Wiley ◽  
Mark S. Minton ◽  
A. Whitman Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Ballast Water ◽  
Small Proportion ◽  
River System ◽  
Nonindigenous Species ◽  
Potential Importance ◽  
Water Transfers ◽  
Invasion Impacts ◽  
St Lawrence River

Ballast water is recognized globally as a major vector of aquatic nonindigenous species (NIS) introductions; domestic ballast water transfers, however, have generally been considered low risk in North America. We characterize ballast operations of domestic ships in the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River system (Lakers) during 2005–2007 to examine the risk of primary and secondary introductions associated with ballast water transfers over short distances. Results indicate that Lakers transported at least 68 million tonnes of ballast water annually. Approximately 71% of ballast water transfers were interregional, with net movement being from lower to upper lakes. A small proportion of ballast water discharged in the Great Lakes (<1%) originated from ports in the St. Lawrence River that may serve as sources for new NIS. These results indicate that domestic ballast water transfers may contribute to NIS introductions and are likely the most important ballast-mediated pathway of secondary spread within the Great Lakes. Future efforts to reduce invasion impacts should consider both primary and secondary introduction mechanisms.

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