Sensory approaches to the Woodland and Mississippian cultures of the Eastern Woodlands of North America

2019 ◽  
pp. 522-538
Author(s):  
Corin C.O. Pursell
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Eastern Woodlands

Eastern Woodlands of North America

Antiquity ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (298) ◽  
pp. 847-853
Author(s):  
Dean R. Snow
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Eastern Woodlands

Evaluating the Old Wood Problem in a Temperate Climate: A Fort Ancient Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (04) ◽  
pp. 763-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Cook ◽  
Aaron R. Comstock
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Wood Charcoal ◽  
Arid Climate ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Fort Ancient

Abstract Schiffer (1986) first identified the old wood problem for wood charcoal-based dates from archaeological contexts in the American Southwest. The potential for dates to be skewed toward excessively old calendar ages in this region has recently generated reticence in part of the archaeological community towards including wood charcoal dates in general. Some scholars have even begun to cleanse the radiocarbon databases of regions throughout North America, partly with this presumed limitation in mind. However, the issues that contribute to the old wood problem have not been closely examined outside the arid climate of the American Southwest, resulting in some studies excluding hundreds of radiocarbon dates. The present study fills that void by examining the radiocarbon record from four well-dated Fort Ancient sites in southwestern Ohio and southeastern Indiana. Specifically, we test whether or not there are significant differences between wood charcoal and non-wood charcoal assays. Our findings suggest that wood charcoal dates should not be excluded. We explore reasons for this difference in the Eastern Woodlands and propose an ideal dating regime.

Evidence for Aboriginal Tobaccos in Eastern North America

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Haberman
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
South Dakota ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Tobacco Seeds ◽  
Herbarium Collections ◽  
Aboriginal Groups

SEM micrographs of seeds from four tobaccos historically cultivated by aboriginal groups in the Eastern Woodlands and adjacent Great Plains of North America are presented. The tobaccos considered are Nicotiana rustica L., N. attenuata Torr., N. bigelovii var. quadrivalvis (Pursh) East, and N. bigelovii var. multivalvis (Lindley) East. Micrographs of seeds from herbarium collections are compared with micrographs of carbonized tobacco seeds from the Extended Middle Missouri component at the Travis I site, and tobacco is reported from the Dirt Lodge Village site, both in South Dakota. The archaeological specimens compare most favorably with N. bigelovii var. quadrivalvis (Pursh) East, the tobacco historically cultivated by the Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa. These results strengthen the evidence for trade contacts and cultural interaction by Middle Missouri tradition populations with groups to the west and provide new data on the temporal perspective for the cultivation of N. bigelovii var. quadrivalvis (Pursh) East in the Middle Missouri subarea.

The age of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgarisL.) in the northern Eastern Woodlands of North America

Antiquity ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (292) ◽  
pp. 377-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Hart ◽  
David L. Asch ◽  
C. Margaret Scarry ◽  
Gary W. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
North America ◽  
New England ◽  
Common Bean ◽  
Illinois River ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Ams Dating ◽  
The Common

This study addresses the lack of chronometric research on the common bean (Phaseolus vulgarisL.) to establish precisely the timing of its adoption and spread across the northern Eastern Woodlands of North America. Bean and directly associated maize samples were subjected to accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating. The results show that the common bean apparently spread rapidly upon its introduction to the region, becoming archaeologically visible from the Illinois River valley to southern New England in the calibrated late 13th century AD, some 200–300 years later than previously thought.

Challenging the Evidence for Prehistoric Wetland Maize Agriculture at Fort Center, Florida

2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor D. Thompson ◽  
Kristen J. Gremillion ◽  
Thomas J. Pluckhahn
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Pollen Data ◽  
Historic Period ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Work Site ◽  
Maize Agriculture ◽  
Early Evidence

AbstractThe early evidence (2400 ± 105 B.P.) for wetland maize agriculture at the archaeological site of Fort Center, a large earth-work site in South Florida, USA, is frequently cited in discussions of the emergence of agriculture in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. The evidence for maize, however, rests on controversial pollen data; some researchers accept it, others remain skeptical of its identification or chronological placement. We present microbotanical data (pollen and phytoliths), macrobotanical data, and radiocarbon dates from recent excavations from this site. We argue that maize agriculture did not occur until the historic period at this site and that the identification of maize in earlier deposits is likely a result of contamination.

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