People, Plants, and Landscapes: Studies in Paleoethnobotany

8. The Ecological Structure and Behavioral Implications of Mast Exploitation Strategies

CHAPTER 8 The Ecological Structure and Behavioral Implications of Mast Exploitation Strategies PAUL S. GARDNER The native nuts of the Eastern Woodlands have long been recognized to have been important foods of prehistoric Native Americans. Early descriptions of Native American diet in the Eastern Woodlands inevitably mention nuts. For example, during the De Soto entrada, "walnuts" (presumably thick-shelled hickories [Carya sp.] and pecan [Carya illinoiensisD along with maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) were the foods mentioned most frequently by the Gentleman of Elvas as abundant in the native towns (Milanich 1991:7°, 107, 131, 132,136,201,202). Thomas Hariot's description of the sixteenth-century Carolina Algonquians includes accounts of their use of walnut (juglans nigra), hickory, acorn (Quercus sp.), and chinquapin (Castanea pumila). Only acorns and chinquapins seem to have been used for bread (Quinn 1955:35°,354). All four types of nuts seem to have been boiled to make "spoonmeat" and nut "milk" (Quinn 1955:35°,351,354), and all but acorn were eaten raw (Quinn 1955:350, 351).John Smith's description of nut usage among the early seventeenth-century Virginia Algonquians (Barbour 1986: 151-53) largely reinforces Hariot's accounts but adds the information that the late spring-early summer was a prime period of nut consumption (Barbour 1986:162). Nuts remain prominent in late eighteenth-century accounts of southeastern Native American diet (e.g., Harper 1958:25; Williams 1930:439). Furthermore, nutshell is very common in the Eastern Woodlands archaeological record, and archaeologists have long considered that gathering nuts was an important prehistoric subsistence activity (Caldwell 1958). However, the benefits derived from and problems entailed by 161 162 Paul S. Gardner exploiting nuts are rarely considered. In this chapter I examine some of the characteristics of nuts that seem important for structuring their exploitation. I conclude by drawing attention to some ways in which currently accepted models of Eastern Woodlands prehistory might be informed by a closer consideration of mast exploitation strategies. In this chapter I focus on hickory nuts and acorns, as they seem to have been the most important nuts, and data concerning them 'are most nearly complete. Nutritional Composition The nutritional composition of hickory nuts and acorns is well studied (United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] 1984). Hickory is the better source of calories. To meet the Food and Agricultural Organization's (1974) recommended daily individual energy intake of about 2200 kcal, about 12 ounces (340 g) dry weight of hickory nutmeat is required. About 15 ounces (427 g) of acorn is required. For comparison, about 1 1/3 pounds (604 g) of maize is required. The reason for the relatively greater caloric content ofhickory nutmeats is apparent when the proximate composition of the foods is considered (figure 8. I). Whereas maize and acorns are high in carbohydrates , hickory nutmeat has a much higher fat content.While obtaining an adequate supply of dietary fat is hardly a problem for affiuent societies such as our own, there is reason to think that it may be for foraging peoples. Ethnographically, the Ache of Paraguay have been observed to collect particularly fatty foods even though doing so reduces their overall foraging efficiency (Hill 1988). In addition Speth and Spielmann (1983) have argued that prehistoric North American foragers whose diets were focused on ungulates such as deer may have experienced significant fat shortages in late winter and early spring because of the leanness of the game. The dietary fats provided by stored mast, hickory nuts in particular, may have been ofconsiderable nutritional importance to Eastern Woodlands foragers. For a plant food, hickories are a relatively good source of essential amino acids. The nuts are superior to both maize and acorns as a source of nine of the ten essential amino acids (figure 8.2). Acorn, however, provides even lesser amounts of seven essential amino acids than does maize, a notoriously poor protein source. Overall, hickory nuts would seem to be of more nutritional value to foragers than would acorns. 163 Mast Exploitation Strategies PROTEIN FAT CARBOHYDRATE PROXIMATE COMPOSITION I '{fEflY! HICKORY _ ACORN ~ MAIZE Figure 8. I. Proximate composition of hickory nuts, acorn, and maize (USDA I984)· Yield and Availability Potentially, hickories and oaks are enormously productive. Shellbark hickory (Carya laciniosa) has been known to produce 3 bushels of nuts per tree (Schopmeyer 1974:271). Assuming 40 pounds (18 kg) of cleaned seed per bushel (Schopmeyer 1974:271...