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xii / note on supplemental material Dioscoreaceae Fabaceae Fagaceae Liliaceae nelumbonaceae nymphaeaceae Papaveraceae Poaceae Polygonaceae smilacaceae Typhaceae Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Preface relationships between people and plants are as deeply rooted in complexity as they are in time. in today’s postmodern, postindustrial world, most people in north America are unaware of the extent to which they rely on plants and plant products.Today, plant-based substances compose a substantial portion of the raw materials used in the textiles industry: for example, cotton (Gossypium sp.), sisal (Agave sp.), seagrass (Halophila sp.), and hemp (Canna­ bis sp.) (Langenheim and Thimann 1982). researchers suggest that as many as 25 percent of modern prescription drugs “contain at least one compound now or once derived or patterned after compounds derived from higher plants” (Duke 1993:664). many cultures around the world utilize plants for an array of ritualistic practices.For instance,every year in late December many Christians in the United states bring a spruce tree (Picea sp.) into their homes that is then decorated with lights and ornaments. Following the celebration that usually occurs on December 25, the tree is then unceremoniously discarded with the remainder of the household debris. in another ritual held in springtime , palms—usually obtained from locations far outside their natural range of distribution—are distributed by clergymen to signify another momentous occasion. The most obvious way plants are incorporated into peoples’ lives, however, is through their stomachs. Carbohydrates—a principal component of energy production and storage in plants—account for an overwhelming percentage of the world’s diet. Contemporary Americans obtain approximately 50 percent of their daily energy from carbohydrates, mainly derived from cereals and dairy with about 15 percent of this daily intake derived from added sugar (eaton 2007:388).This reliance on plants for dietary, medicinal, utilitarian, and spiritual purposes demonstrates the importance plant resources play in the lives of people. xiv / Preface Peoples of the past likely utilized plants for similar purposes to those of today—i.e., utilitarian, medicinal, spiritual, and comestible. As a result, archaeologists can gain valuable insights into many elements of prehistory through the recovery and analysis of archaeobotanical data. This book utilizes a rapidly developing methodology for recovering evidence of prehistoric people and plant interactions and, by extension, enhances our understanding of ancient human lifeways.starch grain analysis looks at identifiable microscopic plant residues adhering to the surfaces of plant processing tools as a means for understanding prehistoric plant use.This methodology is based on the knowledge that as people use tools to process plant material (such as to produce flour or to slice or peel tubers) starch grains get embedded and trapped within cracks and crevasses on the surface of these tools, where they remain until recovered in a laboratory. since starch grain morphology is often indicative of taxonomy,these residues can be identified using a comparative collection. The following chapters explore this methodology as it applies to our understanding of people and plant interactions in the middle Atlantic and greater eastern Woodlands. Data gathered from this study are then used in conjunction with related lines of archaeobotanical inquiry to address questions surrounding resource selection and utilization and the environmental implications resulting from exploitative relationships between people and plants. Acknowledgments i need to thank r. michael stewart, Anthony ranere, Dolores Piperno, and John P.hart for all their help in making this book possible.i would also like to thank Temple University, the botanists at the Academy of natural sciences herbarium in Philadelphia, and the UsDA Germplasm resources information network for providing many taxa needed for the comparative collection . special thanks also go out to the following people:sandhya Ganapathy, ruth Dickau,matt harris (who made the maps),Bill schindler,Chris hummer ,Greg Lattanzi,Chuck Fithian,JesseWalker,Christie rockwell,William messner, eleanor messner, muriel Kirkpatrick, Bruce smith, Justine Woodard mcKnight, martin Gallivan, and Kathy Cummins. The national science Foundation and Temple University provided support for this research. Acorns and Bitter Roots 1 introduction The selection and utilization of subsistence resources filters through most aspects of prehistoric lifeways, influencing how archaeologists perceive and interpret the archaeological record. human/environment relationships can even be understood by detecting evidence of the plants and animals people targeted and the methods utilized in their exploitation. For these reasons, archaeologists rely heavily upon subsistence data in their quest to understand ancient lifeways and human/environment interactions. Ultimately, our understanding of prehistoric people and plant relationships is contingent upon our ability to detect evidence of them in...

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