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Prehistoric Diet in the Northern Southwest: Macroplant Remains from Four Corners Feces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Paul E. Minnis
Paul E. Minnis*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019
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Abstract

A large corpus of data on plant remains from prehistoric feces yields patterns of prehistoric Four Corners Anasazi diet. A general stability of plant-food consumption continues from at least the Basketmaker III through Pueblo III periods, with corn being the one consistently common fecal remain. Other agricultural plants—both crops and weeds—are important throughout the region. There is temporal and spatial variation in the types and abundance of macroplant remains recovered from these feces. Temporally distinct assemblages from the same study area are more similar than contemporary assemblages from different areas. This indicates the importance of the local resource structure (both natural and human maintained) as a major factor influencing dietary composition, even within a relatively small region such as the Four Corners of the northern Southwest.

Résumé

Résumé

Un cuerpo grande de datos que tratan de los restos de plantas que se encuentran en las heces dan muestras de la dieta prehistórica de los Anasazi de Four Corners. Una estabilidad general del consumo de plantas continua desde las etapas Basketmaker III hasta Pueblo III. El maiz es el resto fecal que las etapas tienen en común. Otras plantas agrícolas tanto cultivas como hierba, tienen importancia por toda la región. Hay una variación temporal y espacial en los tipos y la abundancia de los restos macroplantas que se han recubierto de estas heces. Asemblajes distintas temporalmente de la misma area de estudios son más similares que los asemblajes contemporáneos que vienen de areas distintas. Esto muestra la importancia de la estructura de los recursos locales (o bien naturales o los mantenidos por los seres) como factor principal que influye la composición dietética aunque dentro de una región relativamente pequeña como la de Four Corners en la parte norte del sudoeste de los Estados Unidos.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , July 1989 , pp. 543 - 563
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1989

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