Benefits of maize on the modern diet are numerous and go without question. The goal in this section of the paper is to ascertain the effects that maize produced on the prehistoric diet of populations living in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. To aide in our discussion we will focus our efforts on populations before European contact. Generally the time frame we will deal with is confined to the Late Archaic 3000 to 600 B.C. through the Mississippian tradition circa A.D. 1000 thru 1400. To better understand the effect that maize had on dietary habits and the cultural environment of indeginous peoples a few basic questions will be addressed. (1) How diverse were dietary sources before the introduction of maize? (2) Were fodd stuffs and subsistence strategies altered by maize? (3) Does maize effect food storage and technology? (4) How does a maize diet effect the health of Native peoples living in the Eastern Woodlands? (5) Finally, what impact did maize have on social and communal structures? By answering these questions we can gain a clearer understanding of how maize effected the dietary habits and cultural environment of Eastern Woodland populations.
NUTRITION OF MAIZE
Maize can provide valuble carbohydrates, proteins, starchs, and fatty
acids to a diet. Carbohydrates other than starch are present in maize in
small amounts, but these are sugars that make up 1 to 3 percent of the
kernal. Proteins are an important part of the maize kernal, the overall
nutritional value of maize is determined by the amino acid make-up of its
protein. Starch ususally makes up the bulk of the maize kernal,
some 72 to 73 percent of its weight. Fatty acids are important to the
function of cell membranes, and vary in frequency within the maize kernal
from 3 to 18 percent. Maize provides important energy and proteins to the
diet. Protein utilization is termined by the presence of the amino acid
lysine. An important provider of lysine is found in beans, beans were
often grown with maize crops and enhanced the nutritional value of maize
(Cunningham 1989: Maize 1992).
GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENT OF THE EASTERN WOODLANDS
The Eastern Woodlands encompasses a large region on North America, bordered on the western most portion by the Mississippi River, spreading eastward across the continent to the Atlantic seaboard. From there it stretches southward, down from the Great Lakes region to the Gulf of Mexico. Fully, it covers nearly a third of the continental range. Within the area a wide diversity of plant species can be found. There are over 130 species of deciduous trees, birch and popular cover the northern portion, oak, hickory, beech, maple, and chest nut are found in the northeast, cypress, sweet gum and live oak are found growing in the southlands. The area during the archaic can be described as immensely forested, with a moist and humid climate that typically received forty inches of rain annually. Winters are harsh and long, seeing heavy snowfall and short growing seasons to the north. Outside of this range the woodlands injoyed long growing seasons with lands typically comprised of rich fertile soils. An average to pographical profile would be flat to rolling hill with no major obstructions to hender human interacton (Caldwell 1958: vii). The geography of the region probably played a role in shaping the development and nature ofthe indigenous cultures. Populations were often linked by commonly shared cultural traits. Trationally the forested environment provided an abundance of food resources, both plant and animal. This abundance of resources enabled the economic foundations for later development, "a sine qua non" (Caldwell 1958: viii). Regional variability, both in terms of geography and environment, gave rise to a variety of specilized economies and incresed forest efficiency in terms of subsistence by the Late Archaic (Caldwell 1958: ix).
DIVERSITY AND FOOD STUFFS
Prior to the introduction of maize, at around A.D. 175 (dates vary). Late Archaic populations consumed a diversity of food stuffs. This diversity was acheived as a result of subsistence stratigies based on foraging and collecting, mixed wtih the cultivation of native plants. From the abundance and availability of food stuffs we can state with some assurance that indigenous peoples probaly enjoyed a comfortable life-way (Yarnell 1993).
Plant foods that were dominate in the daily diet of the Late Archaic included, amaranth, paw paw, goosefoot, sunflower, chenopods, hickory nuts, walnuts, acorns, and wild grasses (Bense 1994; Spencer 1965). Grasses and seed provided valuble sources of starches and oils to the diet. Faunal evidence tell us they ate deer, fish, waterfowl, and small mammals. Throughout most of the region dietary patterns, in terms of the diversity of items consumed, undergo very little change from the Late Archaic to the Emergent Mississippian period. The only variable to this statement can be found in the quantities of items consumed (Johannessen and Rindos 1991). An intimate knowledge of the local flora and fauna afforded Archaic peoples an economy of mixed subsistence for generations. Over time populations developed a greater reliance on an economy of plant cultivation. This strategy of cultivation utilized the seasonal availablity of small grains, oil seeds cucurbits and greens. The emphasis on cultivation of native plant foods would last a thousand years or more before being replaced by the imports of maize, beans and squash (Yarnell 1993).
The wide varity of plant foods utilized by the Late Archaic peoples is well represented in the archaeological record. Richard Yarnell, has documented numerous examples of seed remains from excavations in the Tennessee Valley region, particulary at the Higgs site. Large portions of the seed remains from the Higgs site predate the introduction of maize. Radiocarbon dates from this site have placed the seed remains in an age range of between 900-1000 B.C. (Walthall 1980). Earlier dates, ranging from around 2300 to 2000 B.C. have been reported from the sites of Phillips Spring in Missouri, and Napoleon Hollow in Illinois. Based upon these dates, Yarnell (1993) has suggested that at least a dozen plant species were domesticated and plant husbanry was a well established subsistence strategy dating back to the Late Archaic. Accordingly one can see that cultivation of plant foods is praticed successfully, before the introductin of maize in the Eastern Woodlands.
DIETARY SHIFT
To better interpret how maize effected the dietary habits of Woodland peoples one must look for changes in dietary patterns as they are expressed over time. When maize entered the Woodlands region there are many cultures making seasonal use of nut meats for a large portion of their diet (Chapman and Crites 1987). Nut foods such a acorns, hickory nuts, and walnut are collected and processed into vegetable oils and food pastes. Processing nut meats into paste allowed the finished product tobe stored over the winter months for those periods of shortage. Vital protiens and fats provided by the nut meats were an importnt addition to the fall and winter diets (Walthall 1980).
We can see a shift in dietary patterns when we examine nut shell frequency. As maize consumtion increases, nut-shell frequency decreases. This pattern is revealed by the examination of nut shell remains recovered from archaeological sites in the Woodlands area. Nut shells provide a good indicator when looking for markers concerning those transitions in foodways. Margaret Scarry has demonstrated that nut procurment did decrease as maize production and consumtion increased. Her studies on nut shell remains from sites in the Black Warrior Valley, Alabama have shown that between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1050 economic changes mentions above did occurr. These changes reflect a greater emphases on maize consumption and a decrease in nut procurment. From these results one can infer the absence of nut shell in the arhcaoelogical record as being the direct result of maize production and consumtion (Scarry 1993).
Other studies have confirmed the evidence and provided additional information concerning paleonutritional patterns also supported by the archaeological record. The increased use of maize coupled with the lessening degree of nut meat consumtion can be tracked by carbon isotope studies on human bones. Isotope studies have provided data that shows maize played little if any role in the daily diet prior to the Late Woodland period of about A.D. 800 thru 1000 A.D. These dates fall within the parameters of Scarry's results from Black Warrior Valley. Archaeological and isotope studies have clearly shown that increased maize consumption does occurr contemporaneously with the decline of nut procurment. This balance of diversity between native crops and human populaions allowed for greater flexibility in relation to environmental changes. So once a populatio had become depentant on maize they have severly reduced the number of options they could employ in responce to those environmental changes (Holly and Woods 1991).
LOSS OF DIVERSITY AND ITS EFFECTS ON HEALTH
Because of maize's ability to produce higher yields than native crops there was a marked increase in population density. Prosumably population density would have increased until the new carrying capacity of the land is equaled by higher yields provided by maize. Human populations at the peak of carrying capacity would have been at risk from any deviation in harvest yields. If maize production failed to meet the demands of the population the end result would be famine. Since they have lost the ability to utilize native palnts because of specilaization in maize cultivation the land cannot carry the heightened load. Where as prior to maize cultivation short falls in food stuffs, could have been off set by other crops injoying good years, or populations may have moved to richer environments. This is a limited possibility because of increased sedentism and larger numbers of people (Holly and Woods 1991).
Famine was just one of the negative side effects resulting from greater dependency on maize. Such effects would have included, retarded growth associated with malnutrition, anemia caused by lack of iron in the diet, pellagra, greater risk of infectious disease, also tooth decay was quite common. Evidence for such things has been found in maize producing areas of the Northern Woodlands. At Dickson Mounds a site in the Illinois and Ohio Valley region, studies conducted on 800 skeletal remains confirm the adverse effects of malnutrition resulting form periods of famine. When physical anthropologist compared post-maize remains to those predating maize agriculture they found a "fifty percent increase in enamel defects, a fourfold increase in iron-deficiency anemia, and a threefold rise in bone lesions reflecting infectious disease in general and an increase in degenerative conditions of the spine." The later accorrding to Jared Diamond (pp. 65, 1987) probably resulting from periods of intense physical labor for long periods of time. Agriculture comes with a price. C. Margaret Scarry also reports that skeletal remains from sites in Missouri and Arkansas show that around A.D.700 there is an increase of dental caries in the population. She indicates this is due to th high content of starch in the populations diet brought on by eating lots of cron (Scarry 1993). This demonstrates that as variation in the diet decreases the consumption of maize increases, resulting in higher fequences of malnutrition and its various side effects.
Adverse effects resulting from a maize diet are not only manifested in degenerative diseases, but in endoparasitic infection as well. Paleofeces studies conducted on coprolites recovered at Big Bone Cave, Tennessee have enabled the investication into the health conditions of emergent horticultural societies in the eastern sections of North America. The coprolites are dated from the Early Woodland period, 2500-2000 years B.P. and are relevant to the understanding of community health patterns resulting from increased sedentism. Pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis), intestinal foundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), were among some of the parasitic species recovered from fecal remains taken during archaeological excavations. A weevil larva species associated with the seeds of legumes suggest that a certain amount of food stuffs were being stored for later use. An increase in sedentary patterns indicate a greater reliance on cultivation and agricultural products. As population density rose, maize production intensified, resulting in poorer nutritional values, manifesting themselves in malnourishment and environmental stress (Faulkner 1991).
SUMMARY
By A.D. 1000-1400, maize agriculture was present in varying degrees through out most of the southeast and north eastern regions of the Woodlands area. Subsistence economies had changed from a reliance on native plant cultivation in the Late Archaic, to a greater emphasis on maize agriculture by the Mississippian period. The only major change in preexisting patterns was the inclusion of maize and its subsequent replacement of some starchy seed plants and nut meats (Blitz 1993). There is sufficient evidence to document the dietary effects caused by the introduction of maize to the complex. The degree with which Late Archaic peoples relied on nuts and starchy seeds show a marked decline over time. Skeletal remains have shown signs of malnutrition resulting from a diet heavily reliant on maize (Scarry 1993). Maize agriculture had become the corner stone of a complex series of changes that developed and spread throughout the Eastern North America. Large sites such as Cahokia, and Moundville in Alabama reflect the importance of maize in prolonged sedentary living (Bense 1994). Maize grew slowly from a minor cultigen introduced sometime during the Middle Woodland, to ultimately manifest its influence in all areas of subsistence in the Eastern Woodlands (Yarnell 1993).
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