NORTHEAST ANTHROPOLOGY
Abstracts: Issue 59

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Number 59 Fall 1999

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The editorial comment and errata for issue number 59 can be found at the end of this page.

ARTICLES

Pages

1–22 The Faunal Assemblage from the Engelbert Site, Nichols, New York: An Analysis of Subsistence and Paleoecology

Niels Rinehart

Subsistence and paleoecological analyses of zooarchaeological collections are often based on ratio level data, despite the unknown relationship between the sample and target populations. This study uses the faunal assemblage from the Engelbert site to critically evaluate the derivation of ordinal level data for subsistence analysis and nominal level data for paleoecological analysis. The Engelbert site was excavated under less than ideal circumstances, resulting in little contextual integrity for the collection. Despite these limitations, some general statements can be made about the assemblage and its relationship to other published accounts of faunal assemblages from prehistoric New York State.

Analyses de la subsistence et de paleoécologie des collections zooarchéologiques fréquemment utilisent les données en échelle de ratio, sans connaître le rapport entre l’échantillon et la population total. Cette étude utilize l’assemblage faunique du site Englebert afin qu’on puisse evaluer l’utilité les données à l’échelle ordinale dans les investigations de la subsistence, et les données à l’échelle nominale dans les études de paleoécologie. Le site Englebert était fouillé dans les circonstances peu idéaux, donc ils ne se connaissent guère des contextes archéologiques dans lesquels ils se sont encontrés les ossments de la collection. Malgré ce problème, ils se present quelques conclusions generales sur l’assemblage en le comparant avec d’autres assemblages préhistoriques de l’état de New York.

23–46 Evidence for Prehistoric Maize Horticulture at the Pine Hill Site, Deerfield, Massachusetts

Elizabeth S. Chilton, Tonya Baroody Largy, and Kathryn Curran

The degree of reliance on maize horticulture by New England Algonquians during the Late Woodland Period (ad 1000–1600) is a subject of debate among archaeologists in the region. Archaeological evidence from the Pine Hill site (19FR17), Deerfield, Massachusetts, indicates that while maize was apparently stored by native peoples in subterranean pits, it was not necessarily a staple food; there is, in fact, more evidence to suggest that maize was a dietary supplement in the middle Connecticut Valley (Massachusetts portion) during the Late Woodland period. Evidence from the Pine Hill site and other sites underscores the need for attention to diversity in subsistence-settlement economies of Woodland peoples.

Il existe un debate sur l’importance de l’agriculture du maïs dans la vie des Algonquiens de Nouvelle Angleterre durant le Sylvicole supérieur (ad 1000–1600). Données archéologiques du site Pine Hill (19FR17), à Deerfield, Massachusetts, suggèrent que tandis que le maïs était approvisioné par les peuples autochtones dans les fosses souterrains, il ne s’agissait pas un aliment indispensable. En effet, il es plus probable que le maïs a servi comme un aliment complementaire dans la vallée Conneticut (portion Massachusetts) pendant la période Sylvicole supérieur. Les résultats du site Pine Hill et autres soulignent la necessité de concentrer nos investigations dans la diversité économique des peuples du Sylvicole.

47–64 Integrating Sea Level History and Geomorphology in Targeted Archaeological Site Survey: The Gould Site (EeBi-42), Port au Choix, Newfoundland

M. A. P. Renouf and Trevor Bell

Aspects of relative sea level history, paleo-landscapes and culture history were incorporated into a model of Maritime Archaic Indian (MAI) site location at Port au Choix, northeastern Canada. Results of a diatom analysis of lake cores indicated that sea levels in the area have been falling since the beginning of the Holocene. Systematic interviews conducted with local residents corroborated this, indicating that MAI sites are located at higher rather than lower elevation. The locus with the highest potential for MAI settlement was subsequently located using a list of ideal site location preferences within the appropriate elevation range. Subsequent judgementally placed test trenches revealed a MAI site, thus illustrating how the application of archaeology and geomorphology together can greatly aid in efficient site detection.

Ils s’ incorporaient analyses de l’histoire des nivaux de l’océan, le paisage préhistorique et l’histoire culturel au modèle de l’emplacement des sites Autochtones Archaiques Maritimes (AAM) à Port au Choix, dans le Nord-est canadien. Les résultats d’une analyse de la diatomée dans les sédiments limniques révélaient que les nivaux du mar avaient baissé depuis le commencement de l’Holocène. Entrevues avec residents locaux confirmaient la même chose, que les sites AAM se localisent à des altitudes plutôt supérieures que inférieures. En suivant, il s’est identifiquée la zone avec la plus haute potential de contenir un site AAM selon les critères d’emplacement des sites en dedans de la rangée d’altitude indiquée par les résultats anteriéurs. Plusieurs sondages ont révélé un site AAM, ainsi soulignant l’importance d’intégrer l’étude de la géomorfologie à l’archéologie dans le relèvement archéologique.

BOOK REVIEW ESSAY

65–71 Recent Contributions to Algonquian Linguistics

Regna Darnell

BOOK REVIEWS

73–74 Race and Affluence: An Archaeology of African America and Consumer Culture (Paul R. Mullins)

Terrence W. Epperson

74–75 The Archaeological Northeast (Mary Ann Levine, Kenneth E. Sassaman, and Michael S. Nassaney, editors)

James B. Petersen

75–76 An Archaeology of Manners: The Polite World of the Merchant Elite of Colonial Massachusetts (Lorinda B. R. Goodwin)

LouAnn Wurst

EDITORIAL COMMENT

With this issue we are close to being back on schedule with Northeast Anthropology. Vol. 60 is in production and should be out by the end of the year. Once again, we extend our thanks for the patience of our subscribers. The journal continues to see wide variety in its submissions, which is reflected in this issue. As usual, we are eager to see the results of the research of our readership, so please think of Northeast Anthropology as an outlet for your work.
As noted in the last issue, minor changes are underway. Our budget will now tolerate the practice of sending 20 free reprints of an article to the author (or senior author, only, for multiple-authored works, sorry). We also are hoping to do the occasional thematic issue. There is one now in preparation that addresses health and medical issues in 19th-century poor houses, based on documentary and osteological evidence. Please feel free to contact me with any innovative ideas you might have for our journal.

Charles Cobb

Errata
Northeast Anthropology, Volume 58, Fall 1999, Robert M. Rosenswig, Nineteenth Century Urbanism and Public Health: The Evidence of Twelve Privies in Albany, New York, page 38, photo 6, was printed upside down.