Starch Remains and Stone Boiling in the Texas Panhandle Part I: The Pipeline, Corral, and Pavilion Sites

Abstract

The ubiquity of burned rock features in Plains archaeological sites is a testament to their importance in understanding subsistence throughout the region prior to the Plains Village period. Starch residue analysis of a suite of artifacts at three sites on the Landis property in the Texas panhandle has yielded information that not only aids in the understanding of the function of these features, but also serves as a test study for the utility of this method in Plains sites. Starch studies from various burned rock features that include both intact heating elements and discard piles indicate that stone boiling was used to cook wildrye (Elymus spp.), and that this practice occurred over a period of at least 2400 years.