Prehistoric Indians Research Articles

The Prehistoric Indian Ayurvedic Rice Shashtika Is an Extant Early Domesticate With a Distinct Selection History.

Fully domesticated rice is considered to have emerged in India at approximately 2000 B.C., although its origin in India remains a contentious issue. The fast-growing 60-days rice strain described in the Vedic literature (1900–500 B.C.) and termed Shashtika (Sanskrit) or Njavara (Dravidian etymology) in Ayurveda texts including the seminal texts Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita (circa 660–1000 B.C.) is a reliable extant strain among the numerous strains described in the Ayurveda literature. We here report the results of the phylogenetic analysis of Njavara accessions in relation to the cultivars belonging to the known ancestral sub-groups indica, japonica, aromatic, and aus in rice gene pool and the populations of the progenitor species Oryza rufipogon using genetic and gene genealogical methods. Based on neutral microsatellite markers, Njavara produced a major clade, which comprised of minor clades corresponding to the genotypic classes reported in Njavara germplasm, and was distinct from that were produced by the ancestral sub-groups. Further we performed a phylogenetic analysis using the combined sequence of 19 unlinked EST-based sequence tagged site (STS) loci with proven potential in inferring rice phylogeny. In the phylogenetic tree also the Njavara genotypic classes were clearly separated from the ancestral sub-groups. For most loci the genealogical analysis produced a high frequency central haplotype shared among most of the rice samples analyzed in the study including Njavara and a set of O. rufipogon accessions. The haplotypes sharing pattern with the progenitor O. rufipogon suggests a Central India–Southeast Asia origin for Njavara. Results signify that Njavara is genetically distinct in relation to the known ancestral sub-groups in rice. Further, from the phylogenetic features together with the reported morphological characteristics, it is likely that Njavara is an extant early domesticate in Indian rice gene pool, preserved in pure form over millennia by the traditional prudence in on-farm selection using 60-days maturity, because of its medicinal applications.

Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina bauri) on Ancient, Anthropogenic Shell Work Islands in the Ten Thousand Islands Mangrove Estuary, Florida, USA

Abstract We investigated the ecology, distribution, and density of Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri Taylor, 1895) populations in the Ten Thousand Islands (TTI), an estuarine mangrove ecosystem in southwestern Florida. The distribution and ecology of Box Turtles in this region and this habitat type have not been previously investigated. The study area encompassed 18 islands and included five natural islands, 13 man-made shell islands, and adjacent mangrove environments. Two hundred and twenty-nine live Box Turtles and 95 Box Turtle shells were detected a total of 409 times on seven of the 18 islands. The seven islands where Box Turtles were detected ranged in size from 7.3 to 31.0 ha and were ancient shell work sites, apparently constructed by the Calusa or other Prehistoric Indians approximately 1,900 to 900 years before present (ybp). Box Turtles were not detected on natural islands. We detected Box Turtles primarily in subtropical hardwood hammock forests, but we detected 10% of turtles in m...

Native Americans in the Susquehanna River Valley, Past and Present and In the Shadow of Kinzua: The Seneca Nation of Indians since World War II

Native Americans in the Susquehanna River Valley, Past and Present and In the Shadow of Kinzua: The Seneca Nation of Indians since World War II

On the challenges and benefits of indoor archaeology: 15 years at the Archeodome (Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, South Dakota)

Field archaeology is normally associated with outdoor excavation and exposure to the natural environment. Archaeological excavations have adapted to a wide spectrum of these conditions, but the recent prominence of archaeological sites as tourist attractions and educational facilities has occasionally led to dramatically different environments for the archaeological recovery, interpretation, and preservation of evidence, including facilities that permit indoor excavation. This article explores 15 years of experience at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village in South Dakota. An “Archeodome” covering part of the site represents a non-traditional excavation and preservation environment that presents considerable benefits and challenges for archaeologists. The structure provides the basis for evaluating the nature of indoor excavation within its archaeological and educational context and provides a cautionary note for archaeologists, heritage groups, tourist boards, and others interested in the preservation of archaeological sites. Though this article focuses on the Mitchell site, the information reported has broad implications for sites where structures cover archaeological deposits.

A bone grease processing station at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village: Archaeological evidence for the exploitation of bone fats

Recent excavations at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, an Initial Middle Missouri site in Mitchell, South Dakota have revealed a large, clay-lined feature filled with fractured and fragmented bison bones. Fracture and fragmentation analysis, along with taphonomic evidence, suggests that the bones preserved within the feature represent evidence of prehistoric bone marrow and bone grease exploitation. Further, the character of the feature suggests that it served as a bone grease processing station. Bone fat exploitation is an activity that is frequently cited as a causal explanation for the nature of many fractured and fragmented bone assemblages in prehistory, and zooarchaeological assemblages have frequently been studied as evidence of bone fat exploitation. The Mitchell example provides some of the first direct, in-situ archaeological evidence of a bone grease processing feature, and this interpretation is sustained by substantial analytical evidence suggesting bone fat exploitation. This new evidence provides a clearer concept of the nature of bone fat exploitation in prehistory as well as an indication of the scale and degree to which bone grease exploitation occurred at the Mitchell site. Finally, this research demonstrates the importance of careful zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis for the interpretation of both artifactual remains as well as archaeological features.

Prehistoric Indian Burial Mounds and Native American History

The Author Peggy Leyva Conley takes the reader into the History of Sumner County, Tennessee - Prehistoric Indian Mounds and Native American History. This includes the Study of Archeology, Anthropology, Genealogy, Research, Data-Collecting, Science, Genetics, DNA Sequencing, Culture and History in the Scientific World of Native American History findings.

Open-area excavations at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, South Dakota (A.D. 1000–1150): New interpretations of site function from interdwelling areas

Excavations at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village (A.D. 1000–1150), an Initial Middle Missouri period Plains earthen lodge village site in eastern South Dakota, revealed new data regarding the lifeways and cultural systems of its prehistoric inhabitants. While extensive excavations had been conducted at the site and at a large number of other Middle Missouri sites prior to the present project, our open-area approach revealed new and significantly different information. New features in the areas between the dwellings were uncovered, features that are rarely studied in the context of the Middle Missouri cultural tradition. Other finds included Mississippian-influenced ceramics, Avonlea projectile points, and ceremonial goods that indicate long-distance cultural interaction. The discovery of large, complex features in the interdwelling areas of the site changes our understanding of Middle Missouri lifeways and settlement structure.

A Chronology of Bone Marrow and Bone Grease Exploitation at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village

Bone marrow and bone grease processing at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village (39DV2) has long been suspected but was only recently demonstrated scientifically. The current research details the analysis of fragmented bone assemblages from different points in the chronological sequence of the Mitchell site and establishes the presence of extensive bone marrow processing activities throughout the cultural occupation of the village. This work additionally details the development of an increasingly extensive bone grease processing industry during the middle and latter periods of human occupation at the site.

The Use of Marah Macrocarpus by the Prehistoric Indians of Coastal Southern California

A review of the available data from macrobotanical analyses conducted on prehistoric archaeological sites found in coastal southern California indicates the ubiquitous nature of carbonized Marah macrocarpus (Greene) Greene (wild cucumber) seed coat fragments. Their recovery from cultural deposits in carbonized form indicates prehistoric use; however, all parts of the plant are toxic, and plants that typically function in medicinal or ritualistic roles are rarely recovered as part of the macrobotanical assemblage. In an attempt to shed some light on the possible prehistoric uses of wild cucumber by the native peoples of coastal southern California, this paper examines the current distribution of Marah, the archaeological occurrence of M. macrocarpus, as well as pertinent biochemical and morphological characteristics of the plant, particularly the seed. Finally, ethnobotanical accounts of the use of Marah by the native peoples of the Pacific west are discussed in light of current research on the physical properties and biological activities of various compounds found in Marah. This information is offered as a guide for future archaeological investigations of the possible uses of the taxon by the prehistoric Indians of coastal southern California and elsewhere.

Indian Adaptations in Flooded Regions of South America

Erland Nordenskiold was a pioneering Swedish anthropologist who undertook explorations in eastern Bolivia between 1901 and 1914. This often-cited article was originally published in German in 1916. He describes the seasonal flooding of the Mojos savannas and how prehistoric Indians adapted to inundation by constructing canals, dams, causeways, mounds, and raised fields, the first academic to do so. Other prehistoric hydraulic works and earthworks in lowland South America are briefly reported. Included is a letter from the anthropologist Koch-Griinberg suggesting that the section of the Casiquiare Canal which connects the Rio Orinoco with the Rio Negro and the Amazon is not natural but rather was dug by Indians.

Accelerated Soil Erosion of a Mississippian Mound at Cahokia Site in Illinois

About 1000 years ago prehistoric Indians built over 120 earthen mounds, including Mound 57, at the Cahokia site near Collinsville, IL. Loamy and clayey soil materials were apparently placed on the mound before 1100 CE by people of the Middle Mississippian culture. The objectives of this study were: (i) to determine the extent of soil formation during the past 850 yr, (ii) to determine the time period, extent, and direction of tillage, and (iii) to determine the erosion phase of soil on a mound and the extent of soil loss from erosion. The high amount and regular decrease in organic C with depth in 16 soil profiles suggested that since 1925 no tillage and little soil erosion had occurred on the sideslopes of M57. In the sideslope and footslope positions on the north, south, and east transects, the fine‐loamy soil materials with fly ash were thickest suggesting that any tillage translocation and soil erosion must have occurred after 1864. This resulted in the current elongated south to north axis which was parallel to the tract boundary and the direction of plowing. The amounts and distribution of the fly ash in the upper 20 cm indicated that cultivation between 1864 and 1925 may have mixed some fly ash into the 20‐cm deep tillage zone. Fly‐ash content of soil layers to the 40‐cm depth on the footslope was primarily a result of fly ash being deposited after the 1850s on the original soil surface and the subsequent deposition of sediment rich in fly ash.

Radiocarbon and Oxidizable Carbon Ratio Dates from Archaeological Sites in East Texas, Part II

This paper presents a second compilation of recently obtained radiocarbon and oxidizable carbon ratio dates obtained from archaeological sites in East Texas. An analysis of the age ranges in the more than 585 dates from East Texas archaeological sites indicate that most pertain to prehistoric and protohistoric Caddoan Indian occupations, particularly the Early (A.D. 1000-1200) and Middle Caddoan (A.D. 1200-1400) periods when prehistoric Caddoan settlements were widely distributed throughout the region.

Pueblos: Prehistoric Indian Cultures of the Southwest

Pueblos: Prehistoric Indian Cultures of the Southwest

Pueblos: Prehistoric Indian Cultures of the Southwest

Pueblos: Prehistoric Indian Cultures of the Southwest

Exploring Fort Ancient Culture: Dayton's Prehistoric Indian Village

Exploring Fort Ancient Culture: Dayton's Prehistoric Indian Village

Fossil Remains of 28,000-Year-Old Hominids from Sri Lanka

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A Study of Seven Southeastern Glyph Caves

The ceremonial use of caves by prehistoric Indians in the Southeast was firmly established by the discovery and study of Mud Glyph Cave in Tennessee which contained hundreds of drawings including several Southern Cult motifs. This study of seven additional petroglyph and mud glyph caves in the Southeast has confirmed Mississippian religious activities in certain caves and suggests that, although at least one of these caves may have been the setting for ceremonial art as early as the Late Archaic period, caves during this earlier period appear to have been primarily explored and used for mineral extraction. While the meaning of the later Mississippian glyphs will continue to elude us until more decorated caverns are found, the discovery of Southern Cult motifs in caves dating as early as A.D. 1000–1300 in remote areas of the Southeast suggests an early dispersal of this art and association with underground ceremonialism.

Helminth Remains from Prehistoric Indian Coprolites on the Colorado Plateau

Examination of coprolites excavated from archaeological sites in the Americas demonstrates excellent preservation of helminth eggs and, in some cases, larvae. To gain an understanding of helminth parasitism in prehistory on the Colorado Plateau of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, 319 coprolites from 5 archaeological sites were analyzed. Helminth eggs and larvae were recovered after the coprolites were rehydrated, screened, and sedimented. At a sixth site, soils excavated from 5 rooms used as latrine areas were processed with palynological techniques. The results indicate that all but 1 of the prehistoric populations examined were infected with intestinal worms. The helminths implicated are Enterobius vermicularis, Trichuris trichiura, cf. Ascaris lumbricoides, cf. Trichostrongylus sp., cf. Strongyloides sp., taeniid cestodes, and hymenolepidid cestodes. The study suggests that prehistoric hunter-gatherer peoples carried fewer helminth parasites than agriculturalists. At 1 site, it appears that increased helminth parasitism preceded abandonment of the village.

Nutritive value of maygrass,Phalaris caroliniana

Maygrass, Phalaris caroliniana,a native annual grass used as a food resource by prehistoric Indians of the eastern United States, was analyzed for nutritive value. Protein nutrient density of maygrass grains is higher than that for other starchy seeds, oily seeds, and nuts commonly found in paleoethnobotanical samples from the region. Maygrass grains are a good source of several vitamins and minerals, especially thiamin and dietary iron. The amino acid in shortest supply is lysine. Nutritional quality of the grains may have served as an inducement for its protection or cultivation.

Prehistoric Indians of the Southeast: Archaeology of Alabama and the Middle South. John A. Walthall University of Alabama Press, University, Alabama, 1980. xii + 299 pp., illus., biblio., index. $22.50 (cloth).

Prehistoric Indians of the Southeast: Archaeology of Alabama and the Middle South. John A. Walthall University of Alabama Press, University, Alabama, 1980. xii + 299 pp., illus., biblio., index. $22.50 (cloth). - Volume 47 Issue 3