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Maize, Fish, and Deer: Investigating Dietary Staples among Ancestral Huron-Wendat Villages, as Documented from Tooth Samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Susan Pfeiffer ,
Judith C. Sealy ,
Ronald F. Williamson ,
Suzanne Needs-Howarth  and
Louis Lesage
Susan Pfeiffer*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Canada M5S 2S2; Department of Archaelogy, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, South Africa 7701 Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, South Africa 7701
Judith C. Sealy*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, South Africa 7701
Ronald F. Williamson*
Affiliation:
Archaeological Services Inc., 528 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Canada, M5S 2P9
Suzanne Needs-Howarth*
Affiliation:
Perca Zooarchaeological Research, Toronto; Trent University Archaeological Research Centre, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Canada, K9J 7B8 (, percazooarch@gmail.com)
Louis Lesage
Affiliation:
Nation Huronne-Wendat, Bureau du Nionwentsïo, 255 Place Michel-Laveau, Wendake, Canada, G0A 4V0
*
(susan.pfeiffer@utoronto.ca, corresponding author)
(Judith.sealy@uct.ac.za)
(rwilliamson@asiheritage.ca)
(Louis.lesage@cnhw.qc.ca)
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Abstract

Following the entry of Zea mays to northeast North America, Northern Iroquoian populations expanded their numbers and range. Isotopic values from bone collagen have shown fluctuations in reliance on this dietary staple. With permission of the Huron-Wendat Nation of Wendake, Quebec, we measured δ13Cenamel, δ13Cdentine and δ15Ndentine from 167 permanent teeth, retained before reburial of their ancestral skeletons, and δ13Ccollagene and δ15Ncollagene from adhering bone (n = 53). Enamel values encapsulate diet from ca. 1.5 to 4 years of age; dentine values reflect later childhood. Teeth are from 16 ancestral Huron-Wendat sites in southern Ontario. Isotopic values show consistent reliance on maize from early fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, with higher reliance in the seventeenth century—the time of contact with Europeans and disruptive changes. We show a difference between the diets of children and adults; children consumed more maize and less animal protein. Whitetailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) did not exploit maize fields, reflecting hunters’ exploitation of distant regions. New values from fish species (n = 21) are pooled with prior data, demonstrating diverse C and N stable isotope patterns. American eel (Anguilla rostrata) is particularly variable. Dietary protein sources were variable compared to the stability of maize: a reliable source of carbohydrate food energy across four centuries.

Suite à l’apparition du maïs (Zea mays) dans le Nord-est de l’Amérique du Nord, les populations iroquoiennes du nord ont accru leurs effectifs et élargi leur territoire. Avec la permission de la Nation huronne-wendat de Wendake, au Québec, nous avons mesuré δ13Cémail, δ13Cdentine et δ15Ndentine de 167 dents ainsi que δ13Ccollagène et δ15Ncollagène à partir de 53 échantillons d’os adhérant à ces dents, lesquelles ont été obtenues avant la réinhumation de leurs squelettes ancestraux. Les valeurs d’émail se rapportent à l’alimentation de la petite enfance (environ 1,5 à 4 ans) tandis que les valeurs de la dentine reflètent plutôt l’enfance tardive. Les dents proviennent de 16 sites du territoire ancestral des hurons-wendat du sud de l’Ontario. Les valeurs des isotopes démontrent une dépendance constante du maïs du début du 14ème au 16ème siècle, avec une plus grande dépendance au 17 ème siècle, soit la période de contact avec les Européens et où surviennent des changements sociétaux significatifs. Nous démontrons une différence entre les régimes alimentaires des enfants et des adultes, où les jeunes enfants consomment plus de maïs et moins de protéines animales que les adultes. Nous n’observons aucune évidence isotopique que le cerf de Virginie (Odocoileus virginianus) exploite les champs de maïs. Nous démontrons plutôt que les chasseurs exploitent cette ressource dans des régions plus éloignées. Vingt-et-une nouvelles valeurs ont été regroupées à des données antérieures pour fournir une meilleure évaluation des modèles d’isotopes stables de C et N dans différentes espèces de poissons exploités. L’anguille d’Amérique (Anguilla rostrata) démontre une grande variabilité. Les sources de protéines alimentaires étaient variables comparativement à la stabilité du maïs, ce dernier semble avoir été une source fiable d’énergie sous forme de glucides pendant quatre siècles.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , July 2016 , pp. 515 - 532
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2016 

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