The Farmers in the Del: Maize and Minsi-Lenape Foodways in the Minisink National Historic Landmark (2000 BCE- CE 1675) / Justin M Reamer.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Reamer, Justin M., author.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania. Anthropology, degree granting institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Archaeology.

Agriculture.

American history.

Anthropology--Penn dissertations.

Penn dissertations--Anthropology.

Local Subjects:

Archaeology.

Agriculture.

American history.

Anthropology--Penn dissertations.

Penn dissertations--Anthropology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (616 pages)

Distribution:

Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2023

Contained In:

Dissertations Abstracts International 85-08B.

Place of Publication:

[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] : University of Pennsylvania, 2022.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Maize was the staple crop of the Lenape across Lenapehoking when European colonizers first arrived in the region, as was the case with many Indigenous groups across Eastern North America. However, for much of their history the Minsi-Lenape practiced largely hunter-gatherer lifeways focused on mast nuts, other wild plants, and animals. In this dissertation, I assess how the Minsi-Lenape made maize their staple food over the course of the Middle and Late Woodland (ca. CE 0-1675). Archaeological discussions of similar agricultural transitions have often focused on trying to understand why these shifts occurred without first documenting how they occurred. I argue that agricultural transitions are locally and historically situated processes that encompass all practices associated with foodways including processing, storage, cooking, and disposal. Additionally, to fully understand changes to foodway practices, I argue we must emphasize how they are both reinforced and altered as people went through their daily existence. To take these considerations into account, I argue that many agricultural transitions are better conceptualized as staplization, or the process of how a food became a culinary staple. To assess how the Minsi-Lenape made maize their staple food I use data from previously excavated archaeological legacy collections and archives from the Minisink National Historic Landmark. I argue these data sources represent an underutilized resource in archaeology. The use of legacy data is also vital for the future sustainability of the discipline.After detailing my theoretical arguments for the use of legacy material and studying foodway changes through the lens of daily life, I provide a detailed overview of the 12,000-year history of Minsi-Lenape lifeways and the history of excavations of the Minisink NHLM. Using data from archaeological features, ceramics, and paleoethnobotanical remains I reconstruct how Minsi-Lenape daily foodway practices changed through time. In the final chapters, I emphasize how the central role daily practices played in both resistance to and eventually making maize the staple crop of the Minsi-Lenape. I also discuss how a focus on daily life complicates our understandings of why similar transitions occurred and return to the issue of using legacy data and discuss the benefits of such projects.

Notes:

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-08, Section: B.

Advisors: Kassabaum, Megan C.; Committee members: Erickson, Clark L.; Moore, Katherine M.; Morrison, Kathleen D.

Department: Anthropology.

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 2023.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175

ISBN:

9798381510805

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.