Lawrence Kaplan

Archeology and domestication in American Phaseolus (Beans)

SummaryThe systematic and economic botany of American beans is discussed. Four species have been important food plants the main dietary role of which has been as a complementary ammo acid source in combination with corn. Beans were prominent among agricultural products cited in tribute lists in pre-Hispanic times.Some important morphological features distinguishing the domesticates from the wild species are: increase in seed size; decrease in impermeability of seeds to water intake; reduction in fleshiness of the root system and loss of perennialism; reduction in shattering of the pods and violent seed dissemination. For the most part, the archeological materials now available do not document these changes. Excavations in the Pacific highlands and coastal areas of Mexico may be expected to yield transitional bean materials.Archeological bean distributions do show that, unlike maize, varietal characteristics of beans have remained remarkably stable from their earliest records to their most recent. P. vulgaris, the common bean, was domesticated in Mexico by 7000 years ago; I’. coccineus, the runner bean, by 2200 years ago. P. acutifolius var. latifolius, the tepary, by 5000 years ago; P. lunatus, the sievas, or small Limas by 1400–1800 years ago, the big Limas by 5300 years ago in Peru. The present distribution of the tepary is a much contracted relic one. The tepary has been largely replaced by common beans. This process of replacement continues at the present time. Mexican sievas and Peruvian big Limas are separated throughout their archeological records, a fact that adds weight to the view that these are independently domesticated conspecific geographic races.In the Tehuacan Valley, some kinds of beans and corn may have been domesticated in association with one another. Elsewhere, early records of corn and beans do not coincide. Although beans are pre-ceramic in the Southwest, Tamaulipas, Tehuacan and Coastal Peru, they did not become abundant in the Southwest and Middle America until agriculture was well established for some time.

Phaseolus (Fabaceae) in Archaeology: AMS

Beans of several species were domesticated in tropical America thousands of years ago, to be combined with maize and other crops in highly successful New World agricultural systems. Radiocarbon dates on charcoal associated with Phaseolus in archaeological sites, in Mexico and Peru indicated the presence of domesticated beans as early as 10 000 years ago. However, direct dates on the beans and pods themselves by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) do not provide evidence for the cultivation in Mexico of common beans, P. vulgaris, and teparies, P. acutifolius, before about 2500 B.P. in the Tehuacán Valley, and of common beans about 1300 years ago in Tamaulipas and 2100 years ago in the Valley of Oaxaca. AMS dates support the presence in the Peruvian Andes of domesticated common beans by about 4400 B.P. and lima beans by about 3500 B. P. and lima beans by about 5600 B.P. in the coastal valleys of Peru. The late appearance of common and lima beans in the Central Highlands of Mesoamerica supports the importance of missing evidence that may be obtained from prehistoric agricultural sites in western Mexico and in Central America which are located within the range of the wild populations of these species. Additionally, biochemical studies of subsamples of the dated specimens should be carried out in order to extend the molecular evidence for the independent domestication of North and South American common beans.ResumenHace miles de anos atrds, varias especies de frijoles se domesticaron en el trópico americano. Se combinaron con el maíz y otras plantas en un sistema de agricultura muy exitoso y particular al Nuevo Mundo. Las fechas radiocarbónicas, extraídos de muestras de carbín de madera, asociado con Phaseolus en locales arqueológicos en México y el Perú, señalaron el cultivo de frijoles domesticados hace 10 000 años. Sin embargo, mediciones directas tomadas en los frijoles y vainas, usando el acelerador atómico (AMS), no dan evidencia del cultivo del fríjol común (P. vulgaris) y teparies (P. acutifolius) en México antes de 2500 años a.p. en el Valle de Tehuacán, y del fríjol común antes de alrededor de 1300 años a.p. en Tamaulipas y antes de 2100 años a.p. en el Valle de Oaxaca. Otras mediciones directas (tomadas con el AMS) apoyan la presencia de los frijoles domesticados en los Andes de Perú alrededor de 4400 a.p. en la sierra del Perú, y las habas de lima cerca de 3500 a.p., y las habas de lima alrededor de 5600 b.p. en los valles costales del Perú. La llegada tardia del frijol común y habas de lima en la Sierra Central de Mesoamérica apoya la importancia de cualquier evidencia que se pudiera obtener de locales agricultural s prehistóricos en la parte oeste de México y en América Central, los quales estan localizados dentro de la distribución de las poblaciones genéticas silvestres de estas especies. En adición, estudios bioquimicos de muestras subsidiarias de los espécimenes fechados se deberia hacer para extender la evidencia molecular para la domesticación independiente de estas cultivos en America del Norte o del Sur.

Cereal Grain Phytoliths of Southwest Asia and Europe

Phytoliths from cereal grains are classified into 23 types based on cellular origin and morphological details. Description of the types are illustrated by scanning electron micrographs and line drawings; both spodograms and cell-free preparations were utilized. Distribution of the 20 types recognizable by optical microscopy is given for 43 cereal species. Combinations of these types may be characteristic of specific taxa.

Bibliography of American archaeological plant remains (II).

Data relating to archaeological botany are often omitted or difficult to locate in the standard bibliographic sources of archaeology because the botanical component may be secondary to the principal intent of archaeological publications. Similarly, bibiliographic abstracting and indexing services in the natural sciences do not include archaeological journals and monographs. This bibliography is an effort to ameliorate this shortcoming, especially for sources concerned with South America and primarily for the period from 1966 through 1983.ResumenDatos sobre la botánica arqueológica están frecuentamente ausentes o son dificiles de localizar en los recursos bibliográficos de arqueología por razón de la imnportancia inferior de los datos botánicos en esta literatura. Igualmente, recursos bibliográficos en las ciencias naturales no incluyen revistas ni monografias arqueológicas. Por el medio de este bibliografia tratamos de mejorar esta situación especialmente en cl caso de, América del Sur el el periodo entre 1966 y 1983.

Botanical remains from a seventeenth-century privy at the Cross Street Back Lot site

Botanical remains, including some 250,000 individual seeds and pits, were recovered from the late 17th-century Cross Street Back Lot privy (Feature 4). Analysis of 23 flotation samples taken from 9 contexts has revealed a sequence of events related to the different uses of the privy prior to its final capping. The predominant uncharted floral remains offer a detailed look at the use of native and non-native fruits, nuts, and spices and at the prevalence of weedy or adventive plant species in the urban north end of late 17th-century Boston.

The Boylston Street fishweir: revisited.

Excavations for the Boston subway system early in this century and later for building sites revealed the presence of waterlogged wood in the peat and silt deep beneath the present surface. Beginning more than 50 yr ago, the investigation of geological and biological materials recovered from these sites, especially the wood remains, believed to have been set in place by prehistoric Native Americans, became a benchmark for the multidisciplinary application of scientific methods in archaeology and environmental reconstruction. Recent excavations for building foundations in Boston have exposed additional wooden materials. We have analyzed 216 specimens recently recovered from an excavation at 500 Boylston Street where older office buildings were demolished to make way for a new commercial structure. Although some of our findings differ from those of the previous investigators we find support for the earlier supposition that the remains represent an ancient Native American fishweir, a fencelike barrier and trap for fish on an ancient shoreline.RésuméLe percement du métro de Boston au début du siècle, puis plus tard les chantiers de construction ont révélé la présence de bois imprégné d’eau dans la tourbe et la vase du sous- sol actuel. Des recherches commencées il y a plus de cinquante ans sur des matériaux de nature géologique et biologique retrouvés dans ces sites, et surtout sur des restes de bois placés là par des Indiens préhistoriques, sont devenues le banc d’essai pour l’application de méthodes scientifiques pluridisciplinaires en archéologie et en reconstitution du milieu écologique. Des excavations récentes nécessitées par les fondations d’immeubles à Boston ont mis à jour d’autres matériaux en bois. Nous avons analysé plus de 216 spécimens récemment retrouvés dans un chantier au 500 de la rue Boylston oú de vieux immeubles de bureaux ont été détruits pour faire place à tun nouveau complexe commercial. Bien que certains de nos résultats s’éloignent de ceux de chercheurs antérieurs, nous sommes confortés dans notre hypothèse initiale selon laquelle ces restes représentent une ancienne trappe à poissons, une sorte de barrière pour attraper les poissons sur ce qui était anciennement le littoral.