Neo-boreal climatic influences on the late prehistoric agricultural groups in the upper Mississippi Valley
✍ Scribed by John T. Penman
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 555 KB
- Volume
- 3
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0883-6353
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Archaeological research in the Upper Mississippi River valley between 43"N and the St. Croix River confluence (44.7"N) has produced a series of large Oneota villages fmm which corn (Zw mays) has been recovered. Radiocarbon determinations indicate that the sites in the northern reach ofthis study area date fmm AD 1010 to 1440. These sites are characterized by large village areas and associated mound gmups. Unlike villages in the northern region, sites in the LaCmsse area are more extensive, and burial mound complexes are absent. The southern villages have "C dates ranging from AD 1030 to 1520. Based on the differences in community plans and artifact assemblages, it is suggested that the northern Oneota gmups are not ancestors of the neighboring Lacrosse variant. Historical documents for Europe indicate that at similar latitudes, the climate began to deteriorate after AD 1300. With the onset of cooler summers characteristic of the Neo-Boreal climatic episode, corn agriculture became unreliable in the northern portion of the Mississippi basin after AD 1400. In response to the unfavorable climatic conditions, large semi-permanent villages were abandoned and an outward migration began. The peak cold at ca. AD 1550 (the "Little Ice Age") caused the collapse of agriculture in the Lacrosse region as well. Historical documenta, archaeological evidence, and palynological data indicate that the climatic "recovery" did not ensue in this region for more than two centuries. After AD 1750 climatic conditions were again favorable for the cultivation of aboriginal corn