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Prehistoric subsistence in the North American Southeast: A quantitative assessment of deer utilization by Mississippian populations

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Date Issued:
1999
Summary:
This thesis attempts to demonstrate quantitatively that Mississippian populations in the prehistoric North American Southeast utilized deer as a functional domesticate. "Functional domesticate", a term developed specifically for this study, is defined as a subsistence source that is consistently and readily accessed, both spatially and temporally. The concept of "domestication" extends to those economies which do not have animal domesticates but have access to procurement areas where animal resources can be continually and efficently harvested. The hypothesis is validated by using Bruce Smith's faunal model developed in the 1970s. His model in quantified by developing regression equations, indexes, and by creating "a Mississippian faunal use pattern." A literature review shows no previous attempt to use Smith's model to prove quantitatively the "deer as a functional domesticate" hypothesis. More importantly, the hypothesis is established without using analogies to the ethnohistoric/ethnographic literature, providing a useful instrument for studying prehistoric societies.
Title: Prehistoric subsistence in the North American Southeast: A quantitative assessment of deer utilization by Mississippian populations.
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Name(s): Flaherty, Richard E.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Kennedy, William J., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1999
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 153 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: This thesis attempts to demonstrate quantitatively that Mississippian populations in the prehistoric North American Southeast utilized deer as a functional domesticate. "Functional domesticate", a term developed specifically for this study, is defined as a subsistence source that is consistently and readily accessed, both spatially and temporally. The concept of "domestication" extends to those economies which do not have animal domesticates but have access to procurement areas where animal resources can be continually and efficently harvested. The hypothesis is validated by using Bruce Smith's faunal model developed in the 1970s. His model in quantified by developing regression equations, indexes, and by creating "a Mississippian faunal use pattern." A literature review shows no previous attempt to use Smith's model to prove quantitatively the "deer as a functional domesticate" hypothesis. More importantly, the hypothesis is established without using analogies to the ethnohistoric/ethnographic literature, providing a useful instrument for studying prehistoric societies.
Identifier: 9780599540552 (isbn), 15726 (digitool), FADT15726 (IID), fau:12482 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1999.
Subject(s): Domestic animals--History.
Mississippian culture.
Southern States--Antiquities.
Deer, Fossil.
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15726
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.