Speaker: Andrew Lints, PhD
From approximately 1,700 to 900 years ago, material culture left behind by peoples inhabiting the northern Great Plains changed from what archaeologists call Besant to Avonlea. This change has been examined primarily through the lens of stone tools, yet pottery first appears with Besant and continues to be used through Avonlea. A recent examination of carbonized food residues removed from pottery found at Besant (n=22) and Avonlea (n=11) sites revealed changes in food choices. During the time of Besant, early pottery vessels were used to prepare meals at significant events. Foods boiled together in these vessels often included locally available berries, chenopodium, and tubers. Domesticated maize was only consumed at two of these significant sites. During the time of Avonlea, evidence of maize was detected at a greater number of sites and in pottery vessels used for everyday meals. Alongside the increased presence of maize, wild rice, beans, and a greater diversity of locally available plants were also found in Avonlea vessels. This finding suggests that pottery use and maize consumption may have been initially reserved for special events before becoming integrated into more routine food practices. Likewise, this data also indicates that connections to maize-producing cultures to the south and east of the northern Great Plains emerged alongside changes in material culture from the time of Besant and heightened during the time of Avonlea.