Isotopic Evidence for Garden Hunting and Resource Depression in the Late Woodland of Northeastern North America

Resource depression and garden hunting are major topics of archaeological interest, with important implications for understanding cultural and environmental change. Garden hunting is difficult to study using traditional zooarchaeological approaches, but isotopic analyses of animals may provide a marker for where and when people exploited nondomesticated animals that fed on agricultural resources. To realize the full potential of isotopic approaches for reconstructing garden hunting practices—and the impacts of agriculture on past nondomesticated animal populations more broadly—a wider range of species, encompassing many “ecological perspectives,” is needed. We use bone-collagen isotopic compositions of animals (n = 643, 23 taxa, 39 sites) associated with the Late Woodland (~AD 900−1650) in what is now southern Ontario to test hypotheses about the extent to which animals used maize, an isotopically distinctive plant central to subsistence practices of Iroquoian-speaking peoples across the region. Results show that although some taxa—particularly those that may have been hard to control—had substantial access to maize, most did not, regardless of the animal resource requirements of local populations. Our findings suggest that this isotopic approach to detecting garden hunting will be more successful when applied to smaller-scale societies.Le déclin des ressources et la chasse en milieux cultivés sont des sujets d'un grand intérêt archéologique, avec des implications importantes pour la compréhension des changements culturels et environnementaux. La chasse en milieux cultivés est difficile à étudier en utilisant des approches zooarchéologiques traditionnelles, mais les analyses isotopiques des animaux peuvent fournir un marqueur pour savoir où et quand les gens exploitaient des animaux non-domestiqués qui se nourrissaient de produits agricoles. Pour entrevoir le plein potentiel des approches isotopiques pour reconstruire les pratiques de chasse dans les milieux cultivés — et les impacts de l'agriculture sur les populations animales non-domestiquées du passé de manière plus large — un plus large éventail d'espèces, englobant de nombreuses « perspectives écologiques », est nécessaire. Nous utilisons les compositions isotopiques du collagène des ossements d'animaux (n = 643, 23 taxons, 39 sites) associés à la période du Sylvicole supérieur (v. 900−1650 après J.-C.) dans ce qui est maintenant le sud de l'Ontario, afin de tester des hypothèses quant à l'ampleur avec laquelle les animaux ont utilisé le maïs, une plante isotopiquement distincte au cœur des pratiques de subsistance des peuples de langue iroquoienne de la région. Les résultats montrent que bien que certains taxons — en particulier ceux qui peuvent avoir été difficiles à contrôler — avaient un accès substantiel au maïs, la plupart n'en avaient pas, quels que soient les besoins en ressources animales des populations locales. Nos résultats suggèrent que cette approche isotopique de la détection de la chasse dans les milieux cultivés sera plus efficace lorsqu'elle sera appliquée à des sociétés à plus petite échelle.</div

Investigating the sex-selectivity of a middle Ontario Iroquoian Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) fishery through ancient DNA analysis

Prior to European settlement, Indigenous peoples sustainably harvested Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from Lake Ontario for centuries. Previous studies have suggested Indigenous peoples were able to maintain the productivity of Atlantic salmon and lake trout fisheries in the Great Lakes region through the use of resource management strategies. Since males tend to be the surplus sex among salmonids, one way in which Indigenous peoples could have managed Atlantic salmon and lake trout stocks was through the preferential harvesting of males. Here, we sought to investigate whether Indigenous peoples traditionally used sex-selective fishing to manage Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon and lake trout stocks. To address this question, we modified a DNA-based sex identification method developed for ancient Pacific salmonid (Oncorhynchus spp.) remains to make it applicable to archaeological Atlantic salmonid (Salmo spp.) and char (Salvelinus spp.) remains. This method assigns sex identities to samples through two PCR assays that co-amplify a fragment of the Y-specific salmonid master sex-determining gene (sexually dimorphic on the Y-chromosome gene) and an internal positive control, consisting of a fragment of the mitochondrial D-loop or nuclear clock1b gene. We applied this method to 61 Atlantic salmon and lake trout remains from the Antrex site (AjGv-38), a Middle Ontario Iroquoian (ca. CE 1250 to 1300) village located in the Lake Ontario watershed. Using this method, we successfully assigned sex identities to 51 of these remains (83.61% success rate), highlighting our method’s sensitivity and efficacy. Statistical analyses indicate neither the aggregate sex ratio nor the sex ratios obtained for the individual species were male-biased. This suggests Antrex’s Middle Ontario Iroquoian inhabitants probably did not practice male-selective fishing for Atlantic salmon or lake trout

Evidence for freshwater residency among Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) spawning in New York

Prior to their extirpation around 1900 CE, Lake Ontario hosted the world's largest freshwater Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fishery. Due to their early disappearance, questions remained about fundamental aspects of the species’ biology, such as whether they belonged to sea-run (anadromous) or freshwater resident (potamodromous) ecotypes. Recent isotopic analyses have demonstrated that the complex of Atlantic salmon populations spawning in tributaries emptying along Lake Ontario's northern shores were potamodromous. However, no evidence has yet been gathered for Atlantic salmon migratory behaviour from Lake Ontario's southeastern region, where historical observations suggest both anadromous and potamodromous populations may have spawned. Here, we provide the first results for isotopic analyses of bone collagen from seven fish bones from archaeological sites (c. 1427 to 1600 CE) identified as Atlantic salmon through ancient DNA and zooarchaeological analyses. The results of the isotopic analyses confirm that at least some of the salmon spawning in tributaries emptying into Lake Ontario's southeastern shores were also potamodromous. Although further analyses are needed, this suggests anadromy may have been completely absent in Lake Ontario's complex of Atlantic salmon populations in recent centuries