Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:06:17.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fertility in the Prehistoric Midwest: A Critique of Unifactorial Models

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas D. Holland*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211

Abstract

Cultivation of starchy seeds must be recognized as a complex of variables upon which selection operates and of which population growth is the inherent measure of success. Early weaning through the use of starchy-seed gruels, though recently proposed as the principal factor in the increase of fertility, is insufficient as a prime mover for population growth in west-central Illinois during the Middle and Late Woodland periods.

Résumé

Résumé

El cultivo de semillas ricas en féculas debe ser reconocido como un complejo de variables sobre las cuales opera la selección, de estas variables, el crecimiento poblacional es una buena medida del logro reproductor. Se ha propuesto que el principal factor del incremento de lafertilidad se debe al destete temprano de los niños, por el uso de coladas elaboradas a partir de semillas con alto contenido de almidón; sin embargo, consideramos que tal argumento no es sufficiente como para explicar el aumento poblacional en la región centro-occidental del estado norteamericano de Illinois, durante los períodos Middle Woodland y Late Woodland.

Type
Comments
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Alvarado, A. L. 1970 Cultural Determinants of Population Stability in the Havasupai Indians. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 33: 914.Google Scholar
Asch, D. L. 1976 The Middle Woodland Population of the Lower Illinois Valley: A Study in Paleodemographic Methods. Scientific Papers No. 1, Northwestern University Archeological Program, Evanston, Illinois.Google Scholar
Asch, D. L., and Asch, N. B. 1977 Chenopod as Cultigen: A Re-Evaluation of Some Prehistoric Collections from Eastern North America. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 2: 345.Google Scholar
Asch, D. L., and Asch, N. B. 1978 The Economic Potential of Iva annua and Its Prehistoric Importance in the Lower Illinois Valley. In The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany, edited by Ford, R. I., pp. 300341. Anthropological Papers No. 67. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Bender, M. M., Baerreis, D. A., and Steventon, R. L. 1981 Further Light on Carbon Isotopes and Hopewell Agriculture. American Antiquity 46: 346353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L. 1968 Post-Pleistocene Adaptations. In New Perspectives in Archeology, edited by Binford, S. R. and Binford, L., pp. 313341. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R., and Chasko, W. J. Jr., 1976 Nunamiut Demographic History: A Provocative Case. In Demographic Anthropology: Quantitative Approaches, edited by Zubrow, E. B. W., pp. 63143. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J. 1980 Does Malnutrition Affect Fecundity? A Summary of Evidence. Science 208: 564569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braidwood, R. J. 1967 Prehistoric Men. 7th ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Braun, D. P. 1983 Pots as Tools. In Archaeological Hammers and Theories, edited by Moore, J. A. and Keene, A. S., pp. 107134. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Brown, J. A., and Vierra, R. K. 1983 What Happened in the Middle Archaic? Introduction to an Ecological Approach to Koster Site Archaeology. In Archaic Hunters and Gatherers in the American Midwest, edited by Phillips, J. L. and Brown, J. A., pp. 165195. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Buikstra, J. E., Uington, J. Bu, Charles, D. K., Cook, D. C., Frankenberg, S. R., Konigsberg, L. W., Lambert, J. B., and Xue, L. 1987 Diet, Demography, and the Development of Agriculture. In Emergent Horticultural Economies of the Eastern Woodlands, edited by Keegan, W. F., pp. 6785. Occasional Papers No. 7. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Buikstra, J. E., Konigsberg, L. W., and Uington, J. Bu 1986 Fertility and the Development of Agriculture in the Prehistoric Midwest. American Antiquity 51: 528546.Google Scholar
Childe, V. G. 1951 Man Makes Himself. Mentor, New York.Google Scholar
Cohen, M. N. 1977 The Food Crises in Prehistory. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Cohen, M. N., and Armelagos, G. J. 1984 Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Cook, D. C. 1984 Subsistence and Health in the Lower Illinois Valley: Osteological Evidence. In Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture, edited by Cohen, M. N. and Armelagos, G. J., pp. 235269. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Cook, D. C, and Buikstra, J. E. 1979 Health and Differential Survival in Prehistoric Populations: Prenatal Dental Defects. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 51: 649664.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Devereux, G. 1955 A Study of Abortion in Primitive Societies. Julian Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diplock, A. T. 1985 Vitamin E. In Fat-Soluble Vitamins, edited by Diplock, A. T., pp. 154224. Heinemann, London.Google Scholar
Dubos, R. 1968 So Human an Animal. C. Scribner's Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Dubos, R. J., and Schaedler, R. W. 1962 The Effect of Diet on the Fecal Bacterial Flora of Mice and on Their Resistance to Infection. Journal of Experimental Medicine 115: 11611172.Google Scholar
Dumond, D. E. 1975 The Limitation of Human Population: A Natural History. Science 187: 713721.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engelbrecht, W. 1987 Factors Maintaining Low Population Density among the Prehistoric New York Iroquois. American Antiquity 52: 1327.Google Scholar
Farrell, P. M. 1980 Deficiency States, Pharmacological Effects and Nutrition Requirements. In Vitamin E: A Comprehensive Treatise, edited by Machlin, L. J., pp. 520620. Marcel Dekker, New York.Google Scholar
Food and Nutrition Board 1980 Recommended Dietary Allowances. 9th ed. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Frisch, R. E. 1974 Critical Weight at Menarche, Initiation of the Adolescent Growth Spurt, and Control of Puberty. In Control of the Onset of Puberty, edited by Grumbach, M. M., Grave, G. D., and Mayer, F. E., pp. 403423. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Frisch, R. E. 1980 Fatness, Puberty, and Fertility. Natural History 89: 16.Google Scholar
Frisch, R. E., and McArthur, J. W. 1974 Menstrual Cycles: Fatness as a Determinant of Minimum Weight for Height Necessary for their Maintenance or Onset. Science 185: 949951.Google Scholar
Frisch, R. E., Revelle, R., and Cook, S. 1973 Components of the Critical Weight at Menarche and at Initiation of the Adolescent Spurt: Estimated Total Water, Lean Body Mass, and Fat. Human Biology 48: 469483.Google Scholar
Handwerker, W. P. 1983 The First Demographic Transition: An Analysis of Subsistence Choices and Reproductive Consequences. American Anthropologist 85: 527.Google Scholar
Hassan, F. A. 1973 On Mechanisms of Population Growth During the Neolithic. Current Anthropology 14: 535540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassan, F. A. 1978 Demographic Archaeology. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 1, edited by Shiffer, M. B., pp. 49103. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Huff, R. W. 1979a Normal Pregnancy. In Human Reproduction: Physiology and Reproduction, edited by Huff, R. W. and . Pauerstein, C. J., pp. 332351. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Huff, R. W. 1979b Medical Problems in Pregnancy. In Human Reproduction: Physiology and Reproduction, edited by Huff, R. W. and Pauerstein, C. J., pp. 389419. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Katz, S. H. 1972 Biological Factors in Population Control. In Population Growth: Anthropological Implications, edited by Spooner, B., pp. 351369. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Kazzi, G. M., and Gross, T. L. 1985 Vitamins and Minerals in Pregnancy. In Principles of Medical Therapy in Pregnancy, edited by Gleicher, N., pp. 315320. Plenum Medical Book, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebenthal, E., and Heitlinger, L. A. 1982 Starch Intolerance in Infancy: Factors Involved in a Controversial Area. In Carbohydrate Intolerance in Infancy, edited by Lifshitz, F., pp. 213221. Marcel Dekker, New York.Google Scholar
Lee, R. B. 1972 Population Growth and the Beginnings of Sedentary Life Among the !Kung Bushman. In Population Growth: Anthropological Implications, edited by Spooner, B., pp. 327350. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachsuetts.Google Scholar
Lee, R. B. 1979 The \ Kung San. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Lunn, P. G., Watkinson, M., Prentice, A. M., Morrell, P., Austin, S., and Whitehead, R. G. 1981 Maternal Nutrition and Lactational Amenorrhea. Lancet 1: 14281429.Google Scholar
Lynott, M. J., Boutton, T. W., Price, J. E., and Nelson, D. E. 1986 Stable Carbon Isotopic Evidence for Maize Agriculture in Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas. American Antiquity 51: 5165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menken, J., and Bongaarts, J. 1978 Reproductive Models in the Study of Nutrition-Fertility Interrelationships. In Nutrition and Human Reproduction, edited by Mosley, W. H., pp. 261311. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Mount, J. L. 1975 The Food and Health of Western Man. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
O' Brien, M. J. 1987 Sedentism, Population Growth, and Resource Selection in the Woodland Midwest: A Review of Coevolutionary Developments. Current Anthropology 28: 177197.Google Scholar
Patterson, W. B. 1982 How Malnutrition, Primarily of Calcium, and/or Stress Lead to Edema-, Proteinuria-, and Hypertension-Gestosis: An Hypothesis. Organisation Gestosis-Press, Basel, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Porter, J. R., and Rettger, L. F. 1940 Influence of Diet on the Distribution of Bacteria in the Stomach, Small Intestine, and Cecum of the White Rat. Journal of Infectious Diseases 66: 104110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rindos, D. 1984 The Origins of Agriculture. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ritchey, S. J., and Taper, L. J. 1983 Maternal and Child Nutrition. Harper and Row, New York.Google Scholar
Schaeder, R. W., and Dubos, R. J. 1959 Effect of Dietary Proteins and Amino Acids on the Susceptibility of Mice to Infections. Journal of Experimental Medicine 110: 921934.Google Scholar
Scott, E. C, and Johnson, F. E. 1985 Science, Nutrition, Fat and Policy: Tests of the Critical-Fat Hypothesis. Current Anthropology 26: 463473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sengel, R. A. 1973 On Mechanisms of Population Growth During the Neolithic. Current Anthropology 14: 540542.Google Scholar
Smith, H. W. 1965 Observation on the Flora of the Alimentary Tract of Animals and Factors Affecting its Composition. Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology 89: 95122.Google Scholar
Stephens, C. D. 1975 On Mechanisms of Population Growth. Current Anthropology 16: 288289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streiff, R. R., and Little, A. B. 1967 Folic Acid Deficiency in Pregnancy. New England Journal of Medicine 276: 776779.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Styles, B. W. 1981 Faunal Exploitation and Resource Selection: Early Late Woodland Subsistence in the Lower Illinois Valley. Scientific Papers No. 3. Northwestern University Archaeological Program, Evanston, Illinois.Google Scholar
Sussman, R. W. 1972 Child Transport, Family Size, and Increase in Human Population During the Neolithic. Current Anthropology 13: 258259.Google Scholar
Tyson, J. E., and Perez, A. 1977 The Maintenance of Infecundity in Postpartum Women. In Nutrition and Human Reproduction, edited by Mosley, W. H., pp. 1127. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Underwood, B. A. 1985 Maternal Nutrition, Fertility, and Reproductive Performance in the Preindustrial World. In Nutrition Update, vol. 2, edited by Weininger, J. and Briggs, G. M., pp. 207226. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Van der Merwe, N. J., and Vogel, J. C. 1978 ‘ 3C Content of Human Collagen as a Measure of Prehistoric Diet in Woodland North America. Nature 276: 815816.Google Scholar
Weinstein, R. S. 1978 Stress Factors During Growth and Development: Implications for Human Reproductive Performance. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 21: 201214.Google Scholar
Zittoun, J., Blot, I., Hill, C., Zittoun, R., Papiernik, E., and Tchernia, G. 1983 Iron Supplements Versus Placebo During Pregnancy: Its Effects on Iron and Folate Status on Mothers and Newborns. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 27: 320327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed