| This dissertation research examines subsistence and economy of the Marana Mound Site, an Early Classic (A.D. 1150-1250) Hohokam site in Southern Arizona, through the lens of a paleoethnobotanical analysis. The Hohokam of the Sonoran Desert were prehistoric agriculturalists who lived in multi-site communities. While the environment of the Sonoran Desert imposed limitations, the Hohokam also manipulated it through agricultural practices. Villages occupied a gradient of ecological zones from the floodplain to the mountain pediments in which agricultural potential varied. Although at the top of the settlement hierarchy, the Marana Mound Site was located on poor agricultural land. The occupants, however, did not lack staple foods such as maize and agave. They cultivated agave, a source of both food and fiber, in nearby extensive rockpile fields and probably acquired maize from residents of other sites in the community where it was more easily grown. A low maize index reveals that maize was brought to the Marana Mound Site as whole ears, and processed in the village, but is not conclusive of where maize was grown. Relative frequencies of seeds of weedy plants that grew in agricultural fields may indicate that little maize was grown at the site, but that maize was obtained from other parts of the community. Weedy seed frequencies also appear to distinguish among field types such as irrigated, floodwater, and dry, allowing insight into the anthropogenically created environments in the region. As the central site in the multi-site community, the Marana Mound Site contained public spaces, such as a platform mound, that facilitated community-wide interaction. Circulation of staple goods may have been one important function of the networked community that served to mitigate subsistence risk. Because agricultural potential varied across the community, risk of failed crops or poor harvest was also spread among the sites that were tied together socially. This study contributes a detailed analysis of the plants from the Marana Mound Site and provides insight into how a group of desert agriculturalists may have managed the risk of food shortages though social networks and diversification of subsistence strategies. |
