ASB 238
archaeology of north america

I wonder what the implications of the decline in health of the population of the Dickson Mound area are when you find that it comes after the introduction of maize into their culture. If you live in an environment that is rich in other sources of food, and you have been doing very well in that environment, what prompts you to add maize to your diet? Even more puzzling, why, when your new diet produces declining health conditions, do you not add, or return, to your previously tried and true diet?

I'm sure there must have been outside factors that prompted the Dickson Mound people to change their diet, but the reluctance to suppliment this new diet with foods they were familiar with, and were abuntant around them, speaks more of a social or political condition that may never be documented by artifacts. Was the change a matter of free choice, or was there a hidden factor? Only time, and more research, will be able to find the answer, if it can be answered.

It seems to me that when the Indians of Dr. Dickson's Mounds made maize the center of their subsistence, they ultimately put out a death warrant out on themselves. This diet brought a decline in their health and lowered the standard age of death. Dickson's Mounds were a center for trade, much like Cahokia. The downfall for those in Dickson's Mounds seems to be that their want of materials from other parts of the area was worth trading the other resources they had. Maize is easy to produce in abundance, and can be made in a variety of ways. The Indians could mass produce it for food subsistence and use their other valuable resources for trade. There is no real answer, but I think that trade had a lot to do with the demise of these people.

It is interesting to note that when maize is introduced, it becomes a part of the religion. Corn becomes a symbol of fertility and used for sacred prayers and ceremonies. I would think that incorporating such an asset as corn would show that it had major importance to the Indians that used this subsistence. This also made it possible to become more sedentary. It made it possible to plant and not rely so much on gathering. It's amazing that maize played such a big impact on the Indians of North America.

I am of the opinion that a group the experienced a decline in health would have difficulty determining what may have caused such a problem, assuming that they would even be able to see that there was a problem. If you were to change your diet, and consume more corn than anything else, it would likely be many, many years before the lack of vitamins previously included in your diet would have adverse effects. In the first generation, the effects of a change in subsistance would be minimal. Several generations down the road, the average person might have lost a couple of inches in stature and might be more prone to certain types of diseases but after 50+ years have passed since the switch to corn, it is very unlikely that a society that used non-scientific means of medicine would realize that a then abstract thing such as vitamins could effect the entire population.

Russ - I think that you like to make a good argument, good for you. It makes reading these entries more fun.

I find it interesting that no one has addressed the importance of maize agriculture outside the realm of corn. Maize agriculture combines the growth of corn with other plants such as squash and beans. By planting multiple species together you are allowing the plants to supply each other with nutrients and protect each other from insects and pests, one plant may repel a pest that plagues the other species. It seems this would have been recognized as a great asset and may be one reason for the rise of maize agriculture in North America.

I find it interesting that no one has addressed the importance of maize agriculture outside the realm of corn. Maize agriculture combines the growth of corn with other plants such as squash and beans. By planting multiple species together you are allowing the plants to supply each other with nutrients and protect each other from insects and pests, one plant may repel a pest that plagues the other species. It seems this would have been recognized as a great asset and may be one reason for the rise of maize agriculture in North America.

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