Article Title

Ethnohistoric Records of Hunter-Gatherer Diet of the Texas/Mexico Borderlands: Implications for Staple Foods of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands During the Holocene

Authors

Tim Riley, Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric MuseumFollow

Agency

Journal of Texas Archeology and History

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/ita.2018.1.31

Abstract

Hinds Cave (41VV456) and other rockshelters excavated in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands have yielded thousands of coprolites spanning the Holocene. To date, several hundred specimens have been analyzed, providing a detailed record of meals consumed by hunter-gatherers who called this landscape home. This article compares the paleodietary records derived from these specimens with the foodways documented in the ethnohistoric records available for the Lower Pecos Canyonlands and adjacent landscapes. This comparison confirms the deep temporal roots of the foodways recorded in the earliest written records of the Texas/Mexico borderlands. Coprolite data corroborate the strong dependence on the seasonal staples of lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla), nopales (Opuntia sp.), and tunas (Opuntia sp.) observed in the ethnohistoric literature. The temporal endurance of this subsistence strategy suggests that there may be some components of this dietary pattern that could inform on many of the diet-related health issues observed among modern Native American and other populations.

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