Culture Contact and Subsistence Change at Fusihatchee (1EE191)

Archaeological evidence from Colonial period Native American sites in southeastern North America document dramatic changes in many aspects of Native American life. In contrast, studies of zooarchaeological remains from the Colonial period indicate that subsistence systems changed very little in spite of the introduction of domestic animals. However, few zooarchaeological assemblages from sites with both precolonial and colonial occupations have been studied. The pre-Creek and Creek site of Fusihatchee (1EE191) is located on the Tallapoosa River in Alabama, and has both precolonial and colonial period occupations. Analysis of Late Woodland (A.D. 1050-1250) remains from Fusihatchee demonstrates that precolonial subsistence was characterized by emphasis on deer, wild mammals, wild birds, and turtles. Faunal remains from the colonial period Protohistoric (A.D. 1600-1717) occupation indicate an increase in the contribution of deer and document the presence of Eurasian domestic taxa. The Historic (A.D. 1717-1814) component indicates a further increase in deer usage and the continued presence of domestic animals in low numbers. The Late Historic (A.D. 1814-1836) assemblage is characterized by an equal reliance on both hunting and animal husbandry. Until the Late Historic occupation, three hundred years after European colonization, domestic animals contributed little to the subsistence strategy of the Creeks at Fusihatchee. The increase in the representation of deer and the presence of skinning marks on deer elements, as well as the shift in the representation of deer skeletal portion frequencies toward lower-utility foot elements are evidence for the intensification of the Creek's involvement in the deerskin trade. It is likely that the intensification of the deerskin trade and the problems associated with animal husbandry discouraged the Creek from adopting animal husbandry as a subsistence strategy until the collapse of the deerskin trade in the late eighteenth century. The world-system perspective is useful for explaining the observed changes in the zooarchaeological assemblages from Fusihatchee. The Creeks became a periphery in the expanding world economic system through their production of deerskins for the leather industries of the European economic core.北美东南部殖民地时期原住民遗址的考古证据显示，原住民生活的诸多维度均发生了剧烈变革。与之形成鲜明对照的是，针对殖民地时期动物考古遗存(zooarchaeological remains)的研究表明，尽管引入了家畜，当地的生计体系却几乎未出现显著变化。然而，目前针对同时涵盖史前与殖民时期堆积的遗址所开展的动物考古遗存组合(zooarchaeological assemblages)研究仍寥寥无几。 位于阿拉巴马州塔拉普萨河沿岸的富西哈奇（1EE191）遗址是一处前克里克与克里克时期遗址，其堆积层同时包含史前与殖民时期的居住遗存。对该遗址林地晚期（公元1050-1250年）遗存的动物考古分析显示，史前时期的生计模式以鹿类、野生哺乳动物、野生鸟类及龟类为核心依托。 殖民时期原史阶段（公元1600-1717年）的动物群遗存显示，鹿类在生计中的贡献占比有所提升，同时出现了欧亚家养类群(Eurasian domestic taxa)。历史时期（公元1717-1814年）的堆积进一步表明，鹿类的利用比例持续上升，而家畜仍保持低占比。晚历史时期（公元1814-1836年）的动物考古遗存组合则呈现出狩猎与畜牧业(animal husbandry)并重的特征。 直至欧洲殖民300年后的晚历史时期，家畜在富西哈奇克里克人的生计策略中仍占比极低。鹿类遗存占比的提升、鹿类骨骼上的剥皮痕迹，以及鹿类骨骼部位频率向低利用价值的足部骨骼偏移的现象，均证明克里克人参与鹿皮贸易(deerskin trade)的程度不断加深。鹿皮贸易的强化以及畜牧业面临的相关问题，可能阻碍了克里克人将畜牧业作为核心生计策略，直至18世纪末鹿皮贸易彻底崩溃。世界体系理论视角(world-system perspective)可有效解释富西哈奇遗址动物考古遗存组合所呈现的变迁规律：克里克人为欧洲经济核心区的皮革产业生产鹿皮，由此成为不断扩张的世界经济体系中的边缘地带。