Evidence for medicinal plants in the paleoethnobotanical record of the eastern United States during the Late Woodland through Mississippian periods (Missouri, Illinois, Alabama)

This dissertation research examines two interrelated topics regarding the Late Woodland through Mississippian period paleoethnobotanical record from the eastern United States: (1) is there evidence for prehistoric medicinal plants in this body of data; and (2) if medicinal plants are present, did pharmacopoeias change through time to meet the shifting cultural and biological needs of prehistoric people? To support discussion of these two issues, research on traditional ethnobotanical and ethnomedical systems, paleopathological evidence for prehistoric health, and the archaeological record for three study areas (American Bottom, Moundville, and Central Tombigbee regions) was conducted and is summarized in this dissertation. The paleoethnobotanical data that served as the basis of this dissertation were derived from previously published or completed reports. Taxa in those reports were compared with the ethnographic, ethnobotanical, and ethnopharmacological literature to provide support for the archaeological plants being part of prehistoric medical systems. This process resulted in the identification of 68 potential medicinal taxa with a total count of seeds, seed fragments, and/or wood fragments of nearly 5,000 individuals. After the initial selection of potential medicinal plants, trends in the paleoethnobotanical record as they relate to medicinal plants were analyzed. Four categories of medicinal plants based on their relative medical versus subsistence importance were developed to facilitate analysis. These categories were used in the analysis of data for potential medicines through time and space. The results of this analysis did not strongly support my hypothesis that the differing health needs of Mississippian people necessitated an increase in frequency and types of medicines, and that this process would be archaeologically visible as an increase in the number and diversity of medicinal plant remains from the Late Woodland to Mississippian periods. Potential medicinal plants were found to span the ethnobotanical spectrum from medicine to food to ritual. The research, however, has added new taxa to the group of plants that should be considered as potentially culturally significant when found in paleoethnobotanical samples from the three study regions, and potentially when such taxa are identified from other assemblages in the eastern United States.