Vegetation, wildlife, and human foraging in prehistoric western Virginia

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorDiamond, Seth J.en
dc.contributor.committeechairGiles, Robert H. Jr.en
dc.contributor.committeememberKirkpatrick, Roy L.en
dc.contributor.committeememberHeikkenen, Herman Johnen
dc.contributor.committeememberTaylor, Daniel B.en
dc.contributor.committeememberCross, Gerald H.en
dc.contributor.departmentFisheries and Wildlife Sciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:50:27Zen
dc.date.adate2012-11-21en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:50:27Zen
dc.date.issued1989-02-15en
dc.date.rdate2012-11-21en
dc.date.sdate2012-11-21en
dc.description.abstractTo improve the study and management of Havens Wildlife Management Area (HWMA) in Roanoke County, Virginia, the ecological history of the Ridge and Valley Province of Virginia was investigated. Palynological, paleontological, archaeological, and historical data were synthesized into a comprehensive history of the region's vegetation, fauna, and humans from 25,000 B.P. to Euroamerican settlement. A linear programming model was developed to examine the relationship between the energy demand of a human band and the food resources of HWMA 2,500 years ago. The model was based on the assumption that prehistoric human foraging was impelled by the need to satisfy energy requirements and that prehistoric human foragers strove for maximum energetic efficiency. The model was driven by an objective function, that minimized the cost (expressed in hours of labor) of the human foragers' diet. Constraints on the achievement of this goal were the available metabolizable energy in selected mountain food resources and the energy demand of a 25-person band. The product of the model was a regimen of food resources that met the band's annual energy requirement at the lowest cost. The model predicted that fall was the dominant foraging season on HWMA. Chestnut was the major food resource, satisfying 54% of the bandâ s annual energy demand. Additional primary resources were opossum and raccoon, elk, woodchuck, white-tailed deer, and black bear. Secondary and tertiary resources were passenger pigeon, bitter acorns, hickory nuts, and false Solomon's seal rhizomes. Marginal food resources were wild turkey, Jack-in-the-pulpit corms, eastern cottontail, gray squirrel, sweet acorns, and box turtle. An annual foraging strategy with a fall-winter focus in mountain ecosystems and a spring-summer focus in lowland ecosystems was suggested by the model. A comparison of the model results with an archaeological data indicated that hickory nuts were over represented and chestnuts underrepresented at archaeological sites, and that clothing, not food, limited human population density in upland western Virginia ecosystems.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.format.extentxi, 239 leavesen
dc.format.mediumBTDen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.otheretd-11212012-040200en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-11212012-040200/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/45956en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartLD5655.V855_1989.D525.pdfen
dc.relation.isformatofOCLC# 19763203en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subject.lccLD5655.V855 1989.D525en
dc.subject.lcshBiotic communities -- Virginia -- Roanoke County -- Historyen
dc.subject.lcshRoanoke County (Va) – Antiquitiesen
dc.titleVegetation, wildlife, and human foraging in prehistoric western Virginiaen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineFisheries and Wildlife Sciencesen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
LD5655.V855_1989.D525.pdf
Size:
11.53 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download

Collections

Masters Theses