Dynamic optimization of horticulture among the Muscogee Creek Indians of the southeastern United States

This paper reviews archaeological applications of optimization theory applied to resource use. A model of agricultural corn production is derived for a single Muscogee Creek Indian town (CA 1725–1825) which was situated in the southeastern United States. The corn productivity model is based on soil depletion, soil variation, known locations of horticultural fields, population size, and nutritional requirements. The corn productivity model shows that corn production varied significantly between 1725 and 1825. The residents of the town shifted their horticultural gardens in order to maintain a nutritional minimum. The model was compared to the marginal value theorem and expectations derived from risk minimization models. Residents of Cussetuh abandoned their horticultural fields well before the instantaneous long-term average rate of production for the habitat. The model shows that the residents of Cussetuh were risk minimizers and were not maximizing the long term average rate of corn yield in their gardens.     

The composition of late Romano-British colourless vessel glass: glass production and consumption

One hundred and twenty-eight colourless glass tablewares from settlement contexts throughout the British Isles, dating from the mid-3rd to 4th century AD, were analysed by ICP-AES spectrometry. Three distinct compositional groups were identified based upon the use of different decolourisers and primary raw materials, with possible sub-groups within these. These compositions have distinct, but overlapping chronological ranges, suggesting colourless glass production in at least three, possibly more, centres in the late Roman period. The compositional analysis highlights the high degree to which recycling of glass was taking place during this late period. The chronological distribution of some of these compositions is more restricted within the British assemblages than is observed in other published assemblages from Western Europe. This distinction may indicate different supply patterns of glass to the Western provinces.     

“Horned cattle and pack horses”: zooarchaeological legacy collections from the unauthorized (and unscreened) Spanish Fort

ABSTRACT

In 1689, the governor of La Florida ordered the construction of a fort near the Muscogee (Creek) ancestral community of Apalachicola, supplying it with a caravan of “horned cattle and pack horses.” The fort, referred to as “Spanish Fort,” was abandoned a year later. Archaeological investigations of the fort were carried out in 1960 without sieving, and a large collection of faunal remains was minimally studied. Despite the limitations of the recovery methods, a recent analysis of these zooarchaeological legacy collections provides insight into the provisioning strategies of the Spanish military 150 years after initial colonialism began. Spanish Fort was better provisioned than its predecessors, such as Fort San Juan, but with a limited range of domesticated livestock—only cattle and horses. The presidio may have traded with the Apalachicola community in order to diversify their diet, but butchering marks indicate that the presidio’s soldiers processed their own meat at the fort. Having learned hard lessons from earlier colonial expeditions, Spanish military colonialists minimized the outpost’s vulnerability by not relying heavily on the local Native American population, while building a transactional relationship with Apalachicola to ensure the community’s cooperation. The zooarchaeological materials from Spanish Fort also indicate that the fort was intentionally destroyed by fire, providing a glimpse of Spanish adaptive strategies as the mission of securing the inland Southeast from rival colonialism abruptly ended.     

The Pursuit of Coordination: The Organizational Dimension in the Response to Homelessness

The pursuit of "coordination" has been a prominent theme both in local responses to homelessness and in the current incentives in federal housing policy. This article reviews some of the conditions that make coordination important yet difficult to achieve in the homeless area. A variety of approaches for achieving coordination at the local level are reviewed, ranging from point-of-service coordination to system-design. The local examples are drawn from the cities participating in the evaluation of The Robert Wood Johnson and the Department of Housing and Urban Development Homeless Families Program. The questions of effectiveness and future prospects for homeless service coordination are raised.