Publication Date
2026
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
First Advisor
Bardolph, Dana N.
Degree Name
M.A. (Master of Arts)
Legacy Department
Department of Anthropology
Abstract
Paleoethnobotanical analyses of Ohio Hopewell habitation sites in past decades have shed light on the subsistence practices, settlement patterns, and environmental management of Indigenous peoples engaged in what archaeologists describe as the Hopewell phenomenon. However, comparatively less attention has been paid to the social dimensions of plant use, particularly at habitation sites in the Scioto Hopewell region. Hopewell is an archaeological term that refers to the Middle Woodland (ca. 100 BCE–400 CE) network of interregional relationships across eastern North America characterized by long-distance exchange, monumental earthwork construction, and ceremonial practices including the honoring of ancestors. This thesis applies a social lens of foodways to the analysis of paleoethnobotanical remains from the Overly site (33Ro110), a Scioto Hopewell habitation site in Ross County, Ohio, and extends that approach to consider broader plant-based practices beyond food. The Overly data are compared to paleoethnobotanical assemblages from four other Ohio Hopewell habitation sites (Balthaser, Brown’s Bottom #1, and Lady’s Run) and two special-use locales outside of earthwork enclosures (Datum H and North-40) to provide insight into the relationships between domestic and special use plant assemblages. By focusing on how Indigenous plant use during the Hopewell era was entwined with labor, identity, and the experiences of everyday life, this research considers how the roles of plant producers shifted throughout the seasons and how domestic plant practices were foundational to social identity, community formation, and participation in the larger symbolic Hopewell world.
Recommended Citation
Deewaard, Abigail, "Plant Practices and Community at the Heart of Hopewell: Paleoethnobotany at the Overly Site and Beyond" (2026). Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations. 8195.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-thesesdissertations/8195
Extent
117 pages
Language
en
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.
Media Type
Text
