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Do Cucurbita pepo Gourds Float Fishnets?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John P. Hart,
Robert A. Daniels and
Charles J. Sheviak
John P. Hart
Affiliation:
Research and Collections Division, New York State Museum, 3140 Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230 (jph_nysm@mail.nysed.gov)
Robert A. Daniels
Affiliation:
Research and Collections Division, New York State Museum, 3140 Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230 (rdaniels@mail.nysed.gov)
Charles J. Sheviak
Affiliation:
Research and Collections Division, New York State Museum, 3140 Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230 (csheviak@mail.nysed.gov)
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Abstract

Among the various pre-maize indigenous crops of eastern North America, Cucurbita pepo gourd is the most enigmatic. C. pepo gourd remains have been found on mid-Holocene (8000–4000 B.P.) archaeological sites as far north and east as Maine. Their presumably extremely bitter flesh would have made the fruits inedible. Two not mutually exclusive hypotheses for use of the fruit are currently being debated: (1) the nutritious seeds were processed to remove bitterness and consumed, and (2) dried fruits were used as fishnet floats and/or containers for general use. We report on a series of experiments that demonstrate the gourds function extremely well as fishnet floats. These results lend support to the second hypothesis, but do not conclusively prove they were used for this purpose.

Resumen

Resumen

El caso de la calabaza Cucurbita pepo es uno de los más enigmáticos entre los diferentes tipos de vegetales autóctonos utilizados en el este de América del Norte con anterioridad al maíz. Se han encontrado restos de calabaza C. pepo en sitios arqueológicos a lo largo del Holoceno Medio (8000–4000 B.P.) llegando este tipo de evidencia tan al este y norte como en el Estado de Maine. Se piensa que es probable que si lapulpa de la calabaza de C. pepo era muy amarga, la misma no hay a sido comestible. En la actualidad, el debate del posible uso de la calabaza tiene dos hipótesis no excluyentes: (1) sus semillas nutritivas fueron procesadas afin de extraerles su sabor amargo y así poder consumirlas, y (2) las calabazas desecadas fueron empleadas como flotadores en redes de pesca y/o recipientes de uso genérico. Aquí damos a conocer una serie de experimentos en los que demostramos que las calabazas funcionan extremadamente bien como flotadores en redes de pesca. Estos resultados permiten sustentar más la segunda hipótesis pero, sin embargo, no demuestran de manera incuestionable que se las utilizara únicamente con este fin.

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Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , January 2004, pp. 141 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2004

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