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Migration in Prehistory: The Northern Iroquoian Case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Dean R. Snow
Dean R. Snow*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222
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Abstract

The archaeology of the Northern Iroquoians has been described in terms of an in situ development out of Point Peninsula culture for half a century. Recently recognized anomalies prompt revision of the in situ hypothesis in favor of one allowing for the derivation of Northern Iroquoians by migration from Clemson's Island culture following A.D. 900. Multifamily dwellings and maize horticulture are argued to have been adaptive advantages that facilitated the incursion. Migration is found to be a viable alternative, and gradualist assumptions about the origins of matrilocality and horticulture are challenged. An alternative hypothesis provides a clear source and beginning date for subsequent development and illuminates some demographic mechanisms. The case illuminates both the processes by which societies propagate across time and space and the independent inferential processes of archaeologists.

Resumen

Resumen

Por medio siglo, la arqueología de los iroqueses del norte ha sido descrita en términos de un desarrollo in situ derivado de la cultural Point Peninsula. Recientemente se han reconocido anomalías que han promovido una revisión de la hipótesis in situ en favor de una hipótesis que considera el origen de los iroqueses del norte a partir de la migración de la cultura Clemson's Island después de 900 D.C. Se arguye que la habitaciones multifamiliares y la horticultura de maíz fueron ventajas adaptativas que facilitaron esta incursión. Se encuentra que la migración es una alternativa viable y se cuestionan los presupuestos gradualistas sobre el origen de la matrilocalidad y la horticultura. Una hipótesis alternativa provee una fuenta clara y una fecha del comienzo de desarrollos subsiguientes e ilumina algunos mecanismos demográfikos. Este caso ilumina tanto los procesos de propagación de sociedades en tiempo y en espacio como los procesos independientes de inferencia de los arqueólogos.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 59 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1995

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References

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