Richard, what was the usual height of our ancestors back at the time you are talking about.....and on into the 1800's? And, how much difference in height were the Elite compared to the Commoners? TT ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:27 PM Subject: [CREEK-SOUTHEAST] Archaeological evidence of Muskogean diets beforefirearms > Contrast Between Diets of the Elite and the Commoners in Muskogean Towns > > It is quite significant that the largest indigenous town known in the > Lower > South, was its first true town - Ocmulgee (Oka-mole-ke). The sale trading > conurbation of Ocmulgee was laid out like the recently abandoned Maya > salt-trading center of Waka in northern Guatemala. In fact, Ocmulgee and > Waka were > built on identical physiographic settings and at exactly the same > distance from > the ocean. However, Waka was in the tropics, whereas Ocmulgee was next > to > extensive wetlands, but in a warm, temperate location that did not have > near > the food producing capacity as Waka. Successively larger generations of > residents at Ocmulgee probably eradicated most of the animal protein > sources within > close walking distance. Muskogean towns became digressively smaller as > time > went on. My Native ancestors, the Okonee, did not live in towns or even > large villages. Farmsteads were dispersed throughout the province at a > low > population density, so that commoners would have more success at obtaining > protein. Regional, fortified governmental-religious centers provided safe > locations for the dispersed population to both socialize and avoid enemy > attacks. > > The Commoners > > Studies of the refuse in Muskogean houses prior to the availability of > firearms suggest that for most people, anything that walked or crawled or > swam was > eligible for the cooking pot. However, the commoners in larger towns > were > primarily vegetarians. Because they had never really developed animal > husbandry to the level of horticulture, the commoners had a chronic > nutritional > deficiency of iron, magnesium, protein, and sometimes fats. One finds > bones of > all sorts of critters around commoners houses - small birds, eggs, fish, > turtles, frogs, snails, lizards, rabbits, groundhogs, possums, squirrels, > you > name it. It is quite likely that whatever happened to be caught was > thrown into > something akin to brunswick stew. However, most meals consisted of corn > in > some form, beans in some form, and members of the squash family in some > form. > These staples were supplemented by ancient cultivated crops such as > indigenous fruits & nuts, sunflowers, Jerusalem artichoke, Muskogee sweet > potatoes > and amaranth. Many Creek dishes involved deep frying (source of Southern > fried > cooking) with hickory nut oil, because their diet was so deficient in > animal fats. Rendered ground hog and possum fat was considered a > nutritional > supplement and medicine. > > The Elite > > There is substantial architectural evidence that the Muskogean elite ate > communally and that their food was prepared in communal kitchens. This was > certainly the case with their contemporaries among the Anasazi of the > Southwest > and in Mexico. The communal kitchens and dining halls looked like > bungalows. > There are several drawings of these special structures in my books. > Another > big difference is that one finds many more bones of large, meaty animals > in > elite sections of towns ... in particular deer, bear and turkey bones. > In > some cultures, the commoners were even forbidden to eat some fish. > Sturgeon > steaks were considered to be the food of the highest elite only. As a > direct > result of their much higher level of protein consumption, the elite were > taller > and healthier. > > After Firearms Arrived > > Once the Creeks had access to firearms and a ready market for deer and > beer > skins, their diets changed radically. Deer meat became much more common > features on the menu for everyone. The old mound-building elite ceased > to > exist. Some folks had higher status than others, but there was no > longer a > significant difference in the diets of the people. However, once the > deer and > bears had been wiped out, the Creeks were forced to learn European-type > animal > husbandry in order to survive. > > Richard T. > > > > > > **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your > budget? > Read reviews on AOL Autos. > (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 > ) > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >