The Pueblo IV period (AD 1300–1450/1500) in the American Southwest witnessed the development of a number of new ritual systems in both the Western and Eastern Pueblo areas. Although associated with a diverse array of material culture, one of the most prominent aspects of these religious ideologies was the adoption of a complex of icons focusing on fertility, weather control, and community well being. Key among these motifs were birds, which appear to have played a central role in the materialization of these new ideological systems. In this paper, we evaluate the changing importance of avifauna in the ritual systems that were adopted in the 14th century in the Lower Rio Puerco area of New Mexico. Relying on ceramic, architectural, and faunal data from Pottery Mound (LA 416) and Hummingbird Pueblo (LA 578), we argue that both the imagery and use of birds in ritual contexts increased substantially at the two villages during the 14th century. These developments correspond to a new religious ideology that served to integrate the diverse populations that had aggregated in the Lower Rio Puerco area in the late 1200s.

The cause of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation has been hotly debated during the last few decades, most recently at the global scale. In North America and elsewhere the debate centers on whether or not human hunters, who seemingly first entered the continent during the extinction period, caused the extinctions through over-hunting. An alternative explanation is that climate change during the terminal Pleistocene radically modified existing habitats and this caused the extinctions. Huston's (1979, 1994) dynamic equilibrium model (DEM) of community species richness provides a theoretical context for explanations of the extinctions in North America and highlights life history characteristics of extinct mammals. These life history traits and associated phenotypes are a seldom-explored line of evidence concerning the causes of the extinctions. In light of life history traits, environmental disturbance is implicated as the proximate cause of the extinctions, but the DEM does not preclude overkill as a contributing cause in North America.

A field survey of local traditional food habits in northern Italy revealed that children in Carnia have traditionally eaten sweet ingluvies (the crop) from day flying moths of the genus Zygaena and its mimic, Syntomis. These moths are brightly colored, and all species of Zygaena contain cyanogenic glucosides, which release toxic hydrogen cyanide upon degradation. The presence of cyanogenic glucosides in larvae and imagos (adults) as well as in ingluvies of Zygaena and Syntomis moths was investigated using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The sugar content of the ingluvies was determined using gas chromatography and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography. The ingluvies contained very low quantities of cyanogenic glucosides but high quantities of various sugars. We conclude that over time children have become acquainted with the use of Zygaena as a convenient, supplementary source of sugar in early summer when Zygaena is very common and easy to catch by hand. Because the ingluvies have a very low cyanogenic content, children can include this resource as a seasonal delicacy at minimum risk.

A review of the available data from macrobotanical analyses conducted on prehistoric archaeological sites found in coastal southern California indicates the ubiquitous nature of carbonized Marah macrocarpus (Greene) Greene (wild cucumber) seed coat fragments. Their recovery from cultural deposits in carbonized form indicates prehistoric use; however, all parts of the plant are toxic, and plants that typically function in medicinal or ritualistic roles are rarely recovered as part of the macrobotanical assemblage. In an attempt to shed some light on the possible prehistoric uses of wild cucumber by the native peoples of coastal southern California, this paper examines the current distribution of Marah, the archaeological occurrence of M. macrocarpus, as well as pertinent biochemical and morphological characteristics of the plant, particularly the seed. Finally, ethnobotanical accounts of the use of Marah by the native peoples of the Pacific west are discussed in light of current research on the physical properties and biological activities of various compounds found in Marah. This information is offered as a guide for future archaeological investigations of the possible uses of the taxon by the prehistoric Indians of coastal southern California and elsewhere.

The Sami people of northern Scandinavia and many indigenous peoples of North America have used pine (Pinus spp.) inner bark for food, medicine and other purposes. This study compares bark-peeling and subsequent uses of pine inner bark in Scandinavia and western North America, focusing on traditional practices. Pine inner bark contains substances – mainly carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and minerals – that were important complements to the protein-rich food of the indigenous peoples living in northern regions of both continents. The climate in these regions was (and is) sharply seasonal, and the stored carbohydrates in pine inner bark were particularly important during late winter. On both continents, a strip of live cambium was commonly left to show respect to the tree and the tree spirits and to ensure the tree's survival. The uses of pine inner bark and associated traditions have long time depths, and trees with old, or even ancient, bark-peeling scars are still common in old-growth pine forests on both continents. We conclude that forests with such trees should be regarded as relicts of traditional landscapes and protected for their cultural historical value.

Entomophagy is widespread among indigenous people, promoting the gathering of traditional ecological knowledge of insect life histories and plant-insect interactions. In the Amazon, the cultivation of palm weevil larvae (Rhynchophorus palmarum and Rhinostomus barbirostris) for food provides an important supplement to the diets of many indigenous people. This study conducted with the Jotï people from Venezuelan Amazonia examined their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of palm (Oenocarpus bacaba) and weevil interactions and how they have applied their TEK to optimize returns on palm weevil cultivation. They manipulate palms to induce changes in the resource-partitioning and competition that occurs naturally between weevil species, thereby increasing harvests of their preferred species of weevil. We found that the Jotï's traditional ecological knowledge was congruent with scientific findings of weevil natural history and palm and weevil interactions. This analysis identifies potential research directions that may provide solutions to agricultural problems such as palm weevil infestations in palm plantations. We conclude that understanding and preserving traditional ecological knowledge and practices is important for organisms such as palm weevils that rarely have been studied in their natural forest settings.

Analysis of plant and animal data from the Sandy site (44RN220) indicates a short-term seasonal encampment geared toward the collection of medicinal plants and the hunting of deer. The plant assemblage is dominated by medicinal plants, in particular bearsfoot, with relatively fewer remains of the typical staple plant foods, maize and hickory. Small amounts of other plants with medicinal qualities were also identified, including bedstraw, holly, and wax myrtle. The faunal remains consist almost entirely of white-tailed deer skeletal elements; analysis of body part distributions produced a reverse utility curve, an outcome that strongly suggests a short-term butchery/kill site.