Date of Award
1999
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Kennedy, William J.
Abstract
This thesis attempts to demonstrate quantitatively that Mississippian populations in the prehistoric North American Southeast utilized deer as a functional domesticate. "Functional domesticate", a term developed specifically for this study, is defined as a subsistence source that is consistently and readily accessed, both spatially and temporally. The concept of "domestication" extends to those economies which do not have animal domesticates but have access to procurement areas where animal resources can be continually and efficently harvested. The hypothesis is validated by using Bruce Smith's faunal model developed in the 1970s. His model in quantified by developing regression equations, indexes, and by creating "a Mississippian faunal use pattern." A literature review shows no previous attempt to use Smith's model to prove quantitatively the "deer as a functional domesticate" hypothesis. More importantly, the hypothesis is established without using analogies to the ethnohistoric/ethnographic literature, providing a useful instrument for studying prehistoric societies.
Extent
153 p.
Recommended Citation
Flaherty, Richard E., "Prehistoric subsistence in the North American Southeast: A quantitative assessment of deer utilization by Mississippian populations" (1999). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1990 - 1999. 1511.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_4/1511
Identifier
FADT15726
Comments
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1999.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters