New Discovery Key to Iroquoian Origins

Food burned on to an ancient bowl may hold the key to the origins of the Iroquois Indians.

About one thousand years ago the Iroquois Indians of the modern day New York area gave up their hunter gatherer ways to find more permanent settlements.  

At this time they moved into Long house, which are what many people think of when they picture the Iroquois people. Many people believe that the Iroquois Indians developed from a culture known as Point Peninsula , rather than having been their own cultural entity that developed separate from the Point Peninsula culture. They key to this lies in the corn that the Iroquois Indians cultivated. Corn is not native to New York . To find corn residue was not an easy task concidering that most pots in museums are thoroughly washed prior to display. Another issue with the recovery of this residue is that it is very destructive to obtain samples. Luckily a researcher named Schulenberg, a Ph. D. candidate found a private collector who never washed the pots that he collected. All of his artifacts were from the same site as well. After examination of these specimens it was determined that the site was occupied by both the Iroquois Indians and the Point Peninsula people seasonally. No corn was found on any of the pottery at this site. This may have been due to the fact that the site was only seasonally occupied. Though this may not seem like a discovery it does show that corn cultivation was not a pressuring factor in the permanent settlement of the Iroquois Indians.

To view a video containing more information about the Iroquois people click here

Source: Science Daily