The use of acorns for food in California: past, present, future. In (original) (raw)
Related papers
Early Limits to the Central California Acorn Economy in the Lower Sacramento Valley
Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 2016
Author(s): Wohlgemuth, Eric | Abstract: The Sacramento Valley bottom has one of the richest archaeological records in California despite poor nut-crop resources that are the hallmark of California Indian subsistence. The nut-poor habitat fostered much earlier intensification of low-ranked small seeds in the Valley bottom than contemporaneous sites in the San Francisco Bay Area and North Coast Ranges, including a focus on use of goosefoot (Chenopodium spp.) seeds unique to central California. The Sacramento Valley also has the only central California record of intensive use of Themidaceae (Brodiaea complex) geophyte corms, suggesting these root crops were also low-ranked plant foods.
Landscape Series, 2013
Acorns-the fruits of oaks-are a key resource for wildlife in temperate forests throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Acorns are also economically important for extensive livestock rearing, and as a staple food have supported indigenous human populations. Consequently, differences in how individual trees and populations of oaks invest in acorn production, both in terms of the size of the acorn crop and of the size of individual acorns, are of interest both ecologically and economically. Acorn production by oaks in both California and Spain tends to be highly variable and spatially synchronous. We summarize studies conducted in the two regions that investigate the factors influencing acorn production. One hypothesis explored is that, as a consequence of management, acorn production tends to be affected by different environmental factors in the two regions; another hypothesis is that acorn production in oaks in Spanish dehesas produce larger and more predictable acorn crops than trees in less managed Spanish forests or in California woodlands. Other factors potentially influencing acorn production are summarized, including biotic factors, trade-offs with growth, trade-offs with acorn size, and pollen limitation. We conclude with a discussion of spatial synchrony and acorn production at the community level. There remain many questions concerning the mating systems of oaks, trade-offs between different oak life-history characters, and the patterns and drivers of spatial synchrony. Environmental conditions in the two regions are similar, but understanding how their subtle differences influence acorn production is likely to yield important insights about the proximate and ultimate factors affecting acorn production and masting behavior.
1992
The aim of the thesis is to examine the use of acorns in human subsistence and to relate this to the interpretation of acorn remains from archaeological sites. The worldwide archaeological record of acorn finds is first reviewed, and archaeologists' interpretations of past uses of acorns are discussed. The ethnographic record of acorn use is next examined, with emphasis on similarity and variability within and between regions. Particular attention is paid to food-processing and detoxification techniques. An examination of the biological and ecological characteristics of acorns and oak trees follows, with emphasis on those factors which make them a useful resource, and, conversely, those factors which might bias against their use. Factors affecting the availability of acorns, and their nutritional qualities are considered. Interpretations which have been made in the archaeological literature about acorn use are then re-examined in the light of the available archaeological, ethnog...