Dynamic optimization of horticulture among the Muscogee Creek Indians of the southeastern United States

Behavioral Ecology and Archaeology

“…Prey and patch choice models also provide insight on resource cultivation, including the processes underlying the adoption of plant and animal domesticates (e.g., Alvard and Kuznar, 2001;Diehl, 1997;Dominguez, 2002;Foster, 2003;Gremillion, 2004;Hawkes and O'Connell, 1992;Keegan, 1986;Keegan and Butler, 1987;Kennett and Winterhalder, 2006;Layton et al, 1991;Piperno and Pearsall, 1998;Redding, 1988;Russell, 1988;Winterhalder and Goland, 1997).…”

Handbook of Evolutionary Research in Archaeology

“…Though it did not settle the question of where garden plots were actually located, this study demonstrated that optimal locations for food production need not be limited to a single option. Foster (2003Foster ( , 2010) also used optimization principles in conjunction with simulation as a method for explaining decisions about field location among the Creek (Muskogee) people of southeastern North America during the historic period. His dynamic optimization model of a single historical village's farmland showed that fields were abandoned well before the marginal value theorem predicts they should have been on the basis of diminishing returns over time.…”

Palynological Evidence of the Effects of the Deerskin Trade on Forest Fires during the Eighteenth Century in Southeastern North America

“…The Creek Indians were a linguistically diverse collection of Indian tribes. Their subsistence economy was based on horticulture of corn and other crops and hunting and gathering (Ethridge 2003:140-158;Foster 2003;Gremillion 1995). Although diets varied, hunting and gathering contributed approximately equal amounts of food to their diet as did horticultural products.…”

“…Native Americans lived in the region until approximately 1825-1836 (Ethridge 2003;Foster et al 2004;Hahn 2004). While subsistence activities changed through time, during the recent past (circa 1540-1836), Native Americans in the area engaged in small-scale horticulture of corn and squashes and hunted and gathered forest foods (Ethridge 2003;Foster 2003;Swanton 1946). Between 1825 and 1836, the Indians were forcibly removed in order to make way for settlement by European settlers.…”