Adaptation during the Antelope Creek phase: A diet breadth and site catchment analysis of the subsistence strategy at the Two Sisters site.

Abstract

This study examines the subsistence strategies of the inhabitants of the Two Sisters site (34TX32), a Late Prehistoric period homestead of the Antelope Creek phase in the Oklahoma panhandle. Excavations in 1972 and 1973 revealed a four-room stone-slab house superimposed over a single-room adobe structure. Radiocarbon dates for the site are A.D. 1327--1440. By examining the artifact assemblage, which consists of over 99,000 items, in context with the climate, landscape, availability of floral and faunal resources, internal proximity of items to each other, and differentiation among these items, a picture of the daily activities of the inhabitants and their subsistence activities emerges. Site catchment and diet breadth (prey choice) models are used as a theoretical backdrop from which to examine the site. The result of this analysis is the story of a people who practiced limited horticulture that was constrained by an and environment, forcing them to forage for wild plant foods to supplement their primary subsistence resource of bison. As bison hunters, they initially located their permanent dwelling in an area rich with prey, near water, and with ample wild plant foods. This location provided sufficient resources for some time; however, these people abandoned the central-place strategy and became nomadic bison hunters, probably in response to diminishing floral and faunal resources in the area surrounding the site. Migrating herds, drought, and over-harvesting of floral resources may have contributed to this change in lifestyle.