Facts and interpretations on the diets of aboriginal Homo sapiens in California, part 2: Indigenous food-plants of the Chumash hunter-gatherers

@tonyrebelo @jeremygilmore @ludwig_muller @botaneek @troos @lysandra @graysquirrel @grnleaf

...continued from https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/68026-sundry-aspects-of-the-diets-of-the-indigenous-people-of-california-part-1#

In this Post, I focus on that part of California inhabited by the Chumash people (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumash_people).

The study area is coastal south-central California, including the four Northern Channel Islands (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Islands_(California)).

The Chumash did not practise horticulture. However, they

were accomplished seafarers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomol), and
occupied towns of up to 1000 inhabitants in particularly productive sites, e.g. adjacent to estuaries.

The main vegetation types in the study area are

chaparral (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaparral),
oak woodland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_oak_woodland),
valley grassland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Central_Valley_grasslands), and
riparian fringes and marshes.

My reference is: Timbrook (1990, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02860489).

I have reorganised the dietary information in Timbrook (1990) according to categories of plant-parts.

In the following inventory, I

include only the indigenous plants eaten, and
exclude those plants consumed by mouth only medicinally.

SEEDS

FRUIT-PULP (in some cases together with seeds)

FOLIAGE

STEMS

Rumex hymenosepalus https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/58291-Rumex-hymenosepalus
Hesperoyucca whipplei https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/58362-Hesperoyucca-whipplei

TUBERS/ROOTS

Calochortus spp. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=1531&subview=map&taxon_id=47327&view=species
Dipterostemon capitatus https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1196784-Dipterostemon-capitatus
Schoenoplectus acutus https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59205-Schoenoplectus-acutus
Typha domingensis https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/58392-Typha-domingensis
Typha latifolia https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48685-Typha-latifolia

EXUDATES

Lupinus bicolor (floral nectar) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/50614-Lupinus-bicolor
Lupinus latifolius (floral nectar) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/67379-Lupinus-latifolius
Lupinus succulentus (floral nectar) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/56759-Lupinus-succulentus
Lupinus truncatus (floral nectar) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/58906-Lupinus-truncatus
Lupinus spp. (floral nectar) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=1531&subview=map&taxon_id=47121&view=species
Phragmites australis (manna, from honeydew, via aphids) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/64237-Phragmites-australis and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=1531&subview=map&taxon_id=52381&view=species and https://www.jstor.org/stable/4109433

POLLEN

Typha domingensis https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/58392-Typha-domingensis
Typha latifolia https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48685-Typha-latifolia

SALT

Distichlis spicata 'Plants beaten to remove surface incrustations for possible use as condiment salt' https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/58372-Distichlis-spicata

DISCUSSION

The Chumash, prior to European arrival, neither utilised any domestic plants, nor practised selective breeding. However, their wild, indigenous food-plants included many genera that have been domesticated elsewhere, viz.

Chenopodium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa),
Cirsium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirsium_oleraceum)
Juglans (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36477175/),
Juniperus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_communis),
Lepidium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidium_meyenii and https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09064719809362493),
Lupinus (https://www.legumehub.eu/is_article/genetic-diversity-in-narrow-leafed-lupin-breeding-after-the-domestication-bottleneck/),
Nasturtium,
Opuntia (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21652337/),
Prunus,
Ribes,
Rosa,
Rubus,
Rumex,
Salvia (https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article-abstract/93/1/52/2187375?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false),
Sambucus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_nigra),
Solanum,
Trifolium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clover), and
Vitis.

The following, although not domesticated, are naturally cosmopolitan:

Phragmites australis,
Sonchus oleraceus, and
Typha spp.

It is noteworthy that Ipomoea is absent from the list. This genus, important in aboriginal diets elsewhere (https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/68365-the-sweet-potato-ipomoea-costata-an-exception-to-the-lack-of-tubers-and-farm-associated-plants-in-australia), is not indigenous to the study area (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=1531&subview=map&taxon_id=52346&view=species and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=14&subview=map&taxon_id=52346&view=species).

How can we explain the lack of horticulture in people living on naturally fertile soils, and able to achieve permanent settlement and technical sophistication w.r.t. the construction of boats?

As per part 1 of this series of Posts, I suggest that one reason is as follows:
Marine organisms were so productive and nutritious that it was more economical to procure seafoods - and presumably to trade them inland - than to cultivate plants. A key to understanding this is the upwelling of nutrients immediately offshore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Current).

Posted on October 25, 2024 03:29 PM by

milewski

Facts and interpretations on the diets of aboriginal Homo sapiens in California, part 2: Indigenous food-plants of the Chumash hunter-gatherers

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