Ben,

Thanks for starting this thread.  I'm finding it very informative.  Here's
my two bits:

I have found that these plant clues to be rather region specific.  At my
site in central Alabama (an overgrown dead town), we recognize the location
of old streets and sidewalks (c. 1820) by the linear occurrence of china
berries and mulberries.  These are not the original trees, but descendants
of the ones introduced in 1820.  We knew to look for these because of
historical documents. Early town ordinances demanded that lot owners plant
these fast growing, umbrella shaped trees between the street and sidewalks.
Clues are found in newspaper accounts and court testimony.  Here, accounts
of doctors and lawyers leaning their chairs outside against these trees
during the hottest days of the year were found.  We have also found clues
for plant species in old nursery catalogues and newspaper advertisements for
plant sales or nurseries.  (again this relates to who was selling in your
region).  I've found wills to be a good source also.  Dying people sometimes
described how they wanted their burial ground constructed and often included
the type of plants to be installed.  Plantation diaries and reminisces have
been chock full of information, including a reference to a "mystic cedar
maze" that I have not yet completely figured out (anyone out there with
information, please contact me). I have found that most antebellum women
(and some men) were nearly obsessed about writing about their plantings.

An exception to the rule of finding clues first in the historical record,
has been the trifoliate orange.  We seem to always find a trifoliate orange
in African American cemeteries. In case you don't know this shrub, or know
it by another name, I'll describe it.  It blooms for only a short time.  It
loses it leaves in the winter, but the angular stems of this thing are
evergreen.  It has  "lime-like" fruit and incredibly huge painful thorns (6
or more inches long) that might remind a person of the Jesus' wreath of
thorns.

We also find daffodils, paper whites, old fashioned roses, an old fashioned
spirea, and crepe myrtles on house sites.  Cherry laurels and magnolias are
popular in cemeteries (evergreen).  And "osage orange", the one with the big
green hedge balls, is found as overgrown hedges formerly planted around
cemeteries or other yards.

The list could go on, but again, my main bit of advice is to visit your
regional records first, then use what you find there to direct you in the
field.  Of course knowing the native ecology is important too, so you can
recognize the plants that "don't belong."


Good luck.


Linda Derry, Director
Old Cahawba - AHC
719 Tremont St.
Selma, AL 36701 - 5446
ph. 334/875-2529 / email: [log in to unmask]


-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ben
Ford
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 6:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Botany for archaeologists


Dear All:

I am interested in finding references regarding the use of plants as clues
for site identification.

Are there certain kinds of plants that tend to colonize structure sites?

What sorts of domesticates and exotics were most common around homes at
various times (e.g. boxelder, perry winkle, English ivy)?

Once the types of plants to look for have been named, is there a
particularly good book to help with identifying these species in the field?

Thank you in advance for any words of wisdom.

Cheers,
Ben Ford
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