Childhood Diet and Western Basin Tradition Foodways at the Krieger Site, Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Abstract

In this article, we discuss new stable isotope data obtained from human dental tissue at the Krieger site, a Late Woodland Western Basin Tradition occupation from southwestern Ontario, Canada. These data point to significant maize consumption within an otherwise diffuse subsistence economy and settlement pattern geared toward the occupation of short-term campsites. The degree of maize consumption at Krieger implies the necessity for storage and year-round use. We suggest that maize horticultural practices during this time were as intensive as those suggested for contemporary and more sedentary Iroquoian groups to the east yet were accommodated without major changes to other aspects of the subsistence-settlement regime. Furthermore, the absence of a breastfeeding signal in the dental tissue not only implicates women in the role of maize production but might also imply demographic consequences. Accordingly, and with reference to comparative data, we suggest that notions of food production be recast and decoupled from the advent of sedentary lifeways in the lower Great Lakes region.