Foodways Fabulations: Macrobotanicals from Moundville's Northeastern Riverbank

This thesis looks at plant remains from an archaeological site, Moundville (1Tu500), in the Black Warrior River Valley of west central Alabama. This thesis draws upon science-technology-studies (STS) scholarship to explore foodways through feminist, flowing, fragmented, factual, and futuristic lenses. Excavations near Mound Z at the northeastern periphery of the site, away from Moundville's central plaza, provided the macrobotanical remains (plants visible to the naked eye, such as seeds, nuts, and other plant remains) for this project. Radiocarbon dates and excavated structures suggest a late 15th century occupation and use of the site. Maize (Zea mays L.) was by far the most abundant taxa, and taxa diversity across the entire excavation was quite low. This data, paired with the theoretical framework, muddies previous interpretations about late Moundville's site abandonment and asks what plants can, and cannot, tell us about the human past. Specifically, northeastern riverbank samples suggest an occupation at Moundville stretching later into site history than previously assumed, as well as one that was networked throughout the Black Warrior River Valley.