Hoyme and Bass] SKELETAL REMAINS 355 



Although it is relatively easy to infer the kinds of food available 

 to the Clarksville people, questions regarding the adequacy of their 

 diet are more difficult to answer. Just how abundant were these foods ? 

 One must remember that many of the early accounts, such as Hariot's, 

 which give the impression of a land flowing with millc and honey, 

 were written to induce colonists to settle in the New "World. Their 

 authors cannot be blamed for stressing the potential productivity of 

 the land and neglecting to mention the work and planning needed to 

 exploit it. There is no reason for concluding that the Indians, lacking 

 European methods of food production and preservation, enjoyed the 

 prosperity which the colonists were eventually to achieve. The ex- 

 plorers' reports are sobering, Tliere are not infrequent references 

 to expeditions which ran out of food and were unable to purchase 

 supplies from the Indians because the Indians' reserves were nearly 

 exhausted. Although the introduction of agriculture probably ameli- 

 orated the situation, it is unlikely that this eliminated the basic cycle 

 of feast and famine. In times of abundance, there was enough for 

 everyone; but in times of famine, the men or children may have re- 

 ceived a larger share than the women. There is as little evidence on 

 the nutritional adequacy of the diet. 



Food and cookery at the Tollifero site were apparently quite dif- 

 ferent both in quality and quantity. Wild nuts, berries, and grass 

 seeds were found by Miller (p. 253), and bones of various animals, in- 

 cluding deer and bear; stone objects including mortars, boiling stones, 

 and hoes, but no other indication of agriculture. Undoubtedly the 

 diet and cuisine were not as limited as this scanty evidence would im- 

 ply ; nevertheless, a hunting and gathering economy would not supply 

 as varied or abundant dietary as an agricultural economy; and the 

 well-worn teeth confirm the suggestion of a diet containing far more 

 coarse, fibrous foods, than soft, starchy mushes and puddings. It is 

 noteworthy that the only fractured tooth seen in either series was in 

 an adolescent from this site (USNM 380890) . 



PHYSICAL TYPE OF THE TOLLIFERO AND CLARKSVILLE 

 POPULATIONS 



The most salient physical difference between the populations at the 

 Tollifero and Clarksville sites seems to be one of general body size. 

 Cranial and facial size, as expressed in the modules, and long bone 

 lengths, seem to be about 2 to 4 percent greater in the later population 

 (table 3). It is necessary to examine the variations in proportions, 

 however, to see whether this increase in size is uniform enough to be 

 attributable to increase in caloric intake, or whether some other cause 

 must be sought. 



