Our PCMG monthly meeting will be held next Tuesday, September 19 at 11:30am at St James United Methodist Church. Our program will be presented by Elizabeth T. Horton, PhD Station Archeologist, Arkansas Archeological Survey located at the Toltec Mounds Research Station.
“The First Farmers and Lost Crop of Arkansas”
In many cases, when members of the public are asked, “what did the Indians of Arkansas eat” they will, almost to a person, answer “corn, beans, and squash.” While this triad of tropical crops, often referred to as the “Three Sisters” does reflect staple foods for the late prehistoric agricultural peoples of the Southeast, they were only the latest addition to an already existing sophisticated systems of land management and horticulture that stretched back thousands of years. Long before the introduction of tropical crops such as maize (corn), the Indians of Arkansas were planting and tending multiple locally domesticated crop plants. Known as the Eastern Agricultural Complex, these ancient domesticated and cultivated crops included sumpweed, maygrass, little barley, sunflower, goosefoot, erect knotweed, and more. Horton’s talk focuses on this fascinating history of the domestication of native plant species by the pre-Columbian peoples of the Southeastern United States. Dr. Horton also explores why the archeological record of Arkansas has been so critical to a broad array of research concerning plant domestication, and why Arkansas’ natural lands are so critical to the future of research into prehistoric crop domestication and crop genetics.
During our business meeting we will learn more about what PCMG is doing at the Arkansas State Fair, find out who won the Summer Challenge, vote on the PCMG Demonstration Garden, and much more! Also, please don’t forget to bring your orders for your PCMG Stuff (merchandise).
I’m looking forward to seeing you next week,
Kathy Ratcliffe
PCMG President