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ABSTRACT - Exploratory archaeobotanical analysis was conducted on Grand Island, Michigan, in concert with current botanical inventories and historic document research. Our goal was to synthesize these three forms of data in the study of early cultural-plant use. We describe indigenous and Euro-American plant relationships on Grand Island, and the patterning of plant remains between individual sites. Botanical materials in four of five samples showed greater correspondence to current flora than to historic accounts of plant representation. Still, from most samples we recovered a good depiction of historic food plants. A well-defined feature sample yielded the greatest quantity and diversity of culturally important botanical material. The results support integration of documentary with archaeological sources to identify plant remains with cultural meaning.
INTRODUCTION
Vegetation history interests many people for different reasons: as an indicator of climate change and past flora/fauna distributions, a template for restoration, or for information about past cultures (Popper and Hastorf 1988). But must we rely on pollen stratigraphies drawn from isolated peat bogs and lakes to reconstruct past environments, or to examine how cultural groups provided for their basic needs? What other means do we have to pursue these types of historical ecology questions? Archaeological sites are often targeted for cultural-plant history clues by their strategic locations vis-a-vis anthropogenic environments and fortuitous preservation of environmental data (Forney 1992, unpub.; Popper and Hastorf 1988). Accompanying plant remains from archaeological contexts, historic documents can furnish leads to the vegetation of recent past and its cultural interplay via paleoethnobotany (Crumley 1994, Popper and Hastorf 1988). We were drawn to Grand Island, Michigan, U.S.A., for investigation of its cultural plant communities. The island lies in a southern bay of Lake Superior (Fig. 1) with dramatic geology and microclimate, uncommon plant communities, and a rich cultural history many centuries old. Grand Island was designated as a National Recreation Area in 1990, and is expected to receive substantial public interest and recreation use (USDA 1994). We undertook research on the island's cultural landscape to contribute to the evaluation, restoration, protection, and interpretation of its diverse heritage. By combining archaeobotanical remains with documentary sources and current field recovery, we have set the stage for continued exploration of Grand Island's vegetation history and greater understanding of its culture-plant relationships....