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[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_2_font=”BioRhyme||||||||” custom_margin=”-42px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
While many of the Eastern Agricultural Complex plants have been largely forgotten and the domesticated varieties lost, that is not the case for the sunflower. Sunflowers are recogized for their ornamental flowers a well as their edible seeds (eaten by people and birds). Many people are not aware that sunflowers were actually domesticated by Indigenous people in the eastern Woodlands by around 2800 B.C.\u00a0 (Fritz 2019; Smith 2014). The ancestors of domesticated sunflowers were native to the Western United States, but made their way to the East and were domesticated here.<\/p>\n
Paleoethnobotanists determine whether archeologically collected sunflower seeds are domesticated based on their size. Sunflower seeds got larger as they were domesticated. Sunflower flower heads also increase in size with domestication. Along with larger seeds, there was s a move from many branching stems with many smaller flowers toward sunflowers with a single large flower (Fritz 2019:21).<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflowers have lovely broad leaves.” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/08\/20210727_120740.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” content_text_color=”#000000″ content_font_size=”16px” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][dipl_image_card title=”The wild progenitors of today’s domesticated sunflowers had many branching stems and multiple flowers. As sunflowers became domesticated, they generally became just a singluar stalk with one main flower.” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/08\/font-and-back-sunflower-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” content_text_color=”#000000″ content_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”The stems and leaves of sunflowers are tough and hairy.” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/06\/sunflower-tops-preflower.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” content_text_color=”#000000″ content_font_size=”16px” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflowers” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/06\/Sunflower3.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflowers bloom from about July to September.” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/06\/sunflower-face-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” content_text_color=”#000000″ content_font_size=”16px” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflower” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/06\/sunflowerjpgsized.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Depending on the variety, sunflowers can get quite tall- up to seven feet or more in height.” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/08\/Sunflower-cluster-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” content_text_color=”#000000″ content_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflower seed heads (the center of the flowers) are ready to harvest when the petals fall off and they start to droop down.” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/08\/sunflower-row.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” content_text_color=”#000000″ content_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflower seed head” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/08\/KIMG0145.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflower seed head” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/08\/KIMG0147.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflower seed head” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/06\/sunflower-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflower harvest” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/06\/sunflower-harvestclipped-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][dipl_image_card title=”The outer covering of the sunflower seed is tough and inedible. The nutritious part of the seed is the inner kernel. Indigenous people likely chewed on sunflower seeds, extracting the kernels in their mouths much like baseball players do today rather than extracting the kernels by hand.” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/08\/KIMG0155.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” content_text_color=”#000000″ content_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_image_card title=”Sunflower seed harvesting” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/08\/KIMG0150.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][dipl_image_card title=”Researchers can distinguish between domesticated and non-domesticated sunflowers based on the size of seeds found archeologically.” image=”https:\/\/archeology.uark.edu\/gga\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/06\/Sunflower-1.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” content_text_color=”#000000″ content_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_image_card][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipl_separator separator_color=”#477559″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipl_separator][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.19.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_2_font=”BioRhyme||||||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”30px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” hover_enabled=”0″ header_2_text_align_tablet=”” header_2_text_align_phone=”” header_2_text_align_last_edited=”on|phone” header_2_font_size_tablet=”25px” header_2_font_size_phone=”20px” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
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Asch, D. L., and N. B. Asch.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1985\u00a0\u00a0 Prehistoric Plant Cultivation in West-Central Illinois. In Prehistoric Food Production in North America, edited by R. I. Ford, pp. 149-203. Anthropological Papers, No. 75.\u00a0 Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Crites, G. D.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1993\u00a0\u00a0 Domesticated Sunflower in Fifth Millennium B.P. Temporal Context: New Evidence From Middle Tennessee. American Antiquity 58:146-148.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fritz, Gaye J.<\/p>\n
2019\u00a0\u00a0 Feeding Cahokia: Early Agriculture in the North American Heartland. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Heiser, C. B.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1953\u00a0\u00a0 The Archaeological Record of the Cultivated Sunflower with Remarks Concerning the Origin of Indian Agriculture in Eastern North America. Unpublished manuscript.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1985\u00a0\u00a0 Some Botanical Considerations of the Early Domesticated Plants North of Mexico. In Prehistoric Food Production in North America, edited by R. I. Ford, pp. 57-72.\u00a0 Anthropological Papers, No. 75. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann\u00a0 Arbor.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Smith, Bruce D.<\/p>\n