Étude des macrorestes végétaux du site Droulers
This thesis focuses on the study of the macrobotanical remains from the Droulers village site inhabited during the second half of the XVth century by a St. Lawrence Iroquoian community. The main goal is to verify the practices of its inhabitants regarding the botanical contribution to their diet less than a century before the end of prehistory. Remains resulting from the practice of agriculture and gathering from wild are present in different contexts of the site. The analysis of these remains demonstrates the importance of these activites in the daily life of the inhabitants of the site. Thus, it is possible to validate the importance of maize among the subsistence strategies by means of ubiquity analysis of that species on the site. Maize is indeed the most common species throughout the different contexts studied. The presence of that species coupled with that of bean and squash demonstrates the practice of the Three sisters mound system at the Droulers site, a practice documented historically by the first European chroniclers. The remains of fruits and nuts are relatively well represented on the site, which suggests the importance of gathering in the diet of the Droulers inhabitants. The synchronic and diachronic comparative study of those macrobotanical remains with those found elsewhere in Iroquoia helps to better situate the degree of importance of the activities mentioned above at the Droulers site in relation to that of other sites whether older, contemporary or younger. The majority of the fruits present on the site where also gathered by the Glen Meyer and Princess Point proto-iroquoians and by other iroquoian groups (prehistoric and historic). The degree of utilization of the wild fruits at the Droulers site is in continuity with that of older and younger related groups. The utilization of cultigens and nuts at the Droulers site is similar to that of other Iroquoian groups.
Agriculture Archaeology St. Lawrence Iroquoians Macrobotanical remains Agriculture Gathering Late Woodland St. Lawrence lowlands Quebec