Actually archaeology is not required here. Acorn has been a staple food
through much of human history (ie in historic times). That is why the
name "acorn" contains the stem "corn" = "grain" as in wheat or rye. Only in
the last few centuries it has been demoted to an animal food.

Oaks have been significantly correlated with rising civilizations. A typical
picture is to start out with a site on a river surrounded by dense oak
forests. On such a site a city may arise, to become famous. Happened time
after time.

Countries well known for their luscious and dense oak forests include Greece
and Britain, both giving rise to well-known civilations. Of course when such
a City reaches its peak, the oaks will be much on the decline, getting used
up as fuel.

A typical example of a City-that-would-not-be if it were not for oaks and
acorns is London. Look at a map of London some time, and see all the street
names.

Some minor points
- "Acorns must be processed to remove the tannins before they are
edible." Varies from species to species, some are quite edible raw. By the
way wheat is usually also processed.
- If you're trying to develop a stand of bearing oaks, it is going
to take multiple years vs. one with a grain crop " This is the wrong way
about. Oaks are there first, civilization follows where a "stand of bearing
oaks" is already present.
PvR

Monique Reed schreef

Read some archaeology. The civilizations which developed agriculture
arose mostly in fertile plains, not in temperate forests. Also,
acorns must be processed to remove the tannins before they are
edible. Also, many oaks bear large crops only every other year.
Also, if you're trying to develop a stand of bearing oaks, it is going
to take multiple years vs. one with a grain crop.

M. Reed

"P van Rijckevorsel"

Actually archaeology is not required here. Acorn has been a staple food
through much of human history (ie in historic times). That is why the
name "acorn" contains the stem "corn" = "grain" as in wheat or rye. Only in
the last few centuries it has been demoted to an animal food.



[snip]

Forsooth!

Not in North America!

Stem "corn"?!
Not what my dictionary says!!
OE æern, æcren — mast, oak mast.

[Scanned — And you know what that means!!]

-----------
donald j haarmann
Date written forgotten!
Will check da files latter.

Oaks (Quercus) are widespread hardwood trees found
throughout most of North America and Eurasia, as far south as the
mountains of Cuba and Colombia, and at the opposite side of the
world in northern Africa and Indonesia. Some 500 species have
been named but only 300 are accepted. (Fowells, 1965). In the
United States 58 native species of tree size, 10 of shrub size, and
one naturalized specie (English Oak - Q. rober L. ) are found
(Little, 1961)

Perhaps the most useful part of the. oak are the seeds
produced in the form of a 'dry fruit" or nut, commonly called acorns.
Acorns, produced in great numbers in the fall, usually between
September and November, are highly valued by both men and
wildlife for their high fat and carbohydrate content. (1) Van Dersal
(1940) lists 186 different species of birds and mammals for whom
the acorn is a part of their diet. So great is the use of acorns by
wildlife that one hundred percent of the acorn crop may be
consumed by animals (Korstain, 1927; Downes, 1949).

As great as the wildlife use of acorns may be, the exploita-
tion of this resource by man has also been heavy, Merriam (1918)
reports of a ''ceremony for the dead" held near Tualumne County,

(1) See Table 1.


California in October, 1907, in which ??..50 huge baskets, each
holding from one to two bushels full of freshly cooked acorn mush?
were prepared. "The mush was so heavy that the services of two
strong women were required to lift each basket?.The total
quantity of acorn mush and bread made for this ceremony must
have exceeded a ton in weight." Driver (1952) notes tha+t acorns
from 27 species of oak are known to have been eaten by American
Indians.

As we are -concerned with recreating acorn usage from the
archaeological record, what are we to look for among the artifacts
found that would serve as indices of acorn utilization? As the fruit
of the oak stores almost all of its fat, carbohydrate, and protein in
the cotyledon, which is surrounded by a tightly adhering pericarp,
some device must be utilized to remove the pericarp. This was
most commonly done by cracking open the acorn with the aid of a
small stone used as a hammer and a flat stone used as an anvil
(Driver, 1953; Gifford, 1936). As any pair of stones would do and
as they also could have been utilized to remove the shell from any
number of edible nuts, this avenue is closed to us. Some type of
pulverizing or grinding device was employed to reduce the seed to
flour (if indeed the acorns were used for this purpose, for they were
also boiled to free them of their oil content and then disposed of.)
(Driver, 1952). But these devices could have been used to process
a wide range of vegetable products, so this avenue of investigation
again leads to naught. As acorns contain varying amounts of tannic
acid, which due to its astringency, makes them unpalatable to
human beings, (2) unless. they are processed in some way to
lessen or remove the tannins. Two common methods were
employed: boiling or leaching,, neither of which required special
equipment or structures. We are left with only the charred remains
of the acorns themselves to reveal to the archaeologist their usage.
(Sort of a tautological artifact.)

As the archaeological record itself can tell us little of the
use to which acorns were put and the quantity utilized, what can
we say of their availability to potential use? And herein lies an
endless morass of differing information, for there is no rhyme or
reason to acorn production.

Acorn production is commonly given as the number of
acorns produced per tree, acre, 100 square feet of crown area, et
al. It would seem to be a simple matter to find the number of acorns
per pound and to divide this into the, number of acorns per unit to
derive the weight per unit, but as the number of acorns per pound
varies from time-to time, tree to tree, and from one place to
another, this figure is not easily obtained.

The number of acorns produced varies from year to year,
species to species, tree to tree, place-to-place, etc. Goodrum
(1971) reports that a southern red oak (Q. falcata) which from
196?-

(2) I can find no information as to the amount of tannic
acid contained 41.n various species.

to 1967 produced only 3.4 pounds of acorns, but In 1960 produced
16.8 pounds. Christisen (1955) reports that a Scarlet oak (Q.
coccinea) which produced no (0) acorns in 1948, produced 2,300
(11.4 lbs.) in 1949, but in 1950 it again produced no (0) acorns.

The number of acorns produced is in itself not a useful
measure of acorn availability because of the enormous number
that are damaged by insects before falling. Christisen (1955) notes
that a Post oak (Q. stellata) produced acorns that were only 5%
sound. (3) Beck and Olson (1968) in their five year summary of
acorn production show the following percentages of sound acorns
produced between 1962 and 1966: 13, 35, 6, 12, and 57%. As it is
known that animals will not eat insect damaged acorns (Van
Dersal, 1940; Christisen, 1955), it is possible they were also not
utilized by man. Because of the large number that are damaged,
and as a few large trees can account for the majority of acorns
produced, it may be that early man processed the acorns when and
where they were found; thus lessening the possibility that their
shells would find their way into his hearths. Parker (1910) observes
that stones used for cracking nuts are to be found today near large
old nut trees and the writer, in his childhood days, often hunted
about for them in his grandfather's back fields and used them for
purposes previously

(3) Sound in that they could be expected to germinate.

mentioned.'' Although the trees he refers to are walnut, it. is
possible that the same was done for oak. Where large numbers of
acorn remains are found in hearths, it may be that they were being
roasted to remove the tannic acid. Tannic acid, when heated to
210-215oC (410-49oF), decomposes mostly into pyrogallol and
carbon dioxide, and although the pyrocallol is poisonous (MLD
dogs orally 25 mg. kg), it sublimes when slowly heated and is thus
driven off (Merck Index).

Munson (1971) notes that he is unable to account for
lower than expected frequency of acorn remains from the Scovill
site. The limited number of acorn remains may be due to the
requirement that the acorns be processed in some way before
being consumed. They may have been shelled at one particular
place and the hulls discarded upon the ground or buried, never to
be burned so as to be available to the archaeologist that he might
recreate subsistence patterns. It is easy to envision the inhabitants
sitting around the fire cracking open hickory., walnut, and
butternuts and discharging the shells in the fire; thus assuring their
preservation.

In conclusion, all that can be said is that acorns were
available in unlimited quantities, even in poor crop years, and their
usage as far as the archaeological record,is concerned is a closed
book.


9

TABLE I

FOOD VALUES OF SOME OAK ACORN SPECIES

Protein Carbohydrate Fat Source

Bear (Q. ilicifolia) 5.94 54.61 19.41 1
Black (Q. velu"L-ina) 6.62 65.34 23.4 2
Blackjack (Q.marilandica) 6.28 60.11 10.66 1
Bluejack (Q. cinerea) 5.92 67.06 12.66 1
Chestnut (Q. prinus) 6.06 72.93 3.34 1
Pin (Q. palustris) 6.37 58.37 17.82 1
Red (Q. rubra) 5.33 69.1 19.3 2
Water (Q. nigra) 4.20 54.17 22.83 1
White (Q. alba) do 5.85 67.25 5.67 1
White Oak (Q. lobata) 5.7 65.0 18.6 3

Sources1) King, T. R. 1944
(2) Gysel, L. W 1957
(3) Merriam, C. 1918




NUMBER OF ACORNS PER POUN

(1) (2) (3)

Q. alba 150 169 103
Q. coccinea 280 202 -
Q. falacata 595 - 316
Q. lyrata 130 - 111
Q. prinus 100 - 47
Q. stellata 400 441 216
Q. velutina 250 240 -
Q. virginiana 390 - 281
Q. marilandica - 422 -

(1) USCA, 1948
(2) Christisen, D. M., 1955
(3) Goodrum, P. H. et al., 1971

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--
donald j haarmann — independently dubious