Woman scraping a deer hide.
| In late summer and early fall the pace of economic activity picked up and by mid-fall it had quickened considerably. Easily stored wild foods particularly nuts, could be effectively gathered by larger groups, cooperating households along a ridge or within a set of related hamlets, for example. Some household members took part in the almost daily processing of seeds and nuts. Hickory and brown nuts were gathered in great quantities. Chenopodium and polyganum were harvested. Some of these plant foods were processed for the meat of the seed, while others such as hickory were boiled for their oil. Maize, and other grass seeds from storage pits and those recently gathered were ground and/or boiled as part of meal preparation. Small game trapped or shot by adults and children alike was dressed, processed and eaten. If the number of scrapers are any indication, scraping of animal skins and tanning of hides, like seed grinding, was an ever present chore for the Mississippian commoner. |
Woman scraping a deer hide. |
Important fall game, Canada Geese. |
Men, perhaps accompanied by adolescent boys, began extended hunting trips to take advantage of deer activity at the approach of their mating season. Also important were the migratory fowl now returning to the American Bottom as part of their annual southward trek. As during the other seasons, old underground storage pits which had "soured" were converted to garbage pits. It seems likely that now new pits were excavated for storage of the coming harvest. House repair activities were also repeated in preparation for winter. Thatch in particular needed to be repaired and reinforced with freshly cut prairie grass.
Maintaining the residence, repairing thatch. |