Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters by Eric E . Jones
The Role of Women’s Labor in the Commercialization of Dairy Farming in Late 19th-Century Madison County, NY
Historical Archaeology, 2025
The role of women’s labor in agricultural production as farms commercialized during the late 19th... more The role of women’s labor in agricultural production as farms commercialized during the late 19th century in the northern United States is a source of healthy debate. Focusing on dairy farming, most researchers agree that, prior to commercialization, women were heavily involved in milking cows and producing butter. However, during and after commercialization, historical sources provide highly variable information, such as periodicals relaying that women were forced completely into domestic roles, personal journals showing no change in labor patterns, and oral histories describing variability from farm-to-farm. We seek to expand this line of inquiry to communities with few to no written histories, to provide another case study on gendered labor patterns during the commercialization process, and to look at this question on the community scale. We do this using census records from 1850-1880 for the Town of Fenner, in Madison County in upstate New York, to examine the relationship between the number of adult women and men in the household and dairy production. In the 20th century and today, women in Fenner were and are contributing significant amounts of labor, albeit not always directly toward milk production. Our results suggest that both women and men continued to contribute labor toward dairying as this town became part of one of the most productive dairy farming regions in the country, a status it still maintains today. Thus, gendered labor in Fenner did not change much as farming commercialized but may have as it industrialized during the early 20th century. This finding informs larger topics like the relationship between farm economics and family and community ideas of gender and labor. It also speaks to the differences in value systems and ideologies within rural areas and between rural and urban communities during a formative time in U.S. socioeconomic history.
Objectives: A number of studies have examined changes in mortality and health during industrializ... more Objectives: A number of studies have examined changes in mortality and health during industrialization in both the United States and Western Europe; however, most of this work has focused on urban communities. Despite theories regarding differences between rural and urban patterns of mortality at this time, few analyses of data from rural communities have been done. Our goal is to examine trends in mortality, c. 1850-1880, for a rural county in central New York State at a time when farming, the economic base of this county, was becoming commercialized and industrialization was impacting the wider region. Materials and Methods: Using census mortality records from Madison County, NY (1850-1880), we examine trends in hazards of death, survivorship, and cause of death. In order to contribute a rural perspective to this area of study, we examine trends from the mortality records at several scales: town-specific, groups of towns based on population density, and the county as a whole. Results: Our results suggest that the hazards of death decreased and survivorship increased at the county level across this 30year period. In general, the rates of communicable diseases decreased and the rates of non-communicable diseases increased. Individual towns had variable outcomes, and higher population density towns had better apparent outcomes than those with medium and lower densities. Conclusions: Overall, mortality patterns changed noticeably during this period. These changes were likely at least partially a result of changing economic conditions, but may also have been affected by socio-spatial factors and access to healthcare, both of which continue to impact rural communities today.
The Settlement Ecology of Emerging Commercial Dairy Farming in the 19th-century Northeast
Historical Archaeology, 2023
The development of commercial farming in the mid-19th century was a critical component of industr... more The development of commercial farming in the mid-19th century was a critical component of industrialization in the United States. This research examines when, how, and why farmers in the Town of Fenner, New York began this transition and helped to create one of the most productive dairy industries in the country. To do this, we examine the relationships between the spatial arrangement of farms, production strategies, surplus production, environmental features, and the built environment. Unlike surrounding towns and counties that were heavily shifting to dairy farming by 1850, most farmers in Fenner were increasing production through growth of a diversified set of agricultural activities. Soil quality, location relative to churches, and access to labor were important factors in this process. However, surplus production was unstable throughout the latter part of the century, likely due to the relative isolation of the town from population centers and market access therein. The result was a focus on diversified farming and community economic well-being over individual financial independence.
Southeastern Archaeology, 2021
Triangular arrowheads are overwhelmingly the dominant projectile point form across eastern North ... more Triangular arrowheads are overwhelmingly the dominant projectile point form across eastern North America from 600 to 1600 CE. Although triangular points have been studied less than earlier technologies, important research has been conducted over the last 25 years on their morphology, function, and temporal relationships. One important observation from reading these works is that there is noticeable variability within the triangular form both between and within regions. However, this variability has not been studied extensively by quantitative means. In this research, we examine a collection of 199 points from two Piedmont Siouan sites in the upper Yadkin River valley dating to 1300–1600 CE. We analyzed seven discrete attributes using discriminant function analysis and found quantitative support for the contemporaneous existence of the three forms and evidence of changes in morphology over time. We follow this with an examination of the context and breakage patterns of these types to discuss their roles in social, political, and economic activities. We then compare our results to those from other areas of eastern North America to address why such variability and changes over time may have occurred.
American Antiquity, 2020
This research seeks to understand the economic and social interaction patterns among dispersed Pi... more This research seeks to understand the economic and social interaction patterns among dispersed Piedmont Village Tradition communities in the North American Southeast, AD 1200-1600. Piedmont Village Tradition communities lived adjacent to Mississippian societies and have been categorized as a peripheral society because of this spatial relationship. We examine economic behaviors by constructing fall-off curves of local versus nonlocal lithic material proportions at settlement sites and examining the reduction behaviors and tool types at sites. The results support a possible gateway model for the acquisition and distribution of nonlocal materials that linked spatially proximate communities. To examine social interaction patterns, we conducted a Brainerd-Robinson analysis of ceramic attributes from six sites and combined our results with work by Rogers (1993). The results show sites with stylistic similarities are not the same sites that share lithic resources. We conclude that these spatially non-overlapping artifact patterns result from a heterarchical social organization with a high degree of independence between economic and social interactions. Finally, we contextualize our results within the current knowledge of Mississippian and Piedmont Village Tradition societies in the region to broaden the discussion of gateways in reciprocity-based economies, societies traditionally thought of as peripheral to complex societies, and coalescence.
Significance and context in GIS-based spatial archaeology: A case study from Southeastern North America
Over 30 years ago, Kintigh and Ammerman (1982) outlined and applied a heuristic approach to spati... more Over 30 years ago, Kintigh and Ammerman (1982) outlined and applied a heuristic approach to spatial archaeology that balanced quantitative analyses and culturally and historically contextualized archaeology. The theoretical and methodological messages were that we need to do more than “eyeball” spatial patterns, we need to apply the proper analyses based on the characteristics of our datasets, and we need to ensure that our models, quantitative analyses, and resulting interpretations are based in the proper cultural and historical contexts. My goal in this paper is to examine how two of the concepts in this approach, significance and context, apply to a modern spatial archaeology that heavily utilizes geospatial computing tools. Although these tools help to solve several concerns that existed in the field 30 years ago, they can also cause others, such as mistaking autocorrelation for correlation or confusion about which of the multitude of available analytical tools is appropriate for particular questions and datasets. In this paper, I present a simplified version of the methodology I have used to address these concerns. I use archaeological, historical, and GIS-modeled data to compare the regional patterning of hierarchical and egalitarian societies in southeastern North America to examine why hierarchical sociopolitical organizations may have arose where they did. I end with a critical review of this approach and a discussion of how such research can be improved moving forward.
Settlement ecology of the ancient Americas: An Introduction
Multiscalar Settlement Ecology Study of Piedmont Village Tradition Communities, A.D. 1000–1600
This research analyzes the spatial patterning of settlement sites in relation to landscape featur... more This research analyzes the spatial patterning of settlement sites in relation to landscape features to determine the factors that influenced settlement location choices for Late Precontact (A.D. 1000–1600) Piedmont Village Tradition (PVT) communities in the Yadkin, Dan, Haw, and Eno river valleys of the Piedmont Southeast. We employ geographic information systems to estimate characteristics of past landscapes, nearest neighbor analysis to describe basic settlement patterns, and discriminant function analysis to determine spatial correlations between settlements and landscape features. We examine the data on three scales and also assess potential changes over time. Results indicate that settlement location choices were broadly similar on the regional scale, but specific influences varied between and within valleys and over time. When examined with current archaeological, ethnohistoric, and linguistic information, the results suggest that PVT communities engaged in regional interaction networks in highly variable ways and that the relationship between subsistence and settlement varied according to settlement size. Using these results, we explore the roles PVT communities played in the formation and maintenance of natural and cultural landscapes in the Late Precontact Southeast.
The Settlement Ecology of Middle-Range Societies in the Western North Carolina Piedmont, AD 1000–1600
From AD 1000-1600, the western North Carolina Piedmont was home to both hierarchically organized ... more From AD 1000-1600, the western North Carolina Piedmont was home to both hierarchically organized Mississippian societies and egalitarian Piedmont Village Tradition (PVT) societies. Given the spatial proximity of these groups and evidence of interaction between them, this is a prime area for studying the comparative geography and ecology of middle range societies (traditionally labeled tribes and chiefdoms). In this work, I analyze regional settlement patterns of and natural landscapes around Mississippian and PVT sites in the Yadkin/Pee Dee and Catawba River valleys using a combination of geographic information systems (GIS) to measure characteristics and discriminant function analysis to compare sites. The goal is to describe and explain the environmental factors that influenced the geographic distribution of sociopolitical complexity in the western North Carolina Piedmont. The site-specific results show clear differences in settlement location choice between Mississippian and PVT settlements. The landscape results show that Mississippian and PVT communities inhabited areas with different resource concentrations, suggesting that ecology played a role in the distribution of complex societies. This work is the first stage of a larger project aimed at understanding why complexity arose and persisted in particular locations throughout the Piedmont Southeast after AD 1000.
Using event-history analysis to examine the causes of semi-sedentism among shifting cultivators: a case study of the Haudenosaunee, AD 1500–1700
Event-history analysis is often used in the social sciences to study the occurrence of particular... more Event-history analysis is often used in the social sciences to study the occurrence of particular events over the lifespan of individuals and the impact of various factors on the rate at which those events occur. Like individuals, settlements can be analyzed and important events, such as founding or abandonment, can be studied using this method. Thus, as Richard Paine (1992) has noted, the technique can be useful in archaeological investigations of settlement processes. In this research we use it to explore the causes of settlement abandonment among a temperate shifting cultivators in an attempt to better understand the ecology of this adaptation and in order to evaluate the merits of the method. The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) of northeastern North America present an interesting case study for applying event-history analysis to archaeological settlement dynamics because of the wealth of archaeological settlement data and detailed historic record that allows us to parse out historical factors and analyze the remaining ecological factors. We use event-history analysis as an alternative means for evaluating the relative and absolute effects of several variables that may have been predictive of the lifespan of settlements and the timing of their removal. The results suggest that the decision to move from a village was a complex process in which the population size of a village may have been the single most important, but not the only, determinant of settlement duration.
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Old World Diseases in North America, A.D. 1519-1807
North American Archaeologist, Oct 15, 2012
Ecological studies of prehistoric and precontact tribal groups have tended to focus on the enviro... more Ecological studies of prehistoric and precontact tribal groups have tended to focus on the environmental aspects of ecology; far less research has explored the social, economic, and political interactions that influence interactions between a group and its environment and landscape. In this research, we present a comprehensive approach to studying tribal swidden agricultural ecology through the use of archaeological settlement patterns. We use a combination of ceramic analysis, landscape reconstruction, and discriminant function analysis to explore the relationships between settlement location, size, and various environmental and cultural features of the landscape. Our work focuses on societies of the upper Yadkin River Valley in the North Carolina Piedmont during 800–1600 CE. Our results indicate that sociopolitical factors strongly influenced ecology, suggesting that we take more inclusive approaches to studying the influences on the settlement and ecology of tribal cultures.
Eight years ago, Ramenofsky et al. (2003) characterized the discussion of the impact of Old World... more Eight years ago, Ramenofsky et al. (2003) characterized the discussion of the impact of Old World diseases on Native American populations as almost exclusively historical in nature. They specifically argued for the application of more evolutionary, genetic, and epidemiological theory to research into this topic. We agree with their assessment and further suggest that such research would greatly benefit from spatial analyses of disease spread as well. Using trend surface analysis of existing ethnohistorical and archaeological data pertaining to population sizes and disease events, we examine the spatiotemporal dimensions of 17th century depopulation in northeastern North America. The subsequent results allow us to predict possible depopulation rates for populations with very little demographic data. Further, our use of biological, historical, and cultural data to interpret the results represents an attempt to provide a more complex explanation for the variability in cultural survivability across the region and several possible avenues for productive future research. We believe research like this can significantly improve our understanding of how Old World diseases affected historic Native American populations and cultures and continue to impact them today.
Population History of the Onondaga and Oneida Iroquois, A.D. 1500–1700
Much of the discussion about North American pre-contact and contact period populations has focuse... more Much of the discussion about North American pre-contact and contact period populations has focused on continent-wide estimates. Although the associated work has produced valuable information on the demographic and cultural history of the continent, it has failed to generate agreed upon estimates, population trends, or detailed demographic knowledge of Native American cultures. Using archaeological settlement remains and methods developed in recent research on Iroquoian cultures, this study estimates and examines population trends for the Onondaga and Oneida cultures of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) from A.D. 1500 to A.D. 1700. Onondaga population appears to have increased until the mid-seventeenth century when drastic declines in settlement area and population size occur. This depopulation event is both several decades after first contact with Europeans and at least a decade after the first known depopulation event among the Haudenosaunee. Oneida populations show a much more complex history that suggests the need for more detailed analyses of contact period Native American population data. In conjunction with archaeological evidence and ethnohistoric information, the population trends generated by this study create a model of two pre-contact Native American populations and display the effects of European contact on those populations.
Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Population Trends in Northeastern North America
The Seneca are an original member of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and one of several ... more The Seneca are an original member of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and one of several Northern Iroquoian societies that inhabited northeastern North America during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This research explores their population history during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Previous studies of Northern Iroquoian populations identified steady population increase until contact with Europeans, no evidence of pre-contact diseases, and drastic depopulation resulting from interaction with European societies. Similar patterns were expected in this research. Using archaeological settlement data, collected with non- and minimally invasive survey techniques, and ethnohistoric information this article estimates the population trends of the Seneca. The results show a highly complex population history that includes pre-contact population losses, in- and out-migration episodes, significant losses from Old World diseases, and rapid population recovery.
An analysis of factors influencing sixteenth and seventeenth century Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) settlement locations
The settlement patterns of sixteenth and seventeenth century Northern Iroquoian cultures have bee... more The settlement patterns of sixteenth and seventeenth century Northern Iroquoian cultures have been studied since the mid-1800s, resulting in an excellent sample of settlements and descriptions of their respective features. Research into the environmental and cultural factors responsible for creating these patterns has been a more recent undertaking. In this research, I examine the landscape and environmental characteristics of 125 Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) settlements and their respective catchments. I compare the pattern of settlement to a random distribution to determine the environmental and sociopolitical features that distinguish the two datasets. The results show that transportation routes, conditions favorable for agricultural production, and dense hardwood growth significantly influenced the placement of settlements. Defensive concerns appear to have been met more through spatially independent methods, such as palisade construction, than by living at elevated locations or those with dominant viewsheds. This information is helpful in not only understanding the Haudenosaunee settlement system, but also for developing effective methods for investigating the environmental and sociopolitical factors influencing the settlement of past societies.
Lithic Source Use and Paleoarchaic Foraging Territories in the Great Basin
Conference Presentations by Eric E . Jones
Poster presentation for Society for American Archaeology annual conference.
Virtual poster presentation for Society for Historical Archaeology annual conference.
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Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters by Eric E . Jones
Conference Presentations by Eric E . Jones