Lenape Horticulture
Older scholarship on Native Americans assumed that, at the time of their first contact with Europeans, Native Americans in the northeastern United States were farmers whose main food source was maize(corn). This view was based on evidence of extensive fields inland. It was also consistent with reports from early European explorers, including Henry Hudson who sailed for the Dutch, about trading with Native Americans for “Turkish wheat,” the explorers’ term for maize. However, in the 1970s a persuasive archaeologist, Lynn Ceci, challenged this orthodoxy. She argued that for the people living in coastal New York, such as the Lenape occupying Manhattan Island when Dutch explorers arrived in the early seventeenth century, the environment was so abundant with resources that horticulture was an adjunct to the diet, not the primary source of calories. She argued along several lines of evidence. First, she noted that “flotation tests”-in which prehistoric fire pits are flooded with water-caused relatively few seeds and corn kernels to float to the surface in coastal sites compared to inland sites. Second, she argued that the soils in coastal regions, generally sandy and rocky, are not particularly productive and would require a lot of work to cultivate (an observation also noted by the Dutch). Third, she argued from ecological evidence that it really was not necessary for coastal people to adopt an agricultural way of life, given the year-round abundance of shellfish, fish, mammals, nuts, and berries. Other archaeologists corroborated these views by testing Lenape bones from local archaeological sites and showing that the Lenape primarily ate local plants, not maize, and a lot of seafood, and were generally healthy. (Adopting agriculture often leads to a reduction in the health of a population.)
Research has added a couple of twists to Ceci’s hypothesis. A Columbia University student used a modern crop model to simulate maize horticulture on Manhattan, using representative soil types, climate, and maize varieties. He found that when maize was grown by itself, productivity was uneven, and there was a modest but significant probability of total crop failure each year. Soil nitrogen levels appeared to be the limiting factor. But the Lenape did not plant maize in monoculture (as a single crop), rather they practiced team planting (also known as multicropping); that is, they grew maize in combination with beans and squash-the traditional “three sisters”garden.
Beginning in late April, Lenape men cleared a plot of land by cutting down the large trees and burning the vegetation. Burning fertilized the soil with ash, which promoted plant growth by changing the soil chemistry from acidic to alkaline, releasing more nutrients. In early May the women created mounds and planted maize kernels saved from the year before. A few weeks later, they planted beans along the sides of the mounds and squash between them. Over the course of the summer, the beans climbed up the maize stalks, using the six-foot stems as a ladder to reach the sun; in the meantime, the beans, which have nitrogen-fixing nodules on their roots, transformed nitrogen from the atmosphere into a natural fertilizer, which fed the maize and the beans. The squash, growing its large green leaves between the mounds, kept the weeds down and held in soil moisture between rain showers(the Lenape did not practice irrigation). Crops were harvested from late summer until first frost, usually in October.
Modern crop models are generally not written to include team planting, because they assume monocultures-but they will accept inputs of fertilizer. Researchers simulated nitrogen inputs from bean plants at three different levels and showed that even modest nitrogen support increased maize productivity, and, more importantly, enhanced the consistency of the crop. In model simulations by researchers, maize rarely failed when grown with beans. Productivity, though, was still generally low, at about 700- 2,300 kilograms per hectare.
How many people that level of productivity would feed depends, of course, on how large the fields were. As mentioned, gardening was a woman’s responsibility, but women had many other tasks that would limit their time in the garden. The Lenape were not immune to the human-wildlife conflicts that bedevil suburban gardeners today-deer, squirrels, raccoons, and assorted other wildlife were pests in the fields. Keeping the animals out required diligence throughout the growing season.
1
Older scholarship on Native Americans assumed that, at the time of their first contact with Europeans, Native Americans in the northeastern United States were farmers whose main food source was maize(corn). This view was based on evidence of extensive fields inland. It was also consistent with reports from early European explorers, including Henry Hudson who sailed for the Dutch, about trading with Native Americans for “Turkish wheat,” the explorers’ term for maize. However, in the 1970s a persuasive archaeologist, Lynn Ceci, challenged this orthodoxy. She argued that for the people living in coastal New York, such as the Lenape occupying Manhattan Island when Dutch explorers arrived in the early seventeenth century, the environment was so abundant with resources that horticulture was an adjunct to the diet, not the primary source of calories. She argued along several lines of evidence. First, she noted that “flotation tests”-in which prehistoric fire pits are flooded with water-caused relatively few seeds and corn kernels to float to the surface in coastal sites compared to inland sites. Second, she argued that the soils in coastal regions, generally sandy and rocky, are not particularly productive and would require a lot of work to cultivate (an observation also noted by the Dutch). Third, she argued from ecological evidence that it really was not necessary for coastal people to adopt an agricultural way of life, given the year-round abundance of shellfish, fish, mammals, nuts, and berries. Other archaeologists corroborated these views by testing Lenape bones from local archaeological sites and showing that the Lenape primarily ate local plants, not maize, and a lot of seafood, and were generally healthy. (Adopting agriculture often leads to a reduction in the health of a population.)
The word “persuasive” in the passage is closest in meaning to
Vocabulary Questions词汇题
Aconvincing
Bimportan
Cambitious
Dbrilliant
2
Older scholarship on Native Americans assumed that, at the time of their first contact with Europeans, Native Americans in the northeastern United States were farmers whose main food source was maize(corn). This view was based on evidence of extensive fields inland. It was also consistent with reports from early European explorers, including Henry Hudson who sailed for the Dutch, about trading with Native Americans for “Turkish wheat,” the explorers’ term for maize. However, in the 1970s a persuasive archaeologist, Lynn Ceci, challenged this orthodoxy. She argued that for the people living in coastal New York, such as the Lenape occupying Manhattan Island when Dutch explorers arrived in the early seventeenth century, the environment was so abundant with resources that horticulture was an adjunct to the diet, not the primary source of calories. She argued along several lines of evidence. First, she noted that “flotation tests”-in which prehistoric fire pits are flooded with water-caused relatively few seeds and corn kernels to float to the surface in coastal sites compared to inland sites. Second, she argued that the soils in coastal regions, generally sandy and rocky, are not particularly productive and would require a lot of work to cultivate (an observation also noted by the Dutch). Third, she argued from ecological evidence that it really was not necessary for coastal people to adopt an agricultural way of life, given the year-round abundance of shellfish, fish, mammals, nuts, and berries. Other archaeologists corroborated these views by testing Lenape bones from local archaeological sites and showing that the Lenape primarily ate local plants, not maize, and a lot of seafood, and were generally healthy. (Adopting agriculture often leads to a reduction in the health of a population.)
The word “corroborated” in the passage is closest in meaning to
Vocabulary Questions词汇题
Adeveloped
Bspread
Cexamined
Dconfirmed
3
Older scholarship on Native Americans assumed that, at the time of their first contact with Europeans, Native Americans in the northeastern United States were farmers whose main food source was maize(corn). This view was based on evidence of extensive fields inland. It was also consistent with reports from early European explorers, including Henry Hudson who sailed for the Dutch, about trading with Native Americans for “Turkish wheat,” the explorers’ term for maize. However, in the 1970s a persuasive archaeologist, Lynn Ceci, challenged this orthodoxy. She argued that for the people living in coastal New York, such as the Lenape occupying Manhattan Island when Dutch explorers arrived in the early seventeenth century, the environment was so abundant with resources that horticulture was an adjunct to the diet, not the primary source of calories. She argued along several lines of evidence. First, she noted that “flotation tests”-in which prehistoric fire pits are flooded with water-caused relatively few seeds and corn kernels to float to the surface in coastal sites compared to inland sites. Second, she argued that the soils in coastal regions, generally sandy and rocky, are not particularly productive and would require a lot of work to cultivate (an observation also noted by the Dutch). Third, she argued from ecological evidence that it really was not necessary for coastal people to adopt an agricultural way of life, given the year-round abundance of shellfish, fish, mammals, nuts, and berries. Other archaeologists corroborated these views by testing Lenape bones from local archaeological sites and showing that the Lenape primarily ate local plants, not maize, and a lot of seafood, and were generally healthy. (Adopting agriculture often leads to a reduction in the health of a population.)
According to paragraph 1, Ceci considered all of the following facts to be evidence that maize was less important on the coast EXCEPT
Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题
AOld fire pits along the coast reveal few traces of seeds and maize
BThe soil along the coast was not well suited for growing maize
CMany different sources of food were available on the coast
DMaize fields on the coast were frequently flooded with water
4
Research has added a couple of twists to Ceci’s hypothesis. A Columbia University student used a modern crop model to simulate maize horticulture on Manhattan, using representative soil types, climate, and maize varieties. He found that when maize was grown by itself, productivity was uneven, and there was a modest but significant probability of total crop failure each year. Soil nitrogen levels appeared to be the limiting factor. But the Lenape did not plant maize in monoculture (as a single crop), rather they practiced team planting (also known as multicropping); that is, they grew maize in combination with beans and squash-the traditional “three sisters”garden.
According to paragraph 2, the modern crop model was not an accurate simulation of Lenape agriculture because
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Athe type of maize used in the model was not the same as Lenape maize
Bthe soil on Manhattan was different from the soil types used by the Lenape
Cthe model used only one type of plant but the Lenape used several types of plants
Dthe climate of Manhattan is no longer appropriate for growing Lenape maize
5
Beginning in late April, Lenape men cleared a plot of land by cutting down the large trees and burning the vegetation. Burning fertilized the soil with ash, which promoted plant growth by changing the soil chemistry from acidic to alkaline, releasing more nutrients. In early May the women created mounds and planted maize kernels saved from the year before. A few weeks later, they planted beans along the sides of the mounds and squash between them. Over the course of the summer, the beans climbed up the maize stalks, using the six-foot stems as a ladder to reach the sun; in the meantime, the beans, which have nitrogen-fixing nodules on their roots, transformed nitrogen from the atmosphere into a natural fertilizer, which fed the maize and the beans. The squash, growing its large green leaves between the mounds, kept the weeds down and held in soil moisture between rain showers(the Lenape did not practice irrigation). Crops were harvested from late summer until first frost, usually in October.
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information
Sentence Simplification Questions句子简化题
AThe maize relied on the stems to reach the sun and on the beans for fertilizer
BThe beans turned atmospheric nitrogen into a natural fertilizer for the maize
CThe beans and maize were able to grow in areas with sun and natural fertilizer
DThe maize helped the beans reach the sun while the beans fertilized the maize
6
Beginning in late April, Lenape men cleared a plot of land by cutting down the large trees and burning the vegetation. Burning fertilized the soil with ash, which promoted plant growth by changing the soil chemistry from acidic to alkaline, releasing more nutrients. In early May the women created mounds and planted maize kernels saved from the year before. A few weeks later, they planted beans along the sides of the mounds and squash between them. Over the course of the summer, the beans climbed up the maize stalks, using the six-foot stems as a ladder to reach the sun; in the meantime, the beans, which have nitrogen-fixing nodules on their roots, transformed nitrogen from the atmosphere into a natural fertilizer, which fed the maize and the beans. The squash, growing its large green leaves between the mounds, kept the weeds down and held in soil moisture between rain showers(the Lenape did not practice irrigation). Crops were harvested from late summer until first frost, usually in October.
According to paragraph 3, men made which of the following contributions to Lenape plant cultivation?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
AThey planted maize seeds
BThey created ash that fertilized the soil
CThey removed weeds from around the crops
DThey improved soil moisture with irrigation
7
Beginning in late April, Lenape men cleared a plot of land by cutting down the large trees and burning the vegetation. Burning fertilized the soil with ash, which promoted plant growth by changing the soil chemistry from acidic to alkaline, releasing more nutrients. In early May the women created mounds and planted maize kernels saved from the year before. A few weeks later, they planted beans along the sides of the mounds and squash between them. Over the course of the summer, the beans climbed up the maize stalks, using the six-foot stems as a ladder to reach the sun; in the meantime, the beans, which have nitrogen-fixing nodules on their roots, transformed nitrogen from the atmosphere into a natural fertilizer, which fed the maize and the beans. The squash, growing its large green leaves between the mounds, kept the weeds down and held in soil moisture between rain showers(the Lenape did not practice irrigation). Crops were harvested from late summer until first frost, usually in October.
Paragraph 3 suggests which of the following about squash grown on Lenape fields?
Inference Questions推理题
AIt increased the availability of water for the maize and beans
BIt was usually planted in late April
CIt led to increasing weeds
DIt needed irrigation in order to grow successfully
8
How many people that level of productivity would feed depends, of course, on how large the fields were. As mentioned, gardening was a woman’s responsibility, but women had many other tasks that would limit their time in the garden. The Lenape were not immune to the human-wildlife conflicts that bedevil suburban gardeners today-deer, squirrels, raccoons, and assorted other wildlife were pests in the fields. Keeping the animals out required diligence throughout the growing season.
In paragraph 5, why does the author mention that Lenape women had to perform tasks other than gardening?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
ATo suggest that Lenape women were treated unfairly
BTo challenge the belief that gardening was a woman’s responsibility
CTo provide a factor that limited the total amount of food grown on Lenape fields
DTo demonstrate that Lenape gardening was similar to modern gardening
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Older scholarship on Native Americans assumed that, at the time of their first contact with Europeans, Native Americans in the northeastern United States were farmers whose main food source was maize(corn). This view was based on evidence of extensive fields inland. It was also consistent with reports from early European explorers, including Henry Hudson who sailed for the Dutch, about trading with Native Americans for “Turkish wheat,” the explorers’ term for maize. However, in the 1970s a persuasive archaeologist, Lynn Ceci, challenged this orthodoxy. She argued that for the people living in coastal New York, such as the Lenape occupying Manhattan Island when Dutch explorers arrived in the early seventeenth century, the environment was so abundant with resources that horticulture was an adjunct to the diet, not the primary source of calories.[■] She argued along several lines of evidence. First, she noted that “flotation tests”-in which prehistoric fire pits are flooded with water-caused relatively few seeds and corn kernels to float to the surface in coastal sites compared to inland sites. [■]Second, she argued that the soils in coastal regions, generally sandy and rocky, are not particularly productive and would require a lot of work to cultivate (an observation also noted by the Dutch). [■]Third, she argued from ecological evidence that it really was not necessary for coastal people to adopt an agricultural way of life, given the year-round abundance of shellfish, fish, mammals, nuts, and berries. [■]Other archaeologists corroborated these views by testing Lenape bones from local archaeological sites and showing that the Lenape primarily ate local plants, not maize, and a lot of seafood, and were generally healthy. (Adopting agriculture often leads to a reduction in the health of a population.)
Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
If maize had been the main food source for the Lenape, Ceci reasoned, more remains of corn should have risen to the top.
Insert Text Questions句子插入题
Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.
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The Lenape of Manhattan changed their environment through horticulture and fire.
Prose Summary Questions概要小结题
Select 3 answers
AHistorians long believed that groups of Native Americans such as the Lenape ate primarily maize, but recent research has shown that the nape actually ate relatively little maize
BThe Lenape did not rely primarily on horticulture for food, but they did e grow beans, squash, and maize on Manhattan
CThe mixture of crops grown by the Lenape helped sustain over a agricultural production, although keeping wildlife out of the fields was a problem
DEarly Dutch and English explorers adapted Lenape methods o growing maize in order to provide a food source for settlers in inland areas
ECrop models have shown that the Lenape ” three sisters horticulture on Manhattan produced a significant probability of crop failure because of low nitrogen levels in the soil
FThe methods that the Lenape used to practice horticulture, such as burning vegetation and planting different crops at different times reduced nutrients in the soil and kept productivity low
