Plant Remains from the Smokemont Site in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina

Smokemont is a multicomponent site consisting of deposits from Woodland, Mississippian, Cherokee, and Euro-American occupations. Located in the Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina, two structures have been identified at Smokemont, one as a Mississippian Pisgah phase house, and the other a Contact period Qualla phase house. Beneath the Pisgah house are several Woodland period pit features. Floral analysis of Early and Middle Woodland features indicate some horticultural activity, with wild plants remaining important but supplementary to maize agriculture during the Mississippian and Cherokee occupations. This paper is an analysis of the plant remains collected from Woodland, Pisgah, and Qualla context, and a comparison of how site function and plant use change through time at this location. Finally, activities at Smokemont will be compared to other sites in the Appalachian Summit to determine if the settlements at Smokemont share trends in plant use found throughout the region.