You should add cranberry's to the crop package they grow and are native to that area. They will have to make paddies for the rice so man made cranberry bogs are not that big of a jump they were cultivated by the native groups of New England in our timeline. And they would have a big affect on native society they can be used to make red dye sauce's for food and potently a form of wine. Those goods could be traded with the Central American cultures. Theirs so much you can do with those berry's if you add them.
A Pre-Columbian North American Timeline Planning Thread
- Thread starter Alexander Helios
- Start date
Thanks for the suggestion! I also took note of these things a while back, and currently I have plans for cranberries (among other berries) to be cultivated for wine and jams.
I see you have already identified some micro-domesticates to be used by this culture. And while Canada Geese and Mallards have their benefits, I thought I'd propose the use of the Greater Prairie Chicken.
Its current range is not near your complex, but its historic range was.
Its current range is not near your complex, but its historic range was.
The prairie chicken could be a potential domesticate, but it would take some selective breeding to get them to live in a mostly agricultural habitat (from what I can tell they are mostly suited to prairies, but some chickens can tolerate agricultural lands). But it could work. I workshopped the POD a little bit (again, I know) so that initial plant domestication takes place in the Wabash-Kankakee River Valley region (I have reasons for this that will be explained in the TL itself), and if I'm not mistaken the region had a large population of prairie chickens. For now I think I'll keep it on the shelf. Thanks for the suggestion.
Thank you for the response. I have to ask what berry's will this civilization grow? Canadian Elderberry and blueberry's sound like good candidates. And when can we expect this timeline to come out?
I have blueberries on the list. Elderberries don't taste good raw, but once dried and boiled, are apparently quite good. Elderberry wine will be associated with wealth, due to the long and labor intensive process it takes to make it.
Besides those two and cranberries, I have the common gooseberry, black raspberry, black cherry, northern dewberry, smooth sumac, black currant, and a few varieties of wild grapes on the list for now. It'll probably increase as time goes on.
As for the release of the TL, I'm aiming for the end of August.
I'm so excited with a american pre-columbian timeline here! Yesterday i planned a timeline where the important livestock don't go extinct in the Americas and the Amazon Basin turns into a Japan Sengoku Jidai-like region with city-states making eternal war 
I've wondered if the prairie turnip would ever make a good domesticate. The obvious hurdle is the 2-4 year period to grow to maturity, but given its extensive usage by Plains Indians for millennia and its very high nutritional value it has a lot of potential. It's found in all states between the Mississippi River and Rockies (plus the Prairie Provinces), so maybe a secondary domesticate by whatever equivalent to the Plains Woodland cultures there is?
I'll have to check it out. You've definitely done a good job at research.
Maybe the passenger Pigeon could be domesticated. Imagine a game of thrones like communication system using Pigeons instead of crows.
I'm so excited with a american pre-columbian timeline here! Yesterday i planned a timeline where the important livestock don't go extinct in the Americas and the Amazon Basin turns into a Japan Sengoku Jidai-like region with city-states making eternal war
Lol. I'd read the heck out of that timeline, just for the sheer awesomeness.
Just looked into it, and the plant seems very similar to groundnut, another alternate domesticate. I'm surprised I haven't heard of it. I'll research it some more, but it looks like it has a lot of potential. It could serve as the "Potato of the Prairie". And if it has a yield as high as groundnut (that is, one of the selectively bred varieties, which can yield up to 7 pounds per plant), then I don't think being a perennial would be an obstacle. I was originally planning for the groundnut to spread into the Plains, but the prairie turnip could be a good alternative. I'll see if it works. Thanks for the idea!
Thank you! It means a lot coming from you.
It would be a cool idea, but I'm not sure how plausible it would be. I'd have to look into it further.
Why isn't the Turkey listed has a animal your civilizations keeps they were farmed by the The mesoamericans and the Europeans settlers. I don't see why they can't be domesticated here.
Yes, the turkey will be domesticated as microlivestock by a certain tribe-turned-civilization (well, I can't reveal everything
).I'm so excited with a american pre-columbian timeline here! Yesterday i planned a timeline where the important livestock don't go extinct in the Americas and the Amazon Basin turns into a Japan Sengoku Jidai-like region with city-states making eternal war
Ok, so many people liked it that i'm really thinking about making this timeline
I am sorry to burst your bubble but gooseberry's and Black Currant are not native to North America but were brought over during the Colombian exchange.
If memory serves the reason they became apocalyptic in numbers was that the people who kept them in check by hunting all but disappeared.
Since I'm not in the mood to check at the moment I'll just link to the source-blog (which uses the phrase "the cosmic terror that was
the passenger pigeon").
The black currant you are thinking of is
Ribes Nigrum, which is confusingly called blackcurrant. I'm referring to northern black currant (Ribes Hudsonianum), native to the Americas.
As for gooseberry, I'm referring to Ribes Hirtellum, also native to the Americas.
Sorry for the confusion. That's partly my fault for not specifying, and partly the fault of botanists for not being creative. Lol.
Me: Is really so hard don't replicate names botanists?
Ok ok, i'm really going too far
if you want to see what happens in this Amazon Jidai, vote in the poll here
if you want to see what happens in this Amazon Jidai, vote in the poll here
Driftless
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I'd bet many of the replicated names started with newcomer immigrants to an area when they saw a plant, even vaguely familiar to a plant from the "old country", they tagged it with the old familiar name. By the time the botanists get involved, common usage has ruled.