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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:15:13 GMT
Chapter 1 - Hunters, Gatherers and Nuts
North America of 9000 BC was a land of hunter-gatherers. The descendants of the brave people who once crossed the Bering Strait several thousand years earlier have since then spread like ants throughout the whole continent and another one south of it. They were the apex species of that land but not yet masters of it.
Their lifestyle was that of hunter gatherers - they would make a camp in one area, hunt animals and gather plants from that area and when it became depleted, they would move somewhere else. That has been the way of life since time immemorial. Everyone lived like this and it seemed like nothing is ever going to change.
But it is going to change.
Around 9000 BC a small band of hunter gatherers - numbering no more than 20 people in what would in ATL be known as southern Ontario - decided to to make their camp next to a large mature tree of the Juglans nigra species, also known as black walnut. The tree provided easy and plentiful nutrition - and the band was happy with it. When the nuts became depleted, they would move to where another such tree would grow - and in their are there were plenty of them. Sometimes they would choose an area close to a water source so they could both collect nuts and fish. Slowly they tied their living to the black walnut.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:18:30 GMT
Chapter 2 - The Black Walnut
The Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) is a species of a tree native to what would be known ATL as the United States. It grows in well lighted areas and in ATL would be considered a pest species. It starts to produce 5-10 kg of nuts at age 8-10 and reaches peak productivity at age 30 with yield between 30 and 150 kg every other year although it tends to have variable yield. It's nuts are tasty and can be used in a myriad of ways - eaten raw, roasted, fried or turned into flour which could then be used for baking bread or sweet cakes. The trees lives to an average age of 130 years during which it continues to give yields.
The nut was a part of Native American diet for thousands of years but soon it will be taken to a different level
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:21:15 GMT
Chapter 3 - The Black Walnut Makes an Impact
The black walnut eaten by members of the small hunter gatherer group made a small yet significant difference. The collected nuts provided a caloric boost with a small expediture of energy and it suited the lifestyle of the group. After some time the practice began to spread. By 8500 BC the practice of moving between black peanut trees and camping next to them became widely practiced by people of that area. It made an intellectual impact as well - people started creating mental maps of where various trees were located, including locations of particularily large and well-yielding trees and would travel between them annually.
Some time afterwards - about 8400 BC - a practice of "helping" the yields developed. After exhausting a tree's yield, people would one or more often multiple seeds around the tree they collected the nuts from. When they returned to the area several years later, not 1 but 2, 3 or sometimes 10 trees were waiting for them. Each would initially make a small yield but one that would grow every year. The practice started to spread and was common by 8200 BC.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:21:51 GMT
Chapter 4 - An Even Bigger Impact
It was then, around 8200 BC, when the practice of helping the yields went a step further - instead of planting new trees next to existing ones, the Indians would plant them in a completely new area. During the warm months of summer they would bhunt down animals in a large area of forest, gather the plants that could be eaten and then burn it down. The unproductive trees would turn into ash which would then fertilize the newly growing walnut trees. The natives were slowly turning from hunter gatherers to creators of managed plantations of walnut trees.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:22:11 GMT
Chapter 5 - Spread Begins
Around 8000 BC the proto-farming practice of planting groves of walnut trees bore the fruit of higher population density. The walnut tree did spread somewhat to the north the main potential of expansion land to the south and east.
Forest accounted for over 90% of the eastern half of North America. Very few people lived there - one could walk for weeks days without seeing a human being. Their population density was limited by two factors. The first is that hunter gatherers can only harvest a certain portion of the land's wildlife. If they kill too many animals or pick too many plants, population collapses and takes a longer time to recover. Innovation does not pay.
The second one is the amount of food available in winter. Meat and fish need to be dried or smoked in order to last and most fruits or berries do not keep well. But nuts do. Once picked they can be eaten for years afterwards
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:22:46 GMT
Chapter 6 - The March of Proto Gardeners
Around 7800 BC the proto gardeners of southern Ontario were marching eastwards and southwards, reaching territory of ATL Michigan and New York, burning patches of forest and planting groves of walnuts along the way. Some of their technology improved - they would carry large bags of nuts which they would strap to leather belts or wooden frames carried on their backs. Sometimes they would make a single large bag and strap it to their shoulders. Sometimes they would mix crushed nuts with honey or fat, turning it into an extremely dense source of calories - just a bowl of it was enough to provide calories for the whole day. With those tools they marched forward or more precisely, westwards and eastwards.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:23:04 GMT
Chapter 7 - The Map of Northern Proto-Gardeners in 7500 BC
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:25:15 GMT
Chapter 8 - The first Semi Sedentary Proto GardenersBetween 7500 BC and 7000 BC the first semi sedentary proto gardeners emerged. They would no longer move across a wider area but would travel exclusively between several walnut orchards - usually between 3 and 10. The highest number ofsuch groups was in southern Ontario and southern Michigan but they were expanding down south as well. North America ca 7000 BC 
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:26:12 GMT
Chapter 9 - More Nuts and BerriesThe Indian Walnut Proto Gardener Culture continued to spread south in the following millenium. The growing walnut orchards began to be enriched by berries - the Indians would hop to a new grove with instant access not just to nots but also berries. At the same time selective pressures resulted in a walnut tree varieties that are slightly better growing and give fruits slightly faster. Walnut proto-gardener areas in 6000 BC: 
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:26:47 GMT
Chapter 10 - Paleo Gardeners in 6000 BC, Squash and BeansAround 6000 BC the Paleo Gardeners have yet again expanded their range and diversified their package. Two vegetables - beans and squash - were added to walnuts and berries. They would grow next to those two, adding caloried to the diet of Indians. 
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:27:43 GMT
Chpter 11 - Paleo Gardeners in 5000 BC. Reindeer Domestication.By 5000 BC the Indian Paleo Gardeners have spread through most of the Eastern NorthAmerica where the walnut can be cultulated. Their density would increase every century as more and more forests were burned. At that time some of the Paleo Gardeners stopped traveling around the country at all - they would stay in one place and pick the nuts falling in a single grove. They would prun the trees and care for them. They were turning from proto gardeners to true gardeners. Several centuries before 5000 BC a curious animal started being domesticated in the north - the reindeer. For millenia it would provide meat and furs for the Indians but now it's usage was extended - over the course of centuries some animals with a weaker flight response would approach humans and interact with them. Those tame reindeer have turned into domesticated population and would be bred in captivity. Those furry mammals were quite useful - they could carry many more bags of nuits than a human would - according to estimates an adult reindeer could pull up to 30% of their body weight, beasts of burden of the Old World managed to get to 15% 
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:28:16 GMT
Chapter 12 - Social Organization of North American People around 5000 BC
At the time the North American society was divided into several groups - hunter gatherers, mobile proto-gardeners and gardeners proper.
The first group predominated to the north, west and south of the other two groups. Their diet consisted of meat, fish and various plants and nuts did not play a particularily important role. Their population density was lower.
The later two groups predominated in the area of Walnut Culture in a large area of North America. Some of them were mobile semi-gardeners, travelling between groves of walnut trees with a complex mental map of orchards. The second group were sedentary gardeners who did not move but rather stayed in one place, tending walnut gardens. They were organized into individual villages, numbering between 20 and 50 individuals. They were led by an elder, with the shamans playing a very impoerant role alongside male warriors. Their nature was democratic.
Around 5000 BC several fruit species started being cultivated in grove complexes (*which ones can be added . Guys suggest something if you're familair with flora of the US).
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:28:40 GMT
Chapter 13 - The White Tailed Deer and Paw Paws
Between 5000 and 4500 BC reindeer came under a strong pressure from a southern "rival" - the white tailed deer.
The white tailed deer occupies the entire range of Nut Gardening Culture. It is a much more versatile animal, tolerant to both heat and cold and is similar to reindeer in behavior. It began to be domesticated around 5000 BC. By 4500 BC it started pushing out reindeer from the gardener territory, reducing the range of domesticated reindeer to the northern fringes of the civilization. The diseases carried by the white tailed deer did not help the reindeer herds survive.
In ~4500 BC the western fringes of the Gardener Culture added the Paw Paw to their diet. Also known as steppe banana, it's a small tree producing large edible fruits. It spread throughout the range of gardeners' territory in the following centuries.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:29:27 GMT
Chapter 14 - The Gardeners in 4000 BC First Towns and CopperIn 4000 BC the territorial extend of the Gardener Culture extended from Michigan to Florida. A tradition of trade fars during which people from villages in a certain area would meet in a single place to exchange their goods developed. With the passage of time groups of people - mostly craftsmen - would begin to live in those places to offer their goods year round. Those places then developed into specialized craftsmanship villages and later into small towns. That was the start of a true civilization. At the time it was discovered that small pieces of metal become malleable when heated in the fire. The Gardener Culture has discovered copper and entered the Copper Age. 
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Jan 25, 2022 20:30:01 GMT
Chapter 15 - The Bronze Age, New Deer Breeds
In 3000 BC the Age of Copper was ending and the Age of Bronze was beginning. Various workshops all around the Nut Civilization began smelting a combination of copper and tin using improved technology. The resulting metal was harder and better than the preceeding copper and it found applications in many aspects of life - tools, weapons, toys. and ceremonial objects.
1000 years of breading the white tailed deer have resulted in a new domesticated race of that animal, one which was larger and behaviorally better than the wild counterpart. It found the most important use in hauling large bags of crops at long distances and in plowing the fields for non nut crops. The Gardener Civilization was in no way worse than the Old World ones
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