ABSTRACT
This chapter treats the prehistoric use of non-agrarian plant foods among the native peoples of the Long Island and Block Island Sound region of eastern North America. Information on plant utilization on the coastal mainland (states of Connecticut and Rhode Island) and the islands (Long Island, Fishers Island, and Shelter Island) is used to highlight long-term patterns in diet and subsistence. Coastal peoples maintained long-established traditions of broad spectrum gathering, hunting, and fishing until around the time of the European arrival in the 16th and 17th centuries. The cultivation of tropical plant species (maize, beans, and squash) that was so important to groups inhabiting the major river valleys (e.g., Connecticut, Hudson, Housatonic) does not appear to have been an especially significant enterprise to the residents of the coast.
