Mammals

No domesticated mammals were represented in the faunal remains from the 1986 assemblage. The earlier assemblages recovered from Occaneechi Town yielded only one fragment identified as horse and one identified as pig. It is thus apparent that European-introduced animals were not contributing significantly to the Occaneechi's diet.

White-tailed deer was the most common mammal represented, with a minimum of 21 individuals accounting for approximately 20% of the individuals identified. Eleven deer mandibles in the assemblage were complete enough to determine the approximate age of death using Severinghaus's (1949) method based on tooth development and wear. One individual was between the ages of 9 and 11 months and two were between 13 and 17 months old. One individual was 2-1/2 years old, two were 3-1/2 years old, two were 4-1/2 years old, and three were 5-1/2 years old. From the assemblages recovered between 1983 and 1986, it has been possible to determine the age at death for 21 of the deer identified (Table 16). This is only a small percentage of the total number of deer from the site and may not be representative of the actual age distribution of the deer; however, as the majority of the deer that could be aged were neither very young nor very old, it is likely that drives or surrounds were used in hunting the deer rather than stalking (Waselkov 1977:120).

There were only eight deer innominates in the 1986 assemblage that were complete enough to allow the use of Edwards et al.'s (1982) method for determining the sex of deer. A minimum of five individuals were represented by these innominates, four of which were males and one of which was a female. In the 1983-1984 assemblage there were no innominates sufficiently preserved to allow the use of this criterion. In the 1985 assemblage, three females and four males were identified. Thus, of the 12 individuals for which sex could be determined, eight were males and four were females. As this is such a small percentage of the total number of deer represented in the assemblage, it is not possible to draw any conclusions as to whether or not the inhabitants of the Fredricks site were preferentially hunting male rather than female deer.

The only large mammal identified in the 1986 assemblage other than deer was black bear, which was represented by a minimum of two individuals. The 78 fragments identified as bear yielded only two that were useful for determining age. Marks and Erickson (1966) indicate that the distal epiphyses of bear metacarpals fuse during the second year and that complete fusion of the epiphyses of the radii and ulnae occurs between five and six years in females and by seven years in males. The one fused metacarpal and one fused ulna in the assemblage indicate that at least one of the individuals represented in the assemblage was between five and seven years old.

A total of 559 fragments of bear bones were identified from the Fredricks site. These remains represent a minimum of four individuals distributed in the fill of 16 features. Guilday, Parmalee, and Tanner (1962:65-66) have noted that bear bones may not be abundant in prehistoric sites in the East because of the practice of bear ceremonialism and the attendant special treatment given to bear bones. They hypothesize that the introduction of firearms and the fur trade caused an increase in bear hunting and thus an increase in the number of bear bones identified in historic as opposed to prehistoric sites. Bear was second only to deer in terms of meat yield at the Fredricks site. Coupled with the fact that the bear bones were scattered in 16 pits, this indicates that bears and their remains may not have received special treatment from the inhabitants of the Fredricks site.

Lawson (Lefler 1967:122) noted that among the Indians he visited, the paws were considered to be the most edible part of the bear. It is interesting to note that 68.5% of all the bear bones identified from the Fredricks site were burned and that the majority of these burned fragments were foot bones. In contrast, only 25.4% of all the deer remains were burned and those fragments that were burned represent elements from all portions of the deer.

Small mammals accounted for nearly 36% of the individuals identified in the 1986 assemblage from the Fredricks site. No rabbit remains were represented in the 1983-1984 or 1985 assemblages and only ten fragments of rabbit bones, representing one individual, were identified in the 1986 assemblage. Rabbit was the third most numerous mammal represented at the nearby late prehistoric Wall site. This distribution is indicative of change in either the environment or in subsistence habits between the time of occupation of the Wall site and that of the Fredricks site.

White-footed deer mouse was second only to deer in terms of the number of individuals identified in the 1986 assemblage. Eighteen individuals were identified, 15 of which were recovered from a single feature (Feature 42). Remains of other small mammals (such as cotton rats) and amphibians also were found in the fill of this feature. These remains probably represent animals that became trapped in the pits before they were completely filled with refuse. As the remains of these small animals were found in all three zones of fill, it can be hypothesized that the pit was partially filled and then left standing open on as many as three occasions. Whyte (1986:4-9) has found that small animals tend to become trapped in open pits most often in late spring, summer, and early fall. The large number of small animals represented in the fill of Feature 42 indicates that this pit may have been filled with refuse between spring and fall, rather than in the winter.

No mammals were identified in the 1986 assemblage that had not been represented in the assemblages from earlier field seasons. The remains of fox squirrel, shrew, horse, pig, and mountain lion were the only mammalian species identified earlier that were not represented in the 1986 assemblage.