One goal of the faunal analysis was to determine the relative importance of each species identified in the 1986 assemblage to the Occaneechi diet. Calculations of available meat were based on estimates by Cleland (1966), Smith (1975a), and White (1953). The results of these calculations are presented in Table 17. The most important animals, in terms of estimated meat yield, were deer (75.8% of the available meat), bear (16.3%), turkey (4.6%), and raccoon (1.2%). Each of the other species provided 0.5% or less of the available meat. Deer, bear, and turkey were all important (in terms of meat yield) in the previous assemblages from the Fredricks site; however, catfish was considerably more important in both of the earlier assemblages.
A Simpson's diversity index was computed for the 1983-1984, 1985, and 1986 faunal assemblages from the Fredricks site. The 1986 value was 0.88 with a maximum of 0.96. The 1985 value was 0.83 with a maximum of 0.95, and the 1983-1984 value was 0.73 with a maximum of 0.97. The 1985 and 1986 assemblages are much more similar to one another than either is to the 1983-1984 assemblage. In the 1983-1984 assemblage a minimum of 142 individuals representing 35 species was identified. In the 1985 assemblage 21 species were represented by 112 individuals, and in the 1986 assemblage 22 species were represented by 107 individuals. The fact that the 1985 and 1986 assemblages exhibited higher diversity but fewer species identified indicates that they display greater equitability of representation of species than does the 1983-1984 assemblage. However, despite the fact that it is far smaller than the other two assemblages, the 1983-1984 assemblage is richer (both in terms of the number of individuals and the number of species identified).
The differences in diversity and equitability of representation exhibited by the three assemblages may be explained by the contexts from which the assemblages were recovered. Nearly 88% of the faunal remains recovered in the 1983-1984 excavations were retrieved from the fill of burial pits. Only 4.6% of the remains from the 1985 assemblage and only 0.10% of the remains from the 1986 assemblage were recovered from burial fill. The burials excavated in 1983 and 1984 were located in the cemetery outside of the palisade along the northeast side of the village. Most of these burial pits exhibited a distinct upper layer of fill containing large quantities of faunal remains and other refuse. It has been suggested (Ward and Davis 1987a:38) that this refuse represents the remains of ritual death feasting. If this is the case, it does not seem illogical that a wider variety of species would have been utilized during these feasting rituals than would have been used for everyday subsistence.
Despite the fact that the Occaneechi were heavily involved in trade with Europeans, there is no evidence that European-introduced animals were of any importance in their diet. The inhabitants of the site relied most heavily on deer, bear, turkey, catfish, and raccoon. In this respect, it seems that the Occaneechi Town inhabitants relied on a pattern of faunal exploitation very similar to that employed prehistorically.
It is quite likely that a large portion of the refuse produced by the Occaneechi was disposed of in the nearby Eno River rather than in pits within the palisaded village. When the results of the 1983-1984, 1985, and 1986 assemblages are combined, however, all of the faunal remains originally deposited in the village, and still preserved, can be accounted for. This provides an excellent situation for establishing hypotheses concerning patterns of refuse disposal and food distribution that can then be tested at other sites for which only samples of the faunal remains have been recovered.