Investigating overhunting of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the late Holocene Middle Tennessee River Valley

ABSTRACT Resource depression – a decline in encounter rates with prey due to the actions of a predator – has been documented for numerous species in North America. Yet it is not fully understood whether white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), the most common prey species for Native peoples in eastern North America, were depressed prior to European colonization. To investigate whether white-tailed deer were depressed in precolonial eastern North America, I analyze zooarchaeological data from six sites in the Middle Tennessee River Valley. My results are equivocal, as different lines of evidence support conflicting interpretations. Declines in the abundance of deer in upland sites after ca. 4000 cal BP support depression of deer. However, deer did not decline in floodplain sites, perhaps due to anthropogenic environmental modification (i.e., burning). The upland decline coincides with a shift toward greater wetland patch use, which may have driven a reduction in deer hunting due to patch choice dynamics, not depression. Furthermore, declining deer abundance co-occurs with high terrestrial foraging efficiency, contrary to the expectation that greater exploitation of lower-ranked prey types should occur coincident with high-ranked deer declines. I find no clear support for resource depression of white-tailed deer in this region, but further analysis is needed.