The status of eastern North America as an independent center of plant domestication has recently been called into question by a number of genetic and archaeological studies, which suggest that the region may not have witnessed the independent domestication of local crop plants, but rather may have been on the receiving end of domesticated crop plants introduced from Mexico. Here, I provide a synthesis of the currently available archaeological and genetic evidence from both eastern North America and Mexico regarding the spatial and temporal context of initial domestication of the four plant species identified as potential eastern North American domesticates: marshelder (Iva annua), chenopod (Chenopodium berlandieri), squash (Cucurbita pepo), and sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Genetic and archaeological evidence provides strong support for the independent domestication of all four of these plant species in the eastern United States and reconfirms the region as one of the world's independent centers of domestication.
Between approximately 11,000 and 5,000 years ago, human societies in many different regions of the world brought a wide range of different species of plants and animals under domestication, marking the initial emergence of food production economies and the beginning of one of the major transitions in human history. This transition, often described as the ''Neolithic Revolution'' or the ''Origins of Agriculture'' has been an enduring area of inquiry in both archaeology and biology for more than a century. By 1940, Nikolai Vavilov had identified a total of seven primary centers of plant domestication, worldwide, based on areas of maximum genetic diversity in crop plants (1). Vavilov's seven centers of origin have been subjected to considerable rethinking as a constant stream of genetic and archaeological studies, fueled by new approaches and technological advances, have substantially expanded and refined our understanding of the spatial and temporal contexts of initial plant and animal domestication (2-4). In just the last 5-10 years, several new independent centers of plant domestication have been identified in tropical forest regions of South America and Southeast Asia (5-7) (Fig. 1). At the same time that these Southeast Asian and South American centers have been recognized, however, the status of another, previously identified independent center of plant domestication has been called into question. A number of recent genetic and archaeological studies have led to suggestions that eastern North America, identified as a center of plant domestication 20 years ago (8), may not have witnessed the independent domestication of local crop plants but rather may have been on the receiving end of domesticated crop plants introduced from Mexico (9-14).Here, I reconsider eastern North America's status as an independent center of plant domestication and provide a new synthesis of the currently available archaeological and genetic evidence from both eastern North America and Mexico regarding the spatial and tempora...
