Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas

Kennett, Douglas J.; Prufer, Keith M.; Culleton, Brendan J.; George, Richard J.; Robinson, Mark; Trask, Willa R.; Buckley, Gina; Moes, Emily; Kate, Emily; Harper, Thomas K.; O’Donnell, Lexi; Ray, Erin; Hill, Ethan C.; Alsgaard, Asia; Merriman, Christopher; Meredith, Clayton; Edgar, Heather J. H.; Awe, Jaime J.; Gutierrez, Said M.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aba3245

Cited by 70 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…The study shows no clear evidence for the consumption of maize before~4.7ka. Evidence for substantial maize consumption (~30% of total diet) appears in some individuals between 4.7e4.0ka, while the isotopic evidence shows that maize became a staple (>70% of total diet) after~4.0ka (Kennett et al, 2020).…”

Section: Isotopic Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The origins of Amazonian landscapes: Plant cultivation, domestication and the spread of food production in tropical South America

Iriarte

Elliott

Maezumi

et al. 2020

Quaternary Science Reviews

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105

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During the last two decades, new archaeological projects which systematically integrate a variety of plant recovery techniques, along with palaeoecology, palaeoclimate, soil science and floristic inventories, have started to transform our understanding of plant exploitation, cultivation and domestication in tropical South America. Archaeobotanical studies are providing a far greater appreciation of the role of plants in the diets of early colonists. Since~13ka, these diets relied mainly on palm, tree fruits, and underground tubers, along with terrestrial and riverine faunal resources. Recent evidence indicates two areas of precocious plant cultivation and domestication: the sub-Andean montane forest of NW South America and the shrub savannahs and seasonal forests of SW Amazonia. In the latter area, thousands of anthropic keystone structures represented by forest islands show a significant human footprint in Amazonia from the start of the Holocene. While radiocarbon date databases show a decline in population during the middle Holocene, important developments happened during this epoch, including the domestication of cacao, the adoption of maize and the spread of manioc across the basin. The late Holocene witnessed the domestication of rice and the development of agricultural landscapes characterised by raised fields and Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs). Our multi-proxy analysis of 23 late Holocene ADEs and two lakes from southern Amazonia provides the first direct evidence of field polyculture agriculture including the cultivation of maize, manioc, sweet potato, squash, arrowroot and leren within closed-canopy forest, as well as enrichment with palms, limited clearing for crop cultivation, and low-severity fire management. Collectively, the evidence shows that during the late Holocene Amazonian farmers engaged in intensive agriculture marked by the cultivation of both annual and perennial crops relying on organic amendments requiring soil preparation and maintenance. Our study has broader implications for sustainable Amazonian futures.

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Section: Isotopic Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The origins of Amazonian landscapes: Plant cultivation, domestication and the spread of food production in tropical South America

Iriarte

Elliott

Maezumi

et al. 2020

Quaternary Science Reviews

Self Cite

105

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“…The appearance of robustly domesticated cobs also corresponds well with dietary stable isotope data indicating that maize was becoming a staple grain after ∼4,700 cal. BP ( 29 ), and with pollen records revealing maize cultivation in Honduras around the same time ( 38 ). The backflow of improved varieties from South America may have occurred by this time and contributed to the development of more productive staple grain varieties.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Our permutation tests are consistent with a robustly domesticated variety of maize developing or arriving in southeastern Mesoamerica by at least 4,300 cal. BP ( 28 ) at a time when it was becoming a dietary staple ( 29 ).…”

Section: El Gigante and Maize Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reduced crop-wild gene flow outside the range of parviglumis and mexicana also enhanced selection for increased cob and seed size ( 6 ), and was instrumental in the development of more productive staple grain varieties and greater consumption in Central America starting after 4,700 cal. BP ( 28 , 29 ). Furthermore, adaptations in the US Southwest—outside the domestication center—resulted in the shorter growing season varieties with earlier flowering times required for dispersal through more temperate parts of North America after 2,000 cal.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Isotopic evidence from Central America demonstrates substantial maize consumption as a staple grain beginning between 4,700 and 4,000 cal. BP ( 29 ). Finally, we use morphological comparisons within the El Gigante maize assemblage to help constrain the timing of this gene flow.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Archaeological Central American maize genomes suggest ancient gene flow from South America

Kistler

Thakar

VanDerwarker

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) domestication began in southwestern Mexico ∼9,000 calendar years before present (cal. BP) and humans dispersed this important grain to South America by at least 7,000 cal. BP as a partial domesticate. South America served as a secondary improvement center where the domestication syndrome became fixed and new lineages emerged in parallel with similar processes in Mesoamerica. Later, Indigenous cultivators carried a second major wave of maize southward from Mesoamerica, but it has been unclear until now whether the deeply divergent maize lineages underwent any subsequent gene flow between these regions. Here we report ancient maize genomes (2,300–1,900 cal. BP) from El Gigante rock shelter, Honduras, that are closely related to ancient and modern maize from South America. Our findings suggest that the second wave of maize brought into South America hybridized with long-established landraces from the first wave, and that some of the resulting newly admixed lineages were then reintroduced to Central America. Direct radiocarbon dates and cob morphological data from the rock shelter suggest that more productive maize varieties developed between 4,300 and 2,500 cal. BP. We hypothesize that the influx of maize from South America into Central America may have been an important source of genetic diversity as maize was becoming a staple grain in Central and Mesoamerica.

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Palaeodiet Through Stable Isotope Analysis

O’Connell

2023

Handbook of Archaeological Sciences

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Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas

Cited by 70 publications

References 58 publications

The origins of Amazonian landscapes: Plant cultivation, domestication and the spread of food production in tropical South America

The origins of Amazonian landscapes: Plant cultivation, domestication and the spread of food production in tropical South America

Archaeological Central American maize genomes suggest ancient gene flow from South America

Palaeodiet Through Stable Isotope Analysis

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