Evidence for Early Use of Maize in Peninsular Florida

Diet and mobility in Middle Archaic Florida: stable isotopic and faunal evidence from the Harris Creek archaeological site (8Vo24), Tick Island

“…Florida did not witness the introduction of corn (C 4 ) until the Weeden Island period (2500 years b.p. ; Kelly et al, 2006;Milanich, 1994); consequently, the likely source of C 4 contribution to the diet during the Middle Archaic would have derived from the marine biome and coastal or estuarine resources (Tykot et al, 2005).…”

Non-linear relationship between bulk δ13C and percent maize in carbonized cooking residues and the potential of false-negatives in detecting maize

“…Stable carbon isotope analysis of human bone is a standard tool in the investigation of prehistoric maize consumption (e.g., Greenlee, 2006;Katzenberg, 2006;Kelly et al, 2006). The application of this technique to prehistoric cooking residues encrusted on pottery sherds has also been used to estimate the percentage of maize present in the resources cooked in particular pots.…”

Extending the Phytolith Evidence for Early Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and Squash (Cucurbita sp.) in Central New York

“…While we need additional phytolith data, building on the temporal and spatial distributions of the analyses done to date, other sources of evidence are needed to complement the phytolith evidence. For maize, these might include isotopic analyses of the apatite and collagen components of human teeth and bone (e.g., Harrison and Katzenberg 2003;Kelly et al 2006), isotopic analysis of lipids recovered from pottery sherds (e.g., Reber et al 2004), and/or the recovery of starch grains from secure contexts (e.g., Messner and Dickau 2005;Piperno et al 2000). While macrobotanical remains can provide critical evidence for the histories of both maize and squash (e.g., Crawford et al 1997;Hart and Asch Sidell 1997), they should no longer be viewed as standalone sources of evidence for those histories.…”