Phytolith Evidence for Early Maize (Zea Mays) in the Northern Finger Lakes Region of New York

Abstract

The timing of crop introductions, particularly of maize (Zea mays), has been of long-standing interest to archaeologists working in various regions of eastern North America. The earliest confirmed macrobotanical evidence for maize in New York is A.D. 1000. We report on the results of accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) dating, phytolith analysis, and stable carbon isotope analysis of carbonized cooking residues adhering to the interior surface of pottery sherds from three sites in the northern Finger Lakes region of New York. Maize, squash (Cucurbita sp.), wild rice (Zizania aquatica), and sedge (Cyperus sp.) were identified in phytolith assemblages dating to as early as the first half of the calibrated seventh century A.D. The results demonstrate that low δ13C values on cooking residues cannot be used to preclude the possibility that maize was cooked in vessels. Two of the maize-bean-squash crop triad were present in New York at least 350 years earlier than previously documented, and the Northern Flint Corn Complex was present in New York by at least the first half of the seventh century A.D. This research highlights the potential of cooking residues to provide new insights on prehistoric plant-based subsistence.

Directly dated starch residues document early formative maize ( Zea mays L.) in tropical Ecuador

“…The ␦ 13 C measurements from the AMS-dated ceramic residue samples show values of Ϫ24.8, Ϫ24.9, and Ϫ25.0‰ (see Table S2) indicating that, although a variety of C3 and C4 foods contributed to the residue ␦ 13 C signatures, maize may have represented 10-20% of the overall dry volume of foods cooked in the pots (36). More recent research into the interpretation of stable carbon analysis of cooking residues indicates that systematic underrepresentation of maize will result from not knowing the C3 and animal content of the residues, making any interpretation difficult without comparison to experimental cooking residues (37).…”

Reassessing the northern limit of maize consumption in North America: stable isotope, plant microfossil, and trace element content of carbonized food residue

“…This form, which appears to be restricted to Zea mays, is produced in the cob portion of the plant and has been successfully used to identify maize in archaeological sites from South America to the Great Plains and Eastern Woodlands (Bozarth, 1993;Hart et al, 2003;Iriarte et al, 2004;Pearsall et al, 2003Pearsall et al, , 2004aStaller and Thompson, 2002). Other grass phytoliths were identified following Brown (1984) and Twiss et al (1969).…”

“…Preserved on the interior portion of ceramic vessels, this inert carbonaceous material represents the remains (including lipids, proteins, carbohydrates) of foods actually consumed when the pot was in use; it may potentially be analyzed for a variety of botanical and chemical proxies, directly dated, and linked to specific cultural groups based on stylistic characteristics of the associated ceramic sherd. In other parts of the Americas, maize phytoliths and starch granules have been successfully extracted from food residue and soils, enabling key insight into the history of early agricultural economies (Hart et al, 2003;Pearsall, 2002;Pearsall et al, 2003;Pearsall et al, 2004b;Piperno, 2003;Staller and Thompson, 2002). In contrast, few previous studies have examined stable C and N isotope, and trace element, content of carbonized food residue (Barnard et al, 2007;Craig et al, 2007;Fie et al, 1990;Hart et al, 2007;Morton and Schwarcz, 2004;Sherriff et al, 1995), and no study has combined all of these analyses.…”

Archaeobotanical evidence of prehistoric maize (Zea mays) consumption at the northern edge of the Great Plains

“…All sherds were washed in water following excavation (in the course of cataloguing), were quite clean upon inspection under a microscope, and so further washing was deemed unnecessary. Residue samples were digested in heated 50% nitric acid for 12e24 h, and the acid was subsequently removed by repeated dilution with water followed by centrifugation for 15 min at 3000 rpm [23,53]. The remaining residue was mounted and examined using a compound light microscope (with differential interference contrast), petrographic microscope, and scanning electron microscope (SEM).…”

“…This multiproxy approach is designed to maximize the total amount of information available on the plant component of paleodiet, while enabling some independent confirmation of results. In other parts of the New World, maize phytoliths and starch granules have been successfully extracted from carbonized food residue and soils, and have provided important insight into the history of early agricultural economies [23,37,38,40,43,53]. From previous studies, it is apparent that these microscopic remains preserved under a variety of depositional conditions are often abundant and, for some plants at least, possess distinctive morphologies which can be identified to the source plant.…”