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

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

“…An increasingly important focus of analysis is microbotanical remains, such as phytoliths and starches, contained within charred cooking residues adhering to pottery wall interiors (Boyd et al, 2008). Also used have been bulk d 13 C values obtained on these residues.…”

Maize provisioning of Ontario Late Woodland turkeys: Isotopic evidence of seasonal, cultural, spatial and temporal variation

“…Late Woodland maize has a high mean δ 13 C value (-9.1±0.3‰) (Schwarcz et al 1985). Because C 3 versus C 4 plants have bimodally distributed δ 13 C values, isotopic analysis has been useful for tracking the spread of maize into North America (Allegreto 2007; Boyd et al 2008;Katzenberg et al 1995;Schoeninger 2009;Schurr and Redmond 1991;van der Merwe 1982;Vogel and van der Merwe 1977), and has been identified archaeologically at southwestern Ontario sites as early as A.D. 200 (Allegreto 2007;Boyd et al 2008;Cappella 2005;Crawford and Smith 1996;Crawford et al 1997;Katzenberg 2006).…”

Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

“…These plant microfossils have been used extensively to examine residues from stone tools (129)(130)(131)(132)(133), shell tools (134), sediments (135)(136)(137), grinding stones (138), and dental calculus (139,140). The presence of starch grains and phytoliths has also been used to identify maize and beans in pottery residues from North America (141,142) and of a range of plant foods in residues from ceramic and stone artefacts from Bolivia (143). However the full potential of this type of analysis when applied to visible residues from pottery is only just beginning to be explored and presents a unique opportunity to identify the past culinary use of specific plants.…”