02263nas a2200385 4500008004100000245009800041210006900139300001200208490000700220520125800227653001601485653001201501653001301513653002401526653000901550653001301559653001101572653000801583653001201591653001001603653002101613653001501634653001001649653002201659653001301681653001701694653001401711653001101725653002901736653001301765100001701778700002101795700002101816856004001837 2003 eng d00aPhytolith Evidence for Early Maize (Zea mays) in the Northern Finger Lakes Region of New York0 aPhytolith Evidence for Early Maize Zea mays in the Northern Fing a619-6400 v683 a
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.
10aAgriculture10aAmerica10aAnalysis10aArchaeological site10aC 1310aCeramics10aDating10aDie10aEconomy10aFlora10aIsotope Analysis10aLaboratory10amaize10aMass spectrometry10aNew York10aPalaeobotany10aPhytolith10aSample10aUnited States of America10aWoodland1 aHart, J., P.1 aThompson, R., G.1 aBrumbach, H., J. uhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3557065