Authors
Douglas J. Kennett, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
Keith M. Prufer, Department Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; Center for Stable Isotopes, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
Brendan J. Culleton, Institutes of Energy and the Environment, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Richard J. George, Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Mark Robinson, Department of Archaeology, Exeter Univ. Exeter, UK
Willa R. Trask, Central Identification Laboratory, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawai'i, 96853 USA
Gina M. Buckley, Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Emily Moes, Department Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Emily J. Kate, Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Thomas K. Harper, Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Lexi O'Donnell, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
Erin E. Ray, Department Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Ethan C. Hill, Department Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Asia Alsgaard, Department Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Christopher Merriman, Department Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Clayton Meredith, New Mexico BioPark Society, 903 10th Street SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, USA
Heather J H Edgar, Department Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Jaime J. Awe, Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
Said M. Gutierrez, Ya'axché Conservation Trust, Punta Gorda Town, Belize
Publication Date
6-3-2020
Abstract
Maize is a cultigen of global economic importance, but when it first became a staple grain in the Americas, was unknown and contested. Here, we report direct isotopic dietary evidence from 52 radiocarbon-dated human skeletons from two remarkably well-preserved rock-shelter contexts in the Maya Mountains of Belize spanning the past 10,000 years. Individuals dating before ~4700 calendar years before present (cal B.P.) show no clear evidence for the consumption of maize. Evidence for substantial maize consumption (~30% of total diet) appears in some individuals between 4700 and 4000 cal B.P. Isotopic evidence after 4000 cal B.P. indicates that maize became a persistently used staple grain comparable in dietary significance to later maize agriculturalists in the region (>70% of total diet). These data provide the earliest definitive evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas.
Recommended Citation
Kennett DJ, Prufer KM, Culleton BJ, George RJ, Robinson M, Trask WR, Buckley GM, Moes E, Kate EJ, Harper TK, O'Donnell L, Ray EE, Hill EC, Alsgaard A, Merriman C, Meredith C, Edgar HJH, Awe JJ, Gutierrez SM. Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas. Sci Adv. 2020 Jun 3;6(23):eaba3245. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aba3245. PMID: 32537504; PMCID: PMC7269666.
