Interpreting Isotopic and Macrobotanical Evidence for Early Maize in the Eastern Woodlands: A Response to Hart and Colleagues

2021 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 428-430
Author(s):  
Mary L. Simon ◽  
Kristin M. Hedman ◽  
Thomas E. Emerson
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Maize Cultivation ◽  
Ams Dates

In the following response to Hart and colleagues (2021) we clarify our interpretations of the archaeological record for maize use from western Illinois. The robust archaeological record, newly obtained AMS dates, and evaluations of enamel apatite combine to support a late date for maize cultivation in this region. We reiterate that maize histories in the Eastern Woodlands may vary among different regions.

scholarly journals The Archaeology of the Archaic Periods in East Texas

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
East Texas ◽  
Apparent Absence ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
General Inability

The archaeology of the Archaic periods—Early, ca. 10,000–8000 years B.P., Middle, ca. 8000–5000 years B.P., and Late, ca. 5000–2500 years B.P.—in East Texas is not well understood in broad terms, although valuable information on the archaeological character of the Archaic peoples in the region has been gained over the years from the detailed investigation of a few specific sites. New knowledge concerning the archaeology of the Archaic periods in East Texas is slow in coming, due in part to the kinds of Archaic sites that have been identified by archaeologists during survey investigations and/or recommended by archeologists, state agencies, and federal agencies for further work; a general inability to identify contextually intact buried sites in the valleys of East Texas rivers and creeks; and the lack of development of a chronology based on well–controlled absolute dating of features or buried occupation zones in single component or multi–component stratified sites. This article summarizes what is currently known about Archaic peoples and groups over this lengthy period of time in the East Texas region, including the kinds of sites that have been investigated, their known or estimated chronological age, and their associated material culture remains; it does not attempt to rectify the limitations of the known Archaic archaeological record, but rather judiciously presents archaeological findings from selected sites in East Texas, as well as in northwestern Louisiana. Some broad themes of the Archaic in the Eastern Woodlands and Southeastern U.S. also come under consideration, particularly the lack of complexity and the notable apparent absence of evidence of Archaic ritual beliefs seen in the East Texas archaeological record compared to neighboring regions.

Isotopic Confirmation of the Timing and Intensity of Maize Consumption in Greater Cahokia

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-262
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Emerson ◽  
Kristin M. Hedman ◽  
Mary L. Simon ◽  
Mathew A. Fort ◽  
Kelsey E. Witt
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
Zea Mays L ◽  
Subsistence Level ◽  
American Bottom ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Early Introduction ◽  
Bottom Region ◽  
Maize Cultivation ◽  
Important Study ◽  
History Of

The history of maize (Zea mays L.) in the eastern Woodlands remains an important study topic. As currently understood, these histories appear to vary regionally and include scenarios positing an early introduction and an increase in use over hundreds of, if not a thousand, years. In this article, we address the history of maize in the American Bottom region of Illinois and its importance in the development of regional Mississippian societies, specifically in the Cahokian polity located in the central Mississippi River valley. We present new lines of evidence that confirm subsistence-level maize use at Cahokia was introduced rather abruptly at about AD 900 and increased rapidly over the following centuries. Directly dated archaeobotanical maize remains, human and dog skeletal carbon isotope values, and a revised interpretation of the archaeological record support this interpretation. Our results suggest that population increases and the nucleation associated with Cahokia were facilitated by the newly introduced practices of maize cultivation and consumption. Maize should be recognized as having had a key role in providing subsistence security that—combined with social, political, and religious changes—fueled the emergence of Cahokia in AD 1050.

scholarly journals The Effects of Food Processing on the Archaeological Visibility of Maize: An Experimental Study of Carbonization of Lime-treated Maize Kernels

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 12-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Dezendorf
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Food Processing ◽  
Essential Amino Acids ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Lime Solution ◽  
Archaeological Preservation ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Maize Kernels

This paper explores the effects of maize processing on the carbonization and preservation of maize kernels in the archaeological record. The shift to processing maize with lime (known as hominy production in the Eastern Woodlands and nixtamalization in Mesoamerica) in ancient times had the effect of making maize more nutritious through increasing the availability of calcium, niacin, dietary fiber, and essential amino acids.  Less understood is how this process of cooking maize in a lime solution affects the archaeological preservation of maize; if there is a clear difference in the archaeological signature of maize remains that are and are not processed this way, then this process may be identifiable in the archaeological record. To this end, an experiment was constructed analyzing the variation in size between dried and alkali processed maize kernels before and after carbonization. Results indicate that alkali processed maize kernels are less likely to fragment during carbonization.

scholarly journals New Dates and Carbon Isotope Assays of Purported Middle Woodland Maize from the Icehouse Bottom and Edwin Harness Sites

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Mary L. Simon ◽  
Kandace D. Hollenbach ◽  
Brian G. Redmond
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
North America ◽  
Carbon Isotope ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Macrobotanical Remains ◽  
Middle Woodland Period ◽  
Isotope Analyses ◽  
Ams Dates

Accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) and carbon isotope analyses provide strong tandem methodologies used by archaeologists to evaluate and reevaluate the histories of maize use in the Midwest. In this article, we present newly obtained AMS dates and carbon isotope assays of alleged maize samples from the Icehouse Bottom (40MR23) and Edwin Harness sites (22RO33). Based on original studies, samples were thought to date to the Middle Woodland period (ca. 300 BC–AD 400). The results show that samples either were not maize or date to post-AD 900. As of this finding, there are no longer any securely dated Middle Woodland macrobotanical remains of maize from the Eastern Woodlands of North America.

Dating the Entry of Corn (Zea Mays) into the Lower Great Lakes Region

1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Crawford ◽  
David G. Smith ◽  
Vandy E. Bowyer
Keyword(s):  
Zea Mays ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Grand Banks ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Ams Dates

Five accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) dates on corn (maize or Zea mays) from the Grand Banks site, Ontario, range from cal A.D. 540 to 1030. These are the earliest directly dated corn samples in the Lower Great Lakes region. The presence of corn during the Princess Point Complex, a transitional Late Woodland phase preceding the Ontario Iroquoian Tradition, is confirmed as is an early presence of the Princess Point culture in Ontario. Maize appears to have spread rapidly from the Southeast and/or Midwest to Ontario. The corn cupules and kernel remains are fragmentary, as they are elsewhere in the Eastern Woodlands during this period. The limited morphological data indicate that the corn is a diminutive form of Eastern Eight-Row, or Eastern Complex, maize.

Additional Evidence for Early Cucurbit Use in the Northern Eastern Woodlands East of the Allegheny Front

1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Hart ◽  
Nancy Asch Sidell
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Cucurbita Pepo ◽  
Full Range ◽  
North Central ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Central Pennsylvania ◽  
Early Late ◽  
Ams Dates

Two accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates, 5404 ± 552 B.P. (AA-19129) and 2625 ± 45 B.P. (AA-19128), confirm the presence of mid-Holocene and early late Holocene cucurbit (Cucurbita pepo), respectively, at the Memorial Park site (36CN164) in north-central Pennsylvania. This is the second documented occurrence of mid-Holocene cucurbit and the first documented occurrence of domesticated early late Holocene cucurbit in the northern Eastern Woodlands east of the Allegheny Front. These occurrences help to establish the use of cucurbits in the Northeast on a timescale equivalent to that in the riverine interior, with the exception of the very earliest riverine interior dates. The Northeast has contributed little toward our understanding of prehistoric agricultural evolution in the Eastern Woodlands. The Memorial Park cucurbits and the mid-Holocene cucurbit recently reported at the Sharrow site in Maine indicate that greater efforts are needed to document pre-maize agricultural behavior in this area to increase our knowledge of the full range of pre-maize agricultural behavior in the Eastern Woodlands.

Field trials on grain maize cultivation technologies in 2004, 2005 and 2006

2008 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Šařec ◽  
Ondřej Šařec ◽  
Katarzyna Gil
Keyword(s):  
Field Trials ◽  
Maize Cultivation

THE AFRICAN WIFE OF SOLOMON (1 KINGS 3:1; 9:16; 7:8; 11:1)

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Tuesday Adamo
Keyword(s):  
African Woman ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Similar Treatment ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
1 Kings

Both the Deuteronomist and the Chronicler repeatedly testify that Solomon married an African woman who was the daughter of Pharaoh. The fact that Pharaoh‟s daughter was singled out in this manner is significant as similar treatment was not given to his many other wives and concubines. In the African polygamous system, the first wife exercises enormous power over the husband and other wives. In keeping with the tradition, as chief wife Pharaoh‟s daughter would have had immense influence over Solomon. This pervasive influence can be seen in the economic, political, and administrative policies of the day, as well as in the prohibition on Solomon marrying an Israelite woman. Although Solomon‟s African wife is nameless in the biblical record, and both Solomon and his wife are unattested in the archaeological record, the marriage represents an aspect of African influence on and contribution to ancient Israel.

Loom weights in Archaic South Italy and Sicily: Fice case studies

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 123-155
Author(s):  
Hedvig Landenius Enegren
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Experimental Archaeology ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Site Specificity ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
South Italy ◽  
Local Traditions ◽  
Tool Technology

Textiles are perishables in the archaeological record unless specific environmental conditions are met. Fortunately, the textile tools used in their manufacture can provide a wealth of information and via experimental archaeology make visible to an extent what has been lost. The article presents and discusses the results obtained in a research project focused on textile tool technologies and identities in the context of settler and indigenous peoples, at select archaeological sites in South Italy and Sicily in the Archaic and Early Classical periods, with an emphasis on loom weights. Despite a common functional tool technology, the examined loom weights reveal an intriguing inter-site specificity, which, it is argued, is the result of hybrid expressions embedded in local traditions. Experimental archaeology testing is applied in the interpretation of the functional qualities of this common artefact.

Dairy Queen. Churns and milk products in the Aegean Bronze Age

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 205-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah P. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Near East ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Specific Function ◽  
Milk Products ◽  
The Third ◽  
Household Processing

This article assembles examples of an unusual vessel found in domestic contexts of the Early Bronze Age around the Aegean and in the Eastern Mediterranean. Identified as a “barrel vessel” by the excavators of Troy, Lesbos (Thermi), Lemnos (Poliochni), and various sites in the Chalkidike, the shape finds its best parallels in containers identified as churns in the Chalcolithic Levant, and related vessels from the Eneolithic Balkans. Levantine parallels also exist in miniature form, as in the Aegean at Troy, Thermi, and Poliochni, and appear as part of votive figures in the Near East. My interpretation of their use and development will consider how they compare to similar shapes in the archaeological record, especially in Aegean prehistory, and what possible transregional relationships they may express along with their specific function as household processing vessels for dairy products during the third millennium BC.

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