Cucurbita pepo from King Coulee, Southeastern Minnesota
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Domesticated squash (Cucurbita pepo) was recovered from King Coulee, a multicomponent habitation site. Recent accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon determinations on two seeds indicate that Cucurbita was used as early as 2530±60 B.P, during the Late Archaic. This marks the earliest occurrence of domesticated plant use in the upper Midwest. Another seed dated to the Late Woodland (1170±40 B.P.) is consistent with an inferred pattern of greater plant use throughout the area. The use of Cucurbita played an important role in the long transition from foraging to farming. These new data provide valuable insights into the economies of the people inhabiting the region.
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