A01_02

Early Maize in Eastern North America: Results from Spatial Modeling of Directly Dated Maize Macrobotanical Remains

Druggan P¹

¹Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States

Maize agriculture was ubiquitous in the Eastern Woodlands of North American at contact; however, the nature of its dispersal from Mesoamerica is unclear. Previously reported accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates at a number of sites suggested that maize was introduced approximately 2000 years ago or earlier. Understandings of maize histories in North America have recently been challenged through reanalysis of curated macrobotanical remains, demonstrating that each example of early maize was either much younger than originally reported or the samples were not maize based upon δ¹³C values inconsistent with maize. Paradoxically, while the macrobotanical record has been revised to suggest a later introduction of maize, analysis of pot sherd residues has indicated the presence of maize by 300 BC. These studies underscore the necessity of critically reevaluating our understanding of maize dispersal and the validity of legacy dates. I build upon this work by assembling a database of directly dated maize macrobotanical remains and performing regression analyses to estimate earliest maize arrival, utilizing Monte Carlo methods to incorporate chronometric uncertainty. Results support a later introduction of maize, and comparison to a database of human stable isotopic data support rapid adoption.