Determining Olmec maize use through bulk stable carbon isotope analysis

Abstract

Bulk stable carbon isotope analysis on absorbed organic residues in ceramics can be an effective method for discerning patterns of maize use when the ceramics come from relatively uniform archaeological contexts. The bulk stable carbon isotope method is faster and less costly than the more commonly used compound-specific stable carbon isotope analysis. Moreover, the bulk stable carbon isotope method can determine the presence of C4 plant carbon in samples in which organic compounds have degraded. Bulk stable carbon isotope analysis was used to discern patterns of maize ( Zea mays mays) use among a sample of 24 ceramic sherds from an Early Franco Period feasting deposit (ca. cal 650 B.C.) at the Olmec site of San Andrés, La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. A comparison of the δ 13C results of different categories of ceramics showed that proportionally more maize was used in luxury beverage service wares than in utilitarian vessels, suggesting that maize-based beverages were prominent in this probable elite feasting episode.