Isotopic evidence on human bone for declining maize consumption during the little ice age in central western Argentina

Abstract

This paper explores variation in maize consumption among human societies in arid environments of central-western Argentina over the last 2500 years. Increasingly positive human δ13C signatures suggest a high intake of C4 resources (maize) until ca. A.D. 1400. After this time, the importance of maize in the diet drops and never reaches pre-Hispanic consumption rates, despite the known importance of maize to Inka and other late-prehistoric societies in the region. This decline appears to be related to colder temperatures during the Little Ice Age from the beginning of the 15th to the mid19th centuries.