Northernmost Precontact Maize in North America

Abstract

Corn (Zea mays ssp. mays) was a key economic plant in the Americas, yet little information exists on the northern limit of maize consumption before European contact. Based on the analysis of carbonized food residue on pottery for plant microfossils (phytoliths and starch granules) from 58 precontact archaeological sites, we report the first evidence of maize consumption in the subarctic boreal forest. Recovery of maize microfossils from several widely distributed Laurel phase (Middle Woodland/Initial Shield Woodland) vessels indicates that the diffusion of corn into this region was surprisingly early (ca. A.D. 500) and may have initially spread through long-distance exchange networks linking temperate and boreal North America during the Woodland period. After A.D. 1000 maize was a widespread component of diet and was consumed by every major Late Woodland culture in the region. These results have profound implications both for the history of this cultigen and for small-scale human societies in northern North America.