AI Article Synopsis
- ! Maize, while crucial today, was initially unknown and disputed as a staple grain in the Americas. * ! Analysis of 52 radiocarbon-dated human skeletons from the Maya Mountains reveals no signs of maize consumption before about 4700 years ago. * ! By 4000 years ago, maize had become a major food source for certain individuals, making up over 70% of their diet, marking it as one of the earliest examples of maize as a staple in the Americas. * !
Article Abstract
Maize is a cultigen of global economic importance, but when it first became a staple grain in the Americas, was unknown and contested. Here, we report direct isotopic dietary evidence from 52 radiocarbon-dated human skeletons from two remarkably well-preserved rock-shelter contexts in the Maya Mountains of Belize spanning the past 10,000 years. Individuals dating before ~4700 calendar years before present (cal B.P.) show no clear evidence for the consumption of maize. Evidence for substantial maize consumption (~30% of total diet) appears in some individuals between 4700 and 4000 cal B.P. Isotopic evidence after 4000 cal B.P. indicates that maize became a persistently used staple grain comparable in dietary significance to later maize agriculturalists in the region (>70% of total diet). These data provide the earliest definitive evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7269666 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba3245 | DOI Listing |
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