Early Maize in Northeastern North America: A Comment on Emerson and Colleagues. Issue 2 (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hart, John P.; Lovis, William A.; Katzenberg, M. Anne
• Is Part Of: American antiquity. Volume 86:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 425
• Page End: 427
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: northeastern North America, -- early maize, -- microbotanicals, -- stable isotopes; noreste de América del Norte, -- maíz temprano, -- microbotánicos, -- isótopos estables; North America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- North America -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- America -- Periodicals; Anthropology -- America -- Periodicals; North America -- History -- Periodicals; America -- History -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 970
• DOI: 10.1017/aaq.2020.93
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-7316

Abstract

Abstract : Emerson and colleagues (2020) provide new isotopic evidence on directly dated human bone from the Greater Cahokia region. They conclude that maize was not adopted in the region prior to AD 900. Placing this result within the larger context of maize histories in northeastern North America, they suggest that evidence from the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River valley for earlier maize is "enigmatic" and "perplexing." Here, we review that evidence, accumulated over the course of several decades, and question why Emerson and colleagues felt the need to offer opinions on that evidence without providing any new contradictory empirical evidence for the region.