This article uses experimental archaeology to provide empirical data on the impact of soil salinization on ancient maize agriculture. Hopi blue maize was experimentally grown in a drought-prone soil containing an extremely high level (50%) of evaporite mineral salts (CaCO3, CaSO4, and NaCl) in order to evaluate their effect on agricultural productivity. A control group of plants was grown in the absence of mineral salts. All of plants, which were companion planted with beans and squash, were adversely impacted by evaporite mineral salts. Maize grown alone in CaCO3−, CaSO4−, and NaCl-enriched soil exceeded the height of the control plants because the mineral salts acted as a fertilizer. Plants grown in NaCl-enriched soil produced cobbs that were reduced in size and kernel number. These findings suggest that CaCO3 and CaSO4, the most common evaporite mineral salts found in soil, would not have adversely impacted Ancestral Puebloan maize agriculture.

中文翻译：

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土壤盐分对玉米农业的影响：一种实验考古学方法

本文利用实验考古，提供土壤盐渍化对古代玉米农业影响的经验数据。为了评估它们对农业生产力的影响，霍皮蓝玉米在含有极高水平 (50%) 蒸发矿物盐 (CaCO3、CaSO4 和 NaCl) 的易干旱土壤中进行了试验。对照组植物在没有矿物盐的情况下生长。所有与豆类和南瓜一起种植的植物都受到蒸发矿物盐的不利影响。在富含 CaCO3−、CaSO4− 和 NaCl 的土壤中单独种植的玉米超过了对照植物的高度，因为矿物盐起到了肥料的作用。在富含 NaCl 的土壤中生长的植物产生的玉米穗轴的大小和籽粒数量都减少了。这些发现表明 CaCO3 和 CaSO4，