ABSTRACT

Pollen records and macrobotanical remains indicate maize was grown minimally during the Middle Woodland (200 BCE - CE 500) in eastern North America. However, previous isotopic studies have found limited evidence of its consumption by people in archaeobotanical assemblages. Hypothetically, if deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) were feeding on maize (Zea mays L.) in gardens prior to its adoption as a human dietary staple, this may indicate a niche construction process which would later lead to shifts in hunting strategies. This construction of garden spaces or niches has implications for decreased mobility and greater investment in garden crops. To evaluate this hypothesis in the Ohio River Valley, we measured stable nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) isotope compositions of bulk collagen in deer bones (N = 25) from archaeological sites spanning the Middle Woodland (200 BCE - CE 400/500) to Late Precontact (CE 1400-1630). Our hypothesis was not confirmed: little (one deer of 19) evidence for maize consumption occurred in the analyzed deer remains. Five deer of 19 did indicate the possibility of feeding in deeply wooded areas, reflecting canopy effect. Dog (Canis lupus familiaris L.) bone samples (N = 2) were also analyzed for these isotopes and one indicates some consumption of maize.

摘要

花粉记录和大型植物遗骸表明，在北美东部的中部林地（公元前 200 年 - 公元 500 年）期间，玉米的种植量很少。然而，以前的同位素研究发现，人们在考古植物组合中消费它的证据有限。假设，如果鹿 ( Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) 以玉米 ( Zea maysL.）在被用作人类主食之前的花园中，这可能表明一个生态位构建过程，该过程随后将导致狩猎策略的转变。这种花园空间或壁龛的建设对减少流动性和增加对园林作物的投资具有影响。为了评估俄亥俄河谷的这一假设，我们测量了横跨中部林地（公元前 200 年 - 公元 400/500 年）的考古遗址中鹿骨（ N = 25）中散装胶原蛋白的稳定氮（δ15N）和碳（δ13C）同位素组成) 到晚期预接触 (CE 1400-1630)。我们的假设没有得到证实：在分析的鹿遗骸中几乎没有（19 头鹿）食用玉米的证据。19 只鹿中的 5 只确实表明可能在茂密的林区觅食，这反映了树冠效应。狗 （还分析了Canis lupus familiaris L.) 骨骼样本 ( N = 2) 的这些同位素，其中一份表明食用了一些玉米。