Isotopic Reconstruction of Mesa Verde Diet from Basketmaker III to Pueblo III

Isotopic analysis of bone collagen from 35 individuals from the burial populations of Mesa Verde National Park and the Ute Tribal Park, southwestern Colorado, provides evidence for the importance of maize from Basketmaker III times to the Pueblo III period. Stable carbon isotope ratios ranged between -6.4°/00 to -10.8°/00, indicating that maize was an important and constant contributor to diet. We estimate that maize contributed from 70 to 80 percent of the diet during the entire period of occupation. No temporal changes in the isotope ratios were detected.