Microbotanical residue analysis reveals precontact maize and squash cooking in southern New England pottery prior to AD 1000, indicating earlier agricultural adoption than macrobotanical records show.
Phytoliths have been used by archaeologists worldwide as aids to building agricultural crop histories. Analyses of phytoliths recovered from charred cooking residues adhering to interior pottery walls has resulted in a substantial revision in maize and squash histories in Michigan, New York, the northern and central Plains, and Québec. Here we provide the results of the first analysis of phytoliths from directly dated charred cooking residues in Connecticut and Rhode Island (southern New England). AMS dates on maize macrobotanical remains from this region all fall after AD 1000, and there are no direct dates on squash macrobotanical remains. Results of our analysis indicate that both crops were being cooked in pots before AD 1000 and commonly so thereafter. These results point to the need for additional analyses to build comprehensive crop histories throughout New England.
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Dotzel et al. (2026) studied this question.
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