The initial spread of peaches across eastern North America was structured by Indigenous communities and ecologies.

ABSTRACT: We conduct a synthetic archaeological and ethnohistoric dating program to assess the timing and tempo of the spread of peaches, the first Eurasian domesticate to be adopted across Indigenous eastern North America, into the interior American Southeast by Indigenous communities who quickly "Indigenized" the fruit. In doing so, we present what may be the earliest absolute dates for archaeological contexts containing preserved peach pits in what is today the United States in the early to mid-16^th century. Along with our broader chronological modeling, these early dates suggest that peaches were likely in the interior prior to permanent Spanish settlement in the American Southeast and that peaches spread independently of interactions with Spanish colonizers. We further argue that tha

SUBMITTER: Holland-Lulewicz J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11415391 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature