Using Maize δ15N values to assess soil fertility in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century ad Iroquoian agricultural fields.

ABSTRACT: Native Americans developed agronomic practices throughout the Western Hemisphere adapted to regional climate, edaphic conditions, and the extent of dependence on agriculture for subsistence. These included the mounding or "corn hill" system in northeastern North America. Iroquoian language speakers of present-day New York, USA, and Ontario and Québec, Canada were among those who used this system. While well-known, there has been little archaeological documentation of the system. As a result, there is scant archaeological evidence on how Iroquoian farmers maintained soil fertility in their often-extensive agricultural fields. Using δ15N values obtained on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century AD maize kernels from archaeological sites in New York and Ontario, adjusted to take into account change

SUBMITTER: Hart JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7141618 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature