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Cucurbita pepo from King Coulee, Southeastern Minnesota

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Bradley E. Perkl
Bradley E. Perkl*
Affiliation:
IMA Consulting, 2635 Fourth Street, S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55414
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Abstract

Domesticated squash (Cucurbita pepo) was recovered from King Coulee, a multicomponent habitation site. Recent accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon determinations on two seeds indicate that Cucurbita was used as early as 2530±60 B.P, during the Late Archaic. This marks the earliest occurrence of domesticated plant use in the upper Midwest. Another seed dated to the Late Woodland (1170±40 B.P.) is consistent with an inferred pattern of greater plant use throughout the area. The use of Cucurbita played an important role in the long transition from foraging to farming. These new data provide valuable insights into the economies of the people inhabiting the region.

Résumé

Résumé

Se ha recuperado la calabam doméstica cucúrbita (Cucurbita sp.) de King Coulee, un sitio habitacional de componentes múltiples en la región sureste del estado de Minnesota (EE. UU.). Recientes determinaciones de radiocarbono de aceleración de espectrometría de masa de dos semillas indican que se usaba la cucúrbita enfechas tan tempranas como 2530±60 a.P., durante el Arcáico Tardío. Esto marca el hallazgo más temprano del uso de plantas domesticadas en la porción norte de la zona del medio oeste de los Estados Unidos. Otra semilla que data del Late Woodland (1170±40 a.P.) es consistente con un mayor uso de plantas en toda la región. El uso de cucúrbita jugó un papel importante en la larga transición de la recolección de alimentos al cultivo de éstos. Estos nuevos datos proveen valiosas perspectivas de las economías de la gente que habitaba la región.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , April 1998 , pp. 279 - 288
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1998

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References

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