Isotopic evidence on human bone for declining maize consumption during the Little Ice Age in central western Argentina

GIL, A.F.; VILLALBA, R.; UGAN, A.; CORTEGOSO, V.; NEME, G.; MICHIELI, C.T.; NOVELLINO, P.; DURÁN, V.

JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE

ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2014 vol. 49 p. 213 - 227

0305-4403

This paper explores variation in maize consumption among human societies in arid environments ofcentral-western Argentina over the last 2500 years. Increasingly positive human d13C signatures suggest a high intake of C4 resources (maize) until ca. A.D. 1400. After this time, the importance of maize in the diet drops and never reaches pre-Hispanic consumption rates, despite the known importance of maize to Inka and other late-prehistoric societies in the region. This decline appears to be related to colder temperatures during the Little Ice Age from the beginning of the 15th to the mid19th centuries.