Paleoethnobotany and Cultural Resource Management: using ancient DNA analyses outside of academic archaeology– Zea mays (maize) in Eastern North America

Despite the application of paleoethnobotanical analyses in academia, their use in CRM especially in Eastern North America are virtually non-existent. In 2011 Ontario provincial changes to the standards archaeologists follow require the reporting of detailed botanical analysis. In conjunction with the Sustainable Archaeology program the study will report on the importance of reevaluating methodologies in paleoethnobotany and the relationship between academia, CRM archaeology and descendant First Nation communities. 

Data collected by CRM firms will allow for collaboration with specialists to identify and recover aDNA from samples of carbonized Zea mays (maize). Extractions will then assist in distinguishing between potential maize types (genomes/varieties) to test the hypothesis that neighboring Iroquoian and Western Basin peoples of the Late Woodland (1000-1200 A.D) were exploiting different types of maize. The research will explore the potential to increase the range and depth of the often absent or incomplete study of botanical remains in CRM.