Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32537504›Full record

ArticleScience advances2020

Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas.

Douglas J Kennett, Keith M Prufer, Brendan J Culleton, Richard J George, Mark Robinson, Willa R Trask, Gina M Buckley, Emily Moes, Emily J Kate, Thomas K Harper and 9 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

30 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Modeling the rise and demise of Classic Maya cities: Climate, conflict, and economies of scale.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Transcriptomic Characterization of Candidate Genes forPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
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  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Douglas J KennettDepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6144-7365
Keith M PruferDepartment Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3173-1546
Brendan J CulletonInstitutes of Energy and the Environment, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Richard J GeorgeDepartment of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2086-7472
Mark RobinsonDepartment of Archaeology, Exeter Univ. Exeter, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1520-8459
Willa R TraskCentral Identification Laboratory, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawai'i, 96853 USA.
Gina M BuckleyDepartment of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5399-9311
Emily MoesDepartment Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Emily J KateDepartment of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5490-4684
Thomas K HarperDepartment of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Lexi O'DonnellDepartment of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4514-772X
Erin E RayDepartment Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1305-3780
Ethan C HillDepartment Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6899-2152
Asia AlsgaardDepartment Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Christopher MerrimanDepartment Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7114-0962
Clayton MeredithNew Mexico BioPark Society, 903 10th Street SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0378-3800
Heather J H EdgarDepartment Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4093-8143
Jaime J AweDepartment of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
Said M GutierrezYa'axché Conservation Trust, Punta Gorda Town, Belize.ORCID 0000-0002-7343-5908

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Maize is a cultigen of global economic importance, but when it first became a staple grain in the Americas, was unknown and contested. Here, we report direct isotopic dietary evidence from 52 radiocarbon-dated human skeletons from two remarkably well-preserved rock-shelter contexts in the Maya Mountains of Belize spanning the past 10,000 years. Individuals dating before ~4700 calendar years before present (cal B.P.) show no clear evidence for the consumption of maize. Evidence for substantial maize consumption (~30% of total diet) appears in some individuals between 4700 and 4000 cal B.P. Isotopic evidence after 4000 cal B.P. indicates that maize became a persistently used staple grain comparable in dietary significance to later maize agriculturalists in the region (>70% of total diet). These data provide the earliest definitive evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas.

Identifiers

PMID32537504
PMCPMC7269666

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.