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Ancient Grains: New Evidence for Ancestral Puebloan Use of Domesticated Amaranth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2021

Michelle I. Turner*
Affiliation:
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, CO, USA
Karen R. Adams*
Affiliation:
Archaeobotanical Consultant, Tucson, AZ, USA
Jean N. Berkebile*
Affiliation:
Santa Fe National Forest, Pecos Ranger Station, Pecos, NM, USA
Abigail R. Dockter*
Affiliation:
Harris Environmental Group, Tucson, AZ, USA

Abstract

We report here the first domesticated amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) seeds to be identified at a Chacoan great house, from the northern New Mexico site known as Aztec North, where they were found in a context that dates to the mid to late twelfth century AD. Amaranth has long been recognized as an important prehispanic resource in this region, evidenced by the archaeological record of both wild and domesticated forms and by the traditional knowledge and practices of Indigenous communities. Wild amaranth and similar-appearing chenopod/goosefoot (Chenopodium spp.) seeds are routinely found in Ancestral Puebloan contexts. Recent archaeological testing at the Aztec North great house, a Chaco Canyon outlier associated with a post-Chacoan political center, has revealed the presence of uncharred domesticated amaranth seeds in a thin layer of ashy trash in a room at the rear of the great house. These seeds expand our understanding of domesticated amaranth in the American Southwest and suggest centuries of continuity of traditional amaranth cultivation within Puebloan communities.

Presentamos aquí las primeras semillas de amaranto domesticado (Amaranthus spp.) que se identificaron en una casa grande del Chaco donde se encontraron en un contexto fechado entre mediados a fines de 1200 dC en el sitio del norte de Nuevo México mejor conocido como Aztec North. Por mucho tiempo, el amaranto ha sido reconocido como un recurso importante durante la época prehispánica en esta región, lo cual está evidenciado en el registro arqueológico en forma silvestre y domesticada y relatada en los conocimientos y prácticas tradicionales de las comunidades indígenas. Las semillas semejantes, amaranto silvestre y quenopodio (Chenopodium spp.), se encuentran frecuentemente en contextos Pueblo Ancestral. Investigaciones arqueológicas recientes en la gran casa de Aztec North, un sitio periférico del Cañón del Chaco asociado con un centro político Post-Chaco, han revelado la presencia de semillas de amaranto domesticadas sin carbonizar en una capa delgada de basura cenizosa en una habitación en la parte trasera de la casa grande. El hallazgo de estas semillas amplía nuestro conocimiento del amaranto domesticado en el Suroeste de Estados Unidos y sugiere una larga continuidad de su cultivo tradicional entre comunidades Pueblo.

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Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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References

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