Starch Granule Size and Morphology as a Proxy for Water Regime Influence on Zea mays

  • Stefania Wilks Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.
  • Lisbeth A. Louderback Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9549-3455
  • Shannon Boomgarden Natural History Museum of Utah, Director, Range Creek Field Station, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake, USA.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.12.1.2021.1725
Keywords: Agriculture, Arid western North America, Irrigation, Fremont culture, Starch analysis, Maize

Abstract

A wealth of information on the patterns of human subsistence and plant domestication has been generated from studies on maize (Zea mays) starch granules. However, very little work has been conducted on how the size and morphology of those granules might change as a function of water stress during the growing season. In the arid Southwest, the role of irrigation in growing maize is an essential parameter in many foraging models. Our study seeks to determine if there are significant changes in the size and other morphological attributes of starch granules from maize planted at Range Creek Canyon under two different irrigation regimes ranging from little water (once every three weeks) to ample water (once a day). Our results provide data on the effects of irrigation on Z. mays starch granules and, therefore, have implications for identifying archaeological maize and possibly determining past water regimes at Range Creek Canyon.

Author Biographies

Stefania Wilks, Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.

Stefania Wilks is a life long learner and has been a resident of the Southwest for most of her life. Stefania returned to college after working in landscape to pursue her interest in paleoethnobotany. She is currently a Master's student at University of Utah studying under Dr. Lisbeth Louderback. Her research involves starch granule analysis on ground stone technology from sites in the Southwest.

Lisbeth A. Louderback, Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.

Lisbeth Louderback brings a strong interdisciplinary background to archaeology with technical expertise in archaeobotany and paleoecology. Lisbeth established a research program on human dietary ecology at University of Utah, which examines the supply, harvest, processing and energetic returns of plant and animal resources from natural ecosystems.

Shannon Boomgarden, Natural History Museum of Utah, Director, Range Creek Field Station, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake, USA.

Shannon Boomgarden began working in archaeology nearly two decades ago and has been involved in Range Creek Canyon since the early 2000s. Shannon’s dissertation summarizes much of the archaeological and experimental research conducted by the Range Creek field school.

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Figure 3 A Starch granule size distributions of pooled samples (100%) from Plot 2 (n = 310) and Plot 6 (n = 310). Size distributions for the upper 20%, both plots (n = 62). Comparisons between distributions from each sample fraction were significantly different (p < 0.0001). (Right) Morphological attributes (Nomarski optics, DIC) include B sf = three-armed stellate fissure radiating from the hilum on an irregular granule from Plot 6, tf = transverse fissure dissecting the hilum and extending toward the margin of an irregular-shaped granule from Plot 6 and C rf = radial fissure radiating from the hilum to the margin of an irregular-shaped granule from Plot 6.
Published
2021-03-15
How to Cite
Wilks, S., Louderback, L. A., & Boomgarden, S. (2021). Starch Granule Size and Morphology as a Proxy for Water Regime Influence on Zea mays. Ethnobiology Letters, 12(1), 35-43. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.12.1.2021.1725
Issue
Vol 12 No 1 (2021)
Section
Research Communications

Copyright (c) 2021 Stefania Wilks, Lisbeth A. Louderback, Shannon Boomgarden

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