Jourrlal of’ Archaeological Science 199 1,18,3 19-329 Isotopic and Archaeological Interpretations of Diet in the Central Mississippi Valley Jane E. Buikstra” and George R. Milne? (Received 7 November 1988, revisedmanuscript accepted 9 December 1989) This study will compare archaeologicaland isotopic characterizations of diet, specifically the role of maize,for Woodland, Mississippian, and Oneota populations from the North American midcontinent. Archaeological interpretations havetended to associate maizedependence with the riseof major centres, such asCahokia. These models, based uponvolumeand ubiquity of maize in villagesitemiddens and features, frequently contrast the key role of maize in regional centreswith the situation in smaller, remote communities. Mississippian inhabitants of frontier villages, for instances, areassumed to beless maize-dependent than their counterparts in larger and morecomplex communities. Recent analyses of stable carbon isotope ratioshave.however,calledinto question standardarchaeological interpretations.A series of 6i3C values that characterize the periodof agriculturalintensification in the central Mississippi and Illinois river valleys identifies significant maize dependence at locations somedistancefrom Cahokia during its period of major regional influence. Time transgressive trendsapparent in maize ubiquity for the Cahokiaregion also stand in contrastto those seen in diachronic sequences of 6°C values. In this paper,we present newly generated 613C values for five sites from the central Mississippi and Illinois river regions. Archaeological and isotopic evidence for maize- dependence is evaluated for biases that may underlie the seeming contradictory diachronicand synchronic patterningevident in the two data sets. Keywords: CARBON ISOTOPES, DIET, MAIZE, CAHOKIA, LATE WOODLAND, MISSISSIPPIAN. Introduction “In examiningthe skullsof several of the Indians of the Southwest, onefinds the molar teeth worn very flat. Since these people lived almost exclusively on a diet of corn, and since the mound builders’ molar teeth areworn, oneisrelatively safe in saying that corn was an important part of their diet The mound builders alsohad a diet of meatasis proved by the presence of great numbers of animalbones, black bear,beaver, turtle, and buffalo, found on the village sites, also by the fact that the front teeth areworn down too.” Roberts (1938: 27,29) describing the history of the DicksonMound Builders. Systematic excavation and study of the rich archaeological resources located at the confluence of the Spoon and Illinois Rivers in Fulton County, Illinois (Figure 1) began in “Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1126 East59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, U.S.A. “Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania StateUniversity, 409 Carpenter Bldg., University Park, PA 16802. U.S.A. 319 03054403/91/0303 19 + I I $03.00/O 0 I99 I Academic Press Limited