01764nas a2200145   4500008004100000245012300041210007000164260001800234300001300252490000700265520123100272100001701503700002001520856007801540       2020                        eng d00aUsing Maize δ15N values to assess soil fertility in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century AD Iroquoian agricultural fields0 aUsing Maize δ15N values to assess soil fertility in fifteenth an  cApril-08-2020  ae02309520 v153 a<p>Native Americans developed agronomic practices throughout the Western Hemisphere adapted to regional climate, edaphic conditions, and the extent of dependence on agriculture for subsistence. These included the mounding or “corn hill” system in northeastern North America. Iroquoian language speakers of present-day New York, USA, and Ontario and Québec, Canada were among those who used this system. While well-known, there has been little archaeological documentation of the system. As a result, there is scant archaeological evidence on how Iroquoian farmers maintained soil fertility in their often-extensive agricultural fields. Using δ15N values obtained on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century AD maize kernels from archaeological sites in New York and Ontario, adjusted to take into account changes that result from charring as determined through experiments, we demonstrate that Iroquoian farmers were successful at maintaining nitrogen in their agricultural fields. These results add to our archaeological knowledge of Iroquoian agronomic practices. Our results also indicate the potential value of obtaining δ15N values on archaeological maize in the investigation of Native American agronomic practices.</p>
1 aHart, J., P.1 aFeranec, R., S.  uhttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0230952