Abstract
Recent archaeological results from Parmana, Venezuela, suggest that maize became a staple along the Orinoco River between about 800 BC and AD 400, contrary to prevailing views that maize was not important in prehistoric Amazonia. In maize, carbon dioxide is initially fixed as a C4 carboxylic acid, rather than as phosphoglyceric acid as in C3 plants. The organic carbon constituents of C4 plants have a different 13C/12C ratio from C3 plants, and this difference is transmitted to animals dependent on maize as a major carbon source. Thus, the 13C/12C ratio of animal remains is a reflection of their diet. Stable carbon isotope measurements on human skeletons from Parmana reported here show that a dramatic shift in the prehistoric diet from dependence on C3 plants to C4 plants (which include maize) did take place.
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van der Merwe, N., Roosevelt, A. & Vogel, J. Isotopic evidence for prehistoric subsistence change at Parmana, Venezuela. Nature 292, 536–538 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292536a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292536a0
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