A Grass-Lined Maize Storage Pit and Early Maize Horticulture in Central Connecticut

Abstract

Excavations in New England have recently unearthed evidence of maize horticulture dating to after A.D. 1000. Evidence from the Burnham-Shepard Site, a 14th century occupation in the middle Connecticut River Valley, suggests more intensive involvement with the production and storage of maize, beans and sunflower than in coastal areas of New England. Of twelve storage features identified at the Burnham-Shepard Site, four were re-used and one was a specialized, grass-lined, maize storage pit. Zea mays (Maize), Phaseolus vulgaris (Bean), Chenopodium sp. (Lamb's Quarters), and Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) were present in the pit. This feature, and similar pits identified in New York, contained a lining identified as Andropogon gerardii (Big Blue-stem). This same grass was used by eastern Plains tribes to line maize storage pits. The presence of these cultigens and the lining material suggests that not only horticulture, but a specialized storage technique were imported, probably from the west.