Identification of corn starch from Catamarca: application to two archaeological cases

In this paper we introduce a statistical model to discriminate different maize types in archaeological starch grains recovered from pottery and ground stone tools. The model was developed using a wide database of starch grains from maize landraces native to the Argentine Northwest. We carried out a...

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Autores principales: Giovannetti, Marco, Lantos, Irene, Ratto, Norma
Formato: Artículo revista
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Centro de Estudios Históricos. UA CONICET 2015
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Acceso en línea:https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/comechingonia/article/view/18140
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Sumario:In this paper we introduce a statistical model to discriminate different maize types in archaeological starch grains recovered from pottery and ground stone tools. The model was developed using a wide database of starch grains from maize landraces native to the Argentine Northwest. We carried out a Discriminant Analysis using the stepwise methodology. This analysis allowed us to assign the archaeological starch grains to different maize types, defined by their endosperm texture: flint, floury, sweet, dent and flint-floury. The identification of different maize types in archaeological samples allowed us to discuss food and beverage preparation and consumption practices in Catamarca during the pre-Hispanic period.