Maize: Phenotypic Response to Variable Depth Water Input

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Experimental Archaeology in Range Creek Canyon, Utah" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Prehistoric maize farming has been well-documented in Range Creek Canyon, Utah. Evidence includes numerous corn cobs, maize storage structures, starch on ground stone tools, and pollen and isotopic evidence from sediment cores. Maize farming experiments in Range Creek suggest dry farming would not have been a sustainable option for the Fremont. With access to a permanent water source, irrigation farming would have been the most effective method of delivering controlled amounts of water to their crops, and thus allow for improved yields. Ongoing experiments in Range Creek seek to understand the efficiency in timing and amount of water necessary to produce the highest yields despite the costs associated with irrigation. Pivotal to understanding this trade-off is documenting root depth of dry adapted maize varieties under varying irrigation regimes. With limited water, should the Fremont water deeply less often or shallow more often? To document variability in root growth, an experiment was conducted to document the roots of Pima 60-Day Maize. By watering three separate bins at different depths, we were able to measure phenotypic response in root length as a function of the depth at which the water is provided.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Experimental Archaeology in Range Creek Canyon, Utah   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33498