Peoples of the Mesa Verde Region

Diet and Bone Chemistry

How do archaeologists know that corn was the major component of the diet of Basketmaker II peoples?

The answer to this question underscores the old saying, "you are what you eat." Wild plant foods and corn contain different forms of carbon (carbon isotopes). Physical anthropologists have analyzed the carbon isotopes in the bones of both Archaic and Basketmaker II peoples. These analyses show that the carbon isotopes in the bones of Archaic people came primarily from wild plant foods, which means that wild plants formed a major part of the diet during that time. In contrast, the bones of Basketmaker II people contain carbon isotopes that came primarily from corn.