MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ZEA MAYS COBS FROM THE SALT CREEK SITE, CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

Previous excavations within Canyonlands National Park have recovered over 100 Zea mays cobs that have been curated. This collection is the result of recent projects, such as the 2004-2006 River Corridor Architectural and Rock Art Survey and the Salt Creek Site Documentation and Condition Assessment Projects of 2009 and 2011-2012 (the focus of knowledge expansion of this project) that have included within their research designs collecting maize cobs for the purpose of type analysis and radiocarbon dating. Accurately typing corn can vastly improve the baseline data of archeological sites by potentially providing information on cultural affiliation and trading relationships between prehistoric populations within the Salt Creek drainage and greater Canyonlands area.