Ancient use of the four corners potato

Despite its long history, utilitarian value, and cultural significance to several Indigenous Tribes in the Southwest USA, the extent to which the Four Corners potato (Solanum jamesii Torr.) has been domesticated requires circumscription. Establishing the temporal and spatial dimensions of intentional cultivation would provide an essential component of the domestication argument. This project tests the hypothesis that S. jamesii tubers were processed with ground stone tools from archaeological sites located beyond the natural range of the species, especially where genetic evidence has previously indicated human transport and establishment in gardens. Microbotanical evidence, in the form of starch granules from 401 ground stone tools at 14 archaeological sites, is examined. More than 6,500 starch granules were recovered from the tools; 163 of which were assigned to S. jamesii.  Four sites (North Creek Shelter, Long House/Mesa Verde, Pueblo Bonito/Chaco Canyon, and Point of Pines) sho..., Sites and Tools There are many archaeological sites within and beyond the documented range of S. jamesii. Relatively few have been excavated, and fewer still have ground stone tools from buried deposits with published contextual details. Only excavated and recorded sites that had available ground stone tools would be suitable for starch granule analysis.  Fortunately, eight repositories had collections from 14 sites that met these criteria and provided a wide temporal range (early Holocene through Protohistoric) for sampling a sufficient number of properly stored tools. Inventories of ground stone tools (i.e., manos and metates) from the 14 sites were examined to determine the availability and feasibility for sampling. Objects were not chosen if they 1) were on exhibit, 2) had an unknown location at the repository, 3) were not collected, or 4) were restricted objects. Approximately 98% of the ground stone tools sampled contain site and/or stratigraphic provenience. Furthermore, inf..., # Ancient use of the four corners potato Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.vx0k6dk3c](10.5061/dryad.vx0k6dk3c) ## Description of the data and file structure ### Files and variables #### File: S1_Table.xlsx **Description:** Site name, repository, catalog number, lab specimen number, and provenience of each ground stone tool analyzed for starch. #### File: S2_Table.xlsx **Description:** Lengths and morphological characters were measured and documented on each starch granule from all ground stone tools (n=401) analyzed in this study. Each tab contains starch granule data from an archaeological site (n=14). All starch granules have length measurements, but not all morphological characters were documented on all granules. ##### Variables: * Granule Length (µm = microns), Shape, Hilum position, Cavity, Cross, Fissures, Lamellae, Pressure Facets. Numbers in the cells are the measured length or the presence (1) or absence (0) of that specific variable. * Missing values or 'n/a' indicate no m...,尽管四角马铃薯（Four Corners potato，*Solanum jamesii* Torr.）拥有悠久的应用历史、实用价值，且对美国西南部多支原住民部落具有文化意义，但其被驯化的程度仍有待明确界定。明确其人为种植的时间与空间维度，将成为支撑其驯化研究论证的核心要素。本研究旨在验证如下假说：四角马铃薯块茎的加工所用磨制石器，来自该物种自然分布范围之外的考古遗址，尤其是此前遗传学证据显示存在人类运输并种植该物种的区域。 本研究对14处考古遗址出土的401件磨制石器中的微植物考古学证据展开分析。从这些石器中共提取到超过6500颗淀粉粒，其中163颗被鉴定为四角马铃薯淀粉粒。本次研究涉及的4处遗址（北溪庇护所、长屋/梅萨维德、普韦布洛博尼托/查科峡谷以及派恩斯角）……，## 遗址与工具 四角马铃薯已知分布范围内外均存在大量考古遗址，但已发掘的遗址数量相对有限，而其中带有可公开获取的埋藏地层背景细节且出土磨制石器的遗址更是寥寥无几。唯有经过发掘并记录、且留存有可用磨制石器的遗址，才适合开展淀粉粒分析。所幸有8家藏品机构收纳了符合上述标准的14处遗址的文物藏品，其年代跨度涵盖全新世早期至原历史时期，可为足量保存完好的石器采样提供充足的时间范围样本。 研究人员对这14处遗址的磨制石器（manos，手磨石；metates，磨盘）清单进行了梳理，以确认可用于采样的文物及其可行性。以下四类石器将被排除：1）正在展出的藏品；2）在藏品机构中位置不明的藏品；3）未完成收集的藏品；4）受限访问的藏品。本次采样的磨制石器中，约98%均带有遗址和/或地层出土地层信息。此外，…… # 四角马铃薯的古代利用 数据集DOI：10.5061/dryad.vx0k6dk3c ## 数据与文件结构说明 ### 文件与变量 #### 文件：S1_Table.xlsx **说明**：本文件包含本次淀粉分析所用全部磨制石器的遗址名称、藏品机构、馆藏编号、实验室标本编号以及出土地层信息。 #### 文件：S2_Table.xlsx **说明**：本文件记录了本研究分析的全部401件磨制石器所提取淀粉粒的长度与形态学特征。每个工作表对应一处考古遗址（共14处）的淀粉粒数据。所有淀粉粒均测量了长度，但并非所有淀粉粒都记录了全部形态学特征。 ##### 变量说明： * 粒长（单位：微米，µm）、形状、脐点位置、空腔、十字纹、裂隙、层纹、压痕。单元格中的数值为测量得到的粒长，或代表对应特征存在（1）或缺失（0）的二值变量。 * 缺失值或'n/a'表示未……