MIDHOLOCENE EVIDENCE OF CUCURBITA SP FROM CENTRAL MAINE

A fragmentary specimen of Cucurbita sp. has been recovered from an ear ly context at the Sharrow site in central Maine. Directly dated to the mid-Holocene epoch on the basis of an accelerator mass spectrometer a ssay of 5695 +/- 100 B.P. (AA-7491), this squash or gourd represents o ne of the earliest such finds in eastern North America. It greatly exp ands the distribution of mid-Holocene Cucurbita beyond previous finds in the Midwest, Midsouth, and Southeast. Three alternative hypotheses derived from this discovery are that (1) Cucurbita represents a previo usly unrecognized native plant in the far Northeast; (2) it was presen t in Maine as a trade item or an unintentional introduction; or (3) it was present as the result of early cultivation, whether introduced fr om Mesoamerica or elsewhere in eastern North American outside of Maine . Current evidence suggests that the first two hypotheses are unlikely . This leaves open the possibility that the presence of early Cucurbit a at the Sharrow site represents the introduction of a cultivated plan t into Maine during the mid-Holocene.