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This preliminary study investigates an alternative method to exploring and understanding the presence of maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) in prehistoric human settlement areas using stable isotope ratios from dog (Canis familiaris) bone as a surrogate to human bone. Using this methodology, this pilot study aims to begin to provide insight into the presence and prominence of maize within the subsistence economies of 2 prehistoric populations in coastal New Jersey-an area where some researchers argue people relied little upon this tropical domesticate. The third sample included in this study is from a prehistoric population in Pennsylvania where cultivation and consumption of maize have been evidenced by macrobotanical remains and stable isotope analyses on human bone. Data derived from this project offers the potential to provide new insight into the distribution of maize into the coastal regions of the Middle Atlantic, as well as enhance our understanding of the diversity of applications for stable isotope analyses in the investigation of human subsistence patterns. *Earlier versions of this article were presented at the annual meetings of the Eastern States Archaeological Federation and the Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference.

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A paleoenvironmental time-series spanning the Holocene was constructed using 29 radiocarbon ages and 149 standardized δ13Csom values from alluvial terrace profiles along the middle Delaware River valley. There is good agreement between increasing δ13Csom and Panicoideae phytolith concentrations, suggesting that variations in C4 biomass are a major contributor to changes in the soil δ13C. A measurement error deconvolution curve over time reveals two isotope stages (II–I), with nine sub-stages exhibiting variations in average δ13Csom (average %C4). Stage II, ~ 10.7–4.3 ka, shows above-average δ13Csom (increase %C4) values with evidence of an early Holocene warming and dry interval (sub-stage IIb, 9.8–8.3 ka) that coincides with rapid warming and cool-dry abrupt climate-change events. Sub-stage IId, 7.0–4.3 ka, is an above average δ13Csom (increase %C4) interval associated with the mid-Holocene warm-dry hypsithermal. The Stage II–I shift at 4.3 ka documents a transition toward below average δ13Csom (decrease %C4) values and coincides with decreasing insolation and hydroclimatic change. Sub-stages Ib and Id (above average %C4) coincide with the first documented occurrence of maize in the northeastern USA and a substantial increase in human population during the Late Woodland. These associations suggest that people influenced δ13Csom during the late Holocene.