Prehistoric agriculture on the Great Plains
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Agriculture on the precontact Great Plains describes the agriculture of the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains of the United States and southern Canada in the Pre-Columbian era and before extensive contact with European explorers, which in most areas occurred by 1750. The principal crops grown by Indian farmers were maize (corn), beans, and squash, including pumpkins. Sunflowers, goosefoot,[1] tobacco,[2] gourds, and plums, were also grown.
Evidence of agriculture is found in all Central Plains complexes. Archaeological sites in Nebraska reveal cultivated crops such as little barley (Hordeum pusillum), sunflowers (Helianthus annuus), goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri), marsh elder (Iva annua), and maize (Zea mays).[3] Tribes periodically switched from farming to hunting throughout their history during the Plains Village period,[4] AD 950–1850.