Holding (11MS118)

The Holding site (11MS118) is part of the extensive series of occupations along the American Bottom region to the east of the Mississippi River and a few kilometers northeast of the center of the Cahokia site. The Holding site is well known for its Middle Woodland period occupation and is the type site for the Holding phase (Fortier et al. 1989). AMS radiocarbon dates on two botanical samples thought to be maize, yielded calibrated ages of approximately 2000 BP (Riley et al. 1994). New analysis of these two samples along with radiocarbon dates and stable carbon isotope measurements on three additional maize samples from the site now suggest that the occupation associated with maize remains is much more recent than previously thought--dating to approximately 900 to 1000 cal BP (Simon 2017). Mary Simon points out that this calls into question the importance of maize during the Middle Woodland period at Holding and she suggests that maize agriculture only became dominant at the site--and likely in the region--by about 1100 years ago.