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Abstract
A large Gramineae pollen, positively identified as corn (Zea mays), from the sediments of Lake Shelby in coastal Alabama at a stratigraphic level securely dated to 3500 BP predates any other evidence for corn in eastern North America by at least 1,000 years. Currently, the most frequently cited and accepted date for corn in eastern North America is approximately 1800 BP from macro botanical remains: however, several paleoecological studies have reported corn pollen in older contexts. The Lake Shelby pollens adds to a growing body of micro fossil evidence supporting the presence of maize in eastern North America much earlier than the macro botanical records indicate. Corn was probably present in eastern as well as western North America by 3000 BP.

Maize Pollen of 3500 B.P. From Southern Alabama
Miriam L. Fearn and Kam-Biu Liu
American Antiquity
Vol. 60, No. 1 (Jan., 1995), pp. 109-117