Book contents
- Ancient South America
- Ancient South America
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 Still a New World
- Chapter 2 A Matter of Time
- Chapter 3 The Physical Setting
- Chapter 4 The First Inhabitants: 12000–6000 BC
- Chapter 5 Settling Down: 6000–3500 BC
- Chapter 6 The Problem of Maize
- Chapter 7 Cultural Intensification in the Andes: 3500–1500 BC
- Chapter 8 Ceramics: Their Origin and Technology
- Chapter 9 The First Civilizations: 2000–200 BC
- Chapter 10 Textiles: The High Art of South America
- Chapter 11 Metallurgy
- Chapter 12 Regional Diversification and Development: 200 BC–AD 600
- Chapter 13 Iconographic Studies and South American Prehistory
- Chapter 14 Militaristic and Religious Movements in the Andes: AD 500–1000
- Chapter 15 Transport and Trade
- Chapter 16 Kingdoms, Chiefdoms, and Empires: AD 900–1438
- Chapter 17 Eastern South America and the Amazon: A New Synthesis
- Chapter 18 The Sixteenth Century: The Last Indigenous Cultures
- Chapter 19 Intercontinental Movements before Columbus
- Chapter 20 The Future of a Continent
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 6 - The Problem of Maize
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 May 2024
- Ancient South America
- Ancient South America
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 Still a New World
- Chapter 2 A Matter of Time
- Chapter 3 The Physical Setting
- Chapter 4 The First Inhabitants: 12000–6000 BC
- Chapter 5 Settling Down: 6000–3500 BC
- Chapter 6 The Problem of Maize
- Chapter 7 Cultural Intensification in the Andes: 3500–1500 BC
- Chapter 8 Ceramics: Their Origin and Technology
- Chapter 9 The First Civilizations: 2000–200 BC
- Chapter 10 Textiles: The High Art of South America
- Chapter 11 Metallurgy
- Chapter 12 Regional Diversification and Development: 200 BC–AD 600
- Chapter 13 Iconographic Studies and South American Prehistory
- Chapter 14 Militaristic and Religious Movements in the Andes: AD 500–1000
- Chapter 15 Transport and Trade
- Chapter 16 Kingdoms, Chiefdoms, and Empires: AD 900–1438
- Chapter 17 Eastern South America and the Amazon: A New Synthesis
- Chapter 18 The Sixteenth Century: The Last Indigenous Cultures
- Chapter 19 Intercontinental Movements before Columbus
- Chapter 20 The Future of a Continent
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Indian corn, Zea mays, was an important crop in Mesoamerica and popular theories of its appearance in South America all rest on its having been brought there (by means unknown) at an extremely early date. Recent analyses, however, show fundamental differences in the two groups of maize, suggesting that maize spread south well before it had become domesticated in Mesoamerica.
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- Ancient South America , pp. 92 - 100Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024