Linda Cordell
University of Colorado Museum
An Overview of Pre-Columbian Maize Agriculture in La Gran Chichimeca: Questions and Avenues of Research
Maize, the most important domesticate for all indigenous peoples of La Gran Chichimeca, originated as a tropical grass. At various times scholars have thought the plant came from the U. S. SW, from Northern Mexico and from Mesoamerica. Archaeological information provides the data for understanding how the crop was developed and some ideas about how it diversified and spread out of its original humid, tropical habitat. Archaeological and botanical information encourage us to think about the contexts within which this transmission and diversification occurred. New data from archaeology, indigenous knowledge and practice, botany, experimental farming, and cultural anthropology provide exciting new directions for research.
