The Origins, Spread, and Significance of Maize Agriculture in the New World.
Convenor
Dr. Robert H. Tykot
Department of Anthropology,
University of South Florida
The history of maize (corn) agriculture is now being reconstructed through the isotopic analysis of the skeletal remains of its consumers, as well as through studies of pollen, phytolith, and preserved plant remains and other lines of archaeological evidence. This symposium addresses questions concerning the initial domestication of maize, its dietary importance in different times and places, and the interplay between culture and subsistence in various parts of the New World. In particular, the individual papers address scientific methodologies for reconstructing prehistoric diets, and interpretive models for changing subsistence strategies in Peru, Colombia, Mesoamerica, the Southwest US, New England, and Canada. The integration of analytical, archaeological, ecological, ethnohistoric, and nutritional data is emphasized, and applied to the reconstruction of diet, agricultural practices, settlement patterns, and ritual practices.
papers:
Author 1 Author 1 Title
Chilton Mobile Farmers of the New England interior: A summary of the Evidence s012chl1
Crawford The origins of Maize production among the Northern Iroquians
Ezzo The adoption of Maize horticulture in the desert Southwest
Tykot Origins, dispersal and quantification of Maize Agriculture in the New World: Problems and prospects for Stable Isotope Analysis
White et al Maize, myth and the Maya: Isotopes and Ideology