Tykot Robert H. - Histories of maize in Mesoamerica: multidisciplinary approaches

The Italian explorer Girolamo Benzoni (c. 154155) recorded the steps involved in processing husked corn to make fresh dough. First the kernels were ground with a mano and metate and then patted into small cakes and finally cooked on a comal or griddle (from Girolamo Benzoni, La historia del mondo nvovo di M. Girolamo Benzoni Milanese, Venetia, F. Rampazeto. 1565. p. 56, verso). Images such as this woodcut and accounts from various chroniclers who came to the New World emphasized the role of maize as a primary staple, the staff of life, essentially synonymous to Old World wheat and barley. These early descriptions and the later role of maize as one of the worlds primary economic staples predisposed many scholars to emphasize and, in some instances, assert that Zea mays L. was the catalyst to the development of civilization in this hemisphere. The contributions in this volume demonstrate that its role was more complex and varied than had been previously assumed. These histories of maize show that in some cases its symbolic role to ethnic identity, religion, and elite status may have been as important as its economic role to such developmental processes. (Courtesy of the Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations)

Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Linguistics, Biogeography, Domestication, and Evolution of Maize

Edited by

John E. Staller

Robert H. Tykot

Bruce F. Benz

First published 2009 by Left Coast Press, Inc.

Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 2009 Taylor & Francis

Originally published in 2006 by Academic Press, an imprint of Elsevier, under ISBN 0-12-369364-0

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-59874-462-0 hardcover

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Histories of maize: multidisciplinary approaches to the prehistory, linguistics,
biogeography, domestication, and evolution of maize / edited by John E. Staller,
Robert H. Tykot, Bruce F. Benz.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-12-369364-0 (alk.paper)
1. CornHistory. I. Staller, John E. II. Tykot, Robert H. III. Benz, Bruce F.

SB191.M2H64 2006
633.1509--dc22
2006040228

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

In memory of Richard S. MacNeish and Donald W. Lathrap for their inspiration, insights, and pioneering research on the origin and culture history of maize.

PART
I
HISTORIES OF MAIZE: GENETIC, MORPHOLOGICAL, AND MICROBOTANICAL EVIDENCE

TERENCE A. BROWN

BRUCE F. BENZ

HUGH H. ILTIS

MICHAEL BLAKE

BRUCE F. BENZ, LI CHENG, STEVEN W. LEAVITT, AND CHRIS EASTOE

VIVIANE R. JAENICKE-DESPRS AND BRUCE D. SMITH

LISA W. HUCKELL

WILLIAM E. DOOLITTLE AND JONATHAN B. MABRY

GREG LADEN

PART
II
STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS AND HUMAN DIET

ROBERT H. TYKOT

CHRISTINE D. WHITE, FRED J. LONGSTAFFE, AND HENRY P. SCHWARCZ

BRIAN CHISHOLM AND MICHAEL BLAKE

EUGENIA BROWN MANSELL, ROBERT H. TYKOT, DAVID A. FREIDEL, BRUCE H. DAHLIN, AND TRACI ARDREN

ROBERT H. TYKOT, RICHARD L. BURGER, AND NIKOLAAS J. VAN DER MERWE

ADOLFO F. GIL, ROBERT H. TYKOT, GUSTAVO NEME, AND NICOLE R. SHELNUT

DIANA M. GREENLEE

ELEANORA A. REBER

JENNIFER A. KELLY, ROBERT H. TYKOT, AND JERALD T. MILANICH

M. ANNE KATZENBERG

JOAN BRENNER COLTRAIN, JOEL C. JANETSKI, AND SHAWN W. CARLYLE

LARRY BENSON, JOHN STEIN, HOWARD TAYLOR, RICHARD FRIEDMAN, AND THOMAS C. WINDES

HENRY P. SCHWARCZ

PART
III
HISTORIES OF MAIZE: THE SPREAD OF MAIZE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA

LEE A. NEWSOM

J. SCOTT RAYMOND AND WARREN R. DEBOER

RENE M. BONZANI AND AUGUSTO OYUELA-CAYCEDO

ROBERT A. DULL

SALLY P. HORN

RUTH SHADY

MARIO A. RIVERA

SERGIO J. CHVEZ AND ROBERT G. THOMPSON

CHRISTINE A. HASTORF, WILLIAM T. WHITEHEAD, MARIA C. BRUNO, AND MELANIE WRIGHT

JOHN E. STALLER

PART
VI
HISTORIES OF MAIZE: NORTH AMERICA AND NORTHERN MEXICO

ROBERT J. HARD, A. C. MACWILLIAMS, JOHN R. RONEY, KAREN R. ADAMS, AND WILLIAM L. MERRILL

KATHARINE D. RAINEY AND KATHERINE A. SPIELMANN

BRADLEY J. VIERRA AND RICHARD I. FORD

THOMAS P. MYERS

ROBERT LUSTECK

JANE MT. PLEASANT

ELIZABETH S. CHILTON

GARY W. CRAWFORD, DELLA SAUNDERS, AND DAVID G. SMITH

PART
V
HISTORIES OF MAIZE: THE LANGUAGE OF MAIZE

ROBERT L. RANKIN

BRIAN STROSS

JANIS B. ALCORN, BARBARA EDMONSON, AND CNDIDO HERNNDEZ VIDALES

NICHOLAS A. HOPKINS

SERGIO J. CHVEZ

JANE H. HILL

CECIL H. BROWN

BRUCE F. BENZ AND JOHN E. STALLER

Karen R. Adams (33) Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado 81321

Janis B. Alcorn (43) The Garfield Foundation, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815

Traci Ardren (13) Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124

Larry Benson (21) U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado 80303

Bruce F. Benz (2, 5, 48) Biology Department, Texas Wesleyan University, Ft. Worth, Texas 76105

Michael Blake (4, 12) Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada

Rene M. Bonzani (25) Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506

Cecil H. Brown (47) Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115

Terence A. Brown (1) Faculty of Life Sciences, Jacksons Mill, University of Manchester, Manchester M60 1QD, United Kingdom

Maria C. Bruno (31) Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130

Richard L. Burger (14) Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520

Shawn W. Carlyle (20) Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

Sergio J. Chvez (30, 45) Department of Anthropology, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48859

Li Cheng (5) Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721

Elizabeth S. Chilton (39) Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003

Brian Chisholm (12) Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada

Joan Brenner Coltrain (20) Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

Gary W. Crawford (40) Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada