Starch grain and phytolith evidence for early ninth millennium B.P. maize from the Central Balsas River Valley, Mexico

Questions that still surround the origin and early dispersals of maize (Zea mays L.) result in large part from the absence of information on its early history from the Balsas River Valley of tropical southwestern Mexico, where its wild ancestor is native. We report starch grain and phytolith data from the Xihuatoxtla shelter, located in the Central Balsas Valley, that indicate that maize was present by 8,700 calendrical years ago (cal. B.P.). Phytolith data also indicate an early preceramic presence of a domesticated species of squash, possibly Cucurbita argyrosperma. The starch and phytolith data also allow an evaluation of current hypotheses about how early maize was used, and provide evidence as to the…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 0514116
• SI
  Smithsonian Institution
• WF
  Wenner-Gren Foundation
• NG
  National Geographic Society
• TU
  Temple University
• NM
  National Museum of Natural History
• ST
  Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute