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Squash was domesticated first, followed by maize and then beans, becoming part of the Three Sisters agricultural system of companion planting. [ 98 ] [ 99 ] The English word "squash" derives from askutasquash (a green thing eaten raw), a word from the Narragansett language , which was documented by Roger Williams , the founder of Rhode Island ...
Maize, beans, and squash, whether grown individually or together, have a very long history in the Americas. [5] The process to develop the agricultural knowledge for cultivation took place over a 5,000 to 6,500 year period. Squash was domesticated first, with maize second and beans third.
The earliest cultivated plant in North America is the bottle gourd, remains of which have been excavated at Little Salt Spring, Florida dating to 8000 BCE. [7] Squash (Cucurbita pepo var. ozarkana) is considered to be one of the first domesticated plants in the Eastern Woodlands, having been found in the region about 5000 BCE, though possibly not domesticated in the region until about 1000 BCE.
The process to develop the agricultural knowledge of crop domestication took place over 5,000–6,500 years in Mesoamerica. Squash was domesticated first, with maize second and then beans being domesticated, becoming part of the Three Sisters agricultural system of companion planting. [11] [12]
Corn, beans and squash were domesticated in Mesoamerica around 3500 BCE. Potatoes , quinoa and manioc were domesticated in South America. In what is now the eastern United States, Native Americans domesticated sunflower and sumpweed around 2500 BCE .
Food historian Lois Ellen Frank calls potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, chili, cacao, and vanilla the "magic eight" ingredients that were found and used only in the Americas before 1492 and were taken via the Columbian Exchange back to the Old World, dramatically transforming the cuisine there. [17] [18] [19] According to Frank, [20]
When the domestication of crops began, the majority of people were working at cultivating fields and crops like the chile. Chiles were a relied on source of food in Mesoamerican times. Chile crops were combined with maize, beans, and squash crops. Chiles were a part of trade and gift giving.
Cucurbita maxima, one of at least five species of cultivated squash, is one of the most diverse domesticated species. [2] This species originated in South America from the wild subspecies Cucurbita maxima subsp. andreana over 4,000 years ago. [3]