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Maize / m eɪ z / (Zea mays), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native Americans planted it alongside beans and squashes in the Three Sisters polyculture.
Maize (Zea mays) is further divided into four subspecies: Z. m. huehuetenangensis, Z. m. mexicana, Z. m. parviglumis (Balsas teosinte, the ancestor of maize), and Z. m. mays. [4] The first three subspecies are teosintes; the last is maize, or corn, [4] the only domesticated taxon in the genus Zea. [citation needed]
Guilá Naquitz Cave in Oaxaca, Mexico, is the site of early domestication of several food crops, including teosinte (an ancestor of maize), [1] squash from the genus Cucurbita, bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria), and beans.
These two plants provide complementary dietary amino acids. Improved bioavailability of maize was discovered using a special process involving limewater, which also added calcium. Maize is also associated with festival and feast foods. Before it was domesticated and became a main crop, maize was used as a basis for beer.
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 dated maize cobs was discovered in Guilá Naquitz cave in Oaxaca and dates back to 4300 BC. Maize arose through domestication of teosinte, which is considered to be the ancestor of maize. Maize can be stored for lengthy periods of time, it can be ground into flour, and it easily provides surplus for future use.
Coxcatlan Cave also produced domesticated plants in components dated between 5,000 and 3,400 BC, or better known as the Coxcatlan Phase. [8] The Coxcatlan Phase was a phase where the people and animals living in Tehuacan Valley divided their time between small hunting encampments and large temporary villages.
Cereals that became modern barley and wheat were domesticated some 8,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. [5] Millets and rice were domesticated in East Asia, while sorghum and other millets were domesticated in sub-Saharan West Africa, primarily as feed for livestock. [6] Maize arose from a single domestication in Mesoamerica about 9,000 ...