Cultivated Plants as Evidence for Cultural Contacts

Abstract

Cultivated plants are sometimes considered good indicators of cultural contact because the same plant cannot be invented independently in distinct regions. Some crops no doubt did spread from a single center, but other, more complex, histories have also to be considered. In some groups different species were domesticated in different areas, so before the archaeological record can be interpreted, it is important that the specimens be securely identified to species. Other crops have differentiated further under cultivation so that distinct races are characteristic of different parts of the total area. Another possibility is independent domestication of the same crop in different areas. If this is demonstrated, then presence of this crop in sites in these areas does not constitute evidence of contact. Only after these possibilities have been eliminated may presence of the same crop in different cultures suggest contact between them.