Ceramic Evidence for the Prehistoric Distribution of Maize In Mexico
- 1 July 1975
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in American Antiquity
- Vol. 40 (3), 305-314
- https://doi.org/10.2307/279692
Abstract
This archaeological and botanical study of maize (Zea mays) represented on Zapotec funerary urns is relevant to studies of the development and spread of prehistoric cultures, and of the evolution of maize agriculture. In the Valley of Oaxaca, circa A.D. 600-1200, the Zapotecs attached models of actual ears of maize to their ceramic funerary urns. The high frequency of the depiction of Nal Tel on the urns suggests that Nal Tel had important symbolic associations for the Zapotecs. It was found that the races Chapalote, Harinoso de Ocho, and a type of dent com had a much wider geographical distribution in Precolumbian times than they do today.Keywords
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