Maize Cobs and Cultures: History of Zea mays L.
Our perceptions and conceptions regarding the roles and importance of maize to ancient economies is largely a product of scientific research on the plant itself, developed for the most part out of botanical research, and its recent role as one of the most
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John E. Staller
Maize Cobs and Cultures: History of Zea mays L.
Professor John E. Staller Department of Anthropology The Field Museum Chicago IL, USA E-mail: [email protected]
ISBN: 978-3-642-04505-9 e-ISBN: 978-3-642-04506-6 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-04506-6 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009938015 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover illustration: Maize varieties around Pisac, Peru are still grown on terraces constructed by the Inca. Pisac is in the Urubamba Valley, renowned for its unusual maize landraces Cover design: WMXDesign GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Acknowledgments
This book is a product of long-term research interest in maize and domestication in general, and is in part a result of interactions and discussions on the origins of maize, plant domestication, and cultivation in general with numerous colleagues and collaborators. I am particularly indebted to Michael Blake (University of British Columbia) and John E. Terrell (The Field Museum). Over the years, these scholars and other colleagues have shared their valuable insights, thoughts and kindly passed along their research and other published data in the biological and social scientific literature on these topics. I also express my sincere gratitude to Bruce Smith (Smithsonian Institution) for providing me critical information on the maize cobs from Tularosa Cave at Field Museum, and for the inspiration his research on maize and domestication have provided. Many thanks to John Tuxill (Western Washington University) and Michael D. Carrasco (Florida State University) for extending the courtesy and use of some images. I also extend my thanks to Stephen E. Nash (Denver Museum of Nature and Science) and Scott Demel (The Field Museum) for granting access to the ceramic and botanical collections at Field Museum. Special thanks as well to Christine Giannoni (Field Museum Library) and her staff, for allowing me to photograph images from the pre-Linnaean and colonial herbals in the rare books collection. I want to express my sincere thanks to Tom Zuidema (Universi
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