Reassessment of the antiquity of maizein the American Southwest (Ford 1981;Berry 1982; Simmons 1986) has resultedin a general rethinking of the role maizeplayed in prehistoric cultural develop-ments, especially among those groups forwhom agriculture has traditionally beenviewed as causally linked to increasing so-cial, economic, and political complexity(Cordell 1984).
Evidence concerning the Origin of Maiz de Ocho Author(s): Steadman Upham, Richard S. MacNeish, Walton C. Galinat, Christopher M. Stevenson Source: American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 89, No. 2 (Jun., 1987), pp. 410-419 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/677764 Accessed: 30/09/2009 09:02 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=black. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Blackwell Publishing and American Anthropological Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Anthropologist. http://www.jstor.org
Transcript
Evidence concerning the Origin of Maiz de OchoAuthor(s): Steadman Upham, Richard S. MacNeish, Walton C. Galinat, Christopher M.StevensonSource: American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 89, No. 2 (Jun., 1987), pp. 410-419Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/677764Accessed: 30/09/2009 09:02
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=black.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with thescholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform thatpromotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Blackwell Publishing and American Anthropological Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,preserve and extend access to American Anthropologist.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology New Mexico State University RICHARD S. MACNEISH Andover Foundation for Archaeological Research WALTON C. GALINAT Suburban Experiment Station University of Massachusetts, Amherst CHRISTOPHER M. STEVENSON Obsidian Hydration Dating Laboratory New Mexico State University
Reassessment of the antiquity of maize in the American Southwest (Ford 1981; Berry 1982; Simmons 1986) has resulted in a general rethinking of the role maize played in prehistoric cultural develop- ments, especially among those groups for whom agriculture has traditionally been viewed as causally linked to increasing so- cial, economic, and political complexity (Cordell 1984). Revisions to the maize chronology indicate that the initial intro- duction of this cultigen, a member of the Chapalote series, to the Southwest prob- ably occurred early in the second millen- nium B.C.1 Subsequent introgression of these Chapalote types with teosinte ap- pears to have occurred shortly thereafter. The resulting varieties of maize exhibited increased kernel row number and cob size and spread rapidly throughout the South- west.
A third development related to early Southwestern maize is more controversial and involves the evolution of a radically different type, Maiz de Ocho, in which the primitive kernel row number was re- tained.2 Several hypotheses regarding the origin and evolution of Maiz de Ocho have been presented by Galinat during the last 20 years (see Galinat 1967, 1985; Galinat and Campbell 1967; Galinat and
Gunnerson 1963; Galinat, Reinhart, and Frisbie 1970), and the results presented here derive directly from his continued work on problems related to this maize type. Maiz de Ocho became adapted to arid conditions, had large floury kernels that provided more productive yields, and was more easily milled. Because of these characteristics, the acquisition of Maiz de Ocho by prehistoric Southwest- ern groups is often viewed as a key ele- ment in subsequent cultural develop- ments (Martin and Plog 1973). Until re- cently, Maiz de Ocho was believed to have arrived in the Southwest from north- ern Mexico about A.D. 700, and spread from there to the Midwest and Northeast North America by A.D. 1100 (Mangels- dorf and Lister 1956; Galinat and Gun- nerson 1963; Galinat 1967; Mangelsdorf 1974; Galinat 1985).
The most controversial hypotheses about Maiz de Ocho, however, are re- lated to its origin. Based on similarities with the Cabuya maize of Colombia, a derivative of Confite Morocho of Peru, Grobman et al. (1961) have argued that Maiz de Ocho evolved in South America. Brown (1974), however, rejects South American ancestry for Maiz de Ocho on morphological grounds. Brown and An- derson (1947), on the other hand, have suggested a Guatemalan origin for Maiz de Ocho and have argued for a strange route of diffusion from there to the Amer- ican Southwest via upper New York State. New chronometric data on the age of Maiz de Ocho in the American South- west and northern Mexico now render Brown and Anderson's late arrival date to the Southwest of A.D. 1200 incorrect. Consequently, the evolutionary history of Maiz de Ocho remains uncertain.
Details of that evolutionary history seem to have been confused by the pres- ence of an early form of Maiz de Ocho that was not previously recognized be- cause of its slender rachis. The earliest
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Maiz de Ocho, what Galinat has termed "Proto-Maiz de Ocho," has rachis di- ameters that vary between 3 and 8 mm. These figures are well below the measures of rachis diameter for the classical type of Maiz de Ocho that vary from 10 to 20 mm. Because of this variation in rachis diameter, some early slender-rachis, eight-rowed cobs probably have been confused with the Chapalote types intro- gressed with teosinte.
The earliest occurrence of Maiz de Ocho outside the continental United States is recorded during the Palmillas Phase (A.D. 200 to 800) from cave sites in Tamaulipas, Mexico (Mangelsdorf, MacNeish, and Galinat 1967). Based on the stratigraphic distribution of maize cobs, however, the Tamaulipas Maiz de Ocho would appear to be correlated with the more recent end of this temporal range. Maiz de Ocho also occurs in pre- ceramic levels of caves in northern Chi- huahua, Mexico (Mangelsdorf and Lister 1956), but no chronometric dates have been obtained to calibrate the age of these archeological deposits. A few researchers have sought to establish an earlier arrival date for Maiz de Ocho in the American Southwest, and have dated wood char- coal from archeological deposits contain- ing this cultigen. Galinat, Reinhart, and Frisbie (1970) report a date of 18 B.C. ? 138 from BR-45, an archeological site near Albuquerque, New Mexico, based on radiocarbon-dated wood indirectly as- sociated with Maiz de Ocho. This date, however, is problematic because of the in- direct nature of the association and be- cause of the high probability that the "old wood effect" (Schiffer 1982) has biased the age of the sample.3
Two other radiocarbon dates impor- tant for the dating of Maiz de Ocho have been obtained on maize cobs from Bat Cave, New Mexico (Arnold and Libby 1950). These dates, A.D. 198 ? 250 and 299 B.C. ? 250, were among several ob- tained by dating five separate lots of wood, maize, and other perishable mate- rial that had been grouped from separate excavation levels (Dick 1965:17). These two dates are of interest since they were obtained only on maize remains that in-
cluded specimens of Maiz de Ocho as well as other maize types. Because of the "old wood effect," dates on annuals like maize are always preferable to dates from wood or wood charcoal, and because these samples included specimens of Maiz de Ocho, they would appear to es- tablish an early date for the presence of Maiz de Ocho in the Southwest. A sub- stantial controversy, however, surrounds the original excavation of Bat Cave, par- ticularly with respect to the excavation strategy and the definition and interpre- tation of arbitrary 12-inch stratigraphic levels (see Berry 1982; Cordell 1984). Moreover, conflicting dates for these specimens have been provided by ce- ramic cross-dating (Mangelsdorf and Lister 1956), probably a result of combin- ing maize remains from more than one natural stratigraphic unit. Consequently, the Bat Cave dates for Maiz de Ocho must be viewed with caution, although they clearly suggest great antiquity for Maiz de Ocho in the Southwest.
The earliest Maiz de Ocho from a con- text of direct association comes from Boca Negra Cave, another archeological site near Albuquerque, New Mexico (Gali- nat, Reinhart, and Frisbie 1970). Al- though from a context of direct associa- tion, this date of A.D. 370 + 168 was also obtained from wood charcoal and may not actually reflect the age of the maize remains. Rachis diameter was not mea- sured on cobs from Boca Negra Cave, but data on cupule width for the eight-rowed cobs indicate that their rachis diameters varied from 3 to 6 mm and would thus conform to our definition of Proto-Maiz de Ocho. Based on the Bat Cave radio- carbon dates noted above, and on work recently completed in southern New Mexico (discussed below), this date now appears to be far too late to date the ap- pearance of ancestral forms of Maiz de Ocho in the Southwest.
Proto-Maiz de Ocho from Southern New Mexico
Recent radiocarbon and obsidian hy- dration dates obtained on artifacts from two rockshelters in Dona Ana County,
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AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST
New Mexico, Roller Skate Shelter (NMSU 1519) and Tornillo Shelter (NMSU 4541), now provide the clearest evidence yet for the antiquity of ancestral forms of Maiz de Ocho in the American Southwest. A single radiocarbon date of 3175 ? 240 C-14 years B.P. (1225 B.C. + 240, C-13 corrected)4 was obtained on eight separate specimens of maize, in- cluding two complete cobs of Proto-Maiz de Ocho and two other fragments of this maize type. These cobs are from a single natural stratigraphic unit, Zone D, at Tor- nillo Shelter. Excavation of Roller Skate Shelter and recovery of the large assem- blage of maize began in 1983 under the direction of Upham (see Upham et al. 1986; Johnson and Upham 1987). MacNeish joined the project in 1985 and undertook excavation of Tornillo Shelter (MacNeish 1986). Nine other rockshel- ters have been test excavated during this project, and to date more than 350 indi- vidual maize specimens have been re- covered. Analysis of the materials from Roller Skate and Tornillo Shelters was undertaken by Galinat during 1985.
Although the radiocarbon date was ob- tained on a pooled sample of maize, a number of factors suggest that it provides an accurate reflection of the antiquity of Proto-Maiz de Ocho. First, the C-13 count on the dated cobs is low (C-13 = -8.3), indicating minimal fractionation and sample homogeneity. Second, all of the cobs were recovered from a single provenience unit within a natural strati- graphic zone, a context that suggests one or a series of closely contemporaneous depositional episodes. Third, the cobs were recovered from the basal levels of the site; two obsidian dates from Tornillo Shelter date different natural levels con- taining Proto-Maiz de Ocho that are stra- tigraphically above those containing the radiocarbon dated cobs to 1029 B.C. ? 130 from Zone C and 652 B.C. ? 60 from Zone A. Finally, another obsidian artifact dated to 225 B.C. ? 56 was recovered in direct association with uncharred cobs of Proto-Maiz de Ocho at Roller Skate Shel- ter, a rockshelter located a few hundred meters from Tornillo. Additional Proto- Maiz de Ocho remains are found in three
successive levels that are stratigraphi- cally beneath this dated level at Roller Skate, suggesting an antiquity that is con- gruent with the dated maize remains from basal levels of Tornillo Shelter.
Because we have relied extensively on obsidian hydration dating to determine the antiquity of the maize remains, we provide a brief discussion of the methods we used. The obsidian hydration dates presented here were obtained by Steven- son and are based on the induced hydra- tion technique. Obsidian is relatively abundant in portions of southern New Mexico, and was used prehistorically as a preferred raw material for chipped stone tool manufacture. Within the lower Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico, obsidian raw material occurs in the form of small secondarily deposited pebbles in Pleisto- cene gravels. Trace element and bulk compositional analyses indicate that at least three distinct New Mexico obsidian sources are represented: Obsidian Ridge, East Grants Ridge, and Polvadera Peak. Nine archeological obsidian fragments identified as originating from the Obsi- dian Ridge and East Grants Ridge sources were selected for obsidian hydra- tion dating.
Hydration rim measurements were made at New Mexico State University and MOHLAB.5 The hydration rates for two sources, Obsidian Ridge and East Grants Ridge, were determined in the laboratory under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure (Michels, Tsong, and Smith 1983). Fragments were placed in a pressure reactor and hydrated at temperatures ranging from 150?C to 250?C for durations of between one and eight days. Optical measurements of the induced rims were used to calculate the hydration rate constants.
Application of the rate required that the effective hydration temperature be determined for the local area of Tornillo and Roller Skate Shelters. Thirty-year mean monthly air temperature averages were used to calculate a mean exponen- tial temperature using an algorithm that compensates for differences in tempera- ture due to elevation (Batcho 1984). This method produced an effective hydration
[89, 1987] 412
RESEARCH REPORT
temperature of 17.05?C for the sites. The hydration rates were determined by ex- trapolating to the effective hydration tem- perature from the experimental data us- ing the Arrhenius equation.6
Application of these rates to archeolog- ical obsidian samples recovered during stratigraphic excavation of Roller Skate and Tornillo Shelters resulted in the age estimates shown in Table 1. In Table 2 other early dates for Maiz de Ocho from Southwestern archeological sites are pre- sented. Table 3 provides information on the morphology of maize remains from the deposits at Roller Skate Shelter and Tornillo Shelter, and their stratigraphic and chronological positions. Undated Proto-Maiz de Ocho from level 9 at Roller Skate Shelter has an estimated age of at least 500 B.C.
We are aware that obsidian hydration dating is still considered to be an experi- mental dating technique and additional analytical work on hydration rate devel- opment may result in slight adjustments to the dates we present. In support of the
obsidian dates, however, we note that the age of the radiocarbon dated maize is consistent with the obsidian age esti- mates. Moreover, the obsidian dates are internally consistent and generally sup- port the stratigraphic divisions identified at each rockshelter.
The Galinat Hypothesis
The dating of Proto-Maiz de Ocho to 1200 B.C. in the Southwest, the earliest date yet recorded for this type of maize, raises the possibility that Maiz de Ocho evolved in or near the American South- west. Maiz de Ocho is not an ancient race of maize; its traits derive from relatively recent genetic recombination and corre- lated response. The apparent ancestry of Maiz de Ocho includes a slender rachis type that we call Proto-Maiz de Ocho and a thick rachis type of Chapalote. People who grind corn prefer large kernel types, especially if they have not developed the lime-water technique of removing the pericarp. Experimental data indicate that
Table 1 Obsidian hydration dates from Roller Skate Shelter and Tornillo Shelter, Dona Ana County, New Mexico.
Horizontal Rim provenience Level Sample no. measurement (u) Years A.D. Roller Skate Shelter 4N-10E Level 1 ML-161 1.86?0.06 A.D. 705 84 4N-4E Level 2 ML-197-2 1.85?0.04 A.D. 718?55 3N-4E Level 2 ML-471 1.92 +0.02 A.D. 621 +29 4N-4E Level 2 ML-197-1 3.02+0.04a A.D. 604?36
Weighted average date for Level 2 = A.D. 630 ? 21 3N-4E Level 3 ML-597 2.99?0.04a A.D. 632 37 4N-10E Level4 ML-591 1.85?0.03 A.D. 718?41
Tornillo Shelter 5N-6E Zone A NM-86-212 5.21 ? 0.03 652 B.C. + 30 5N-6E Zone C NM-86-213 5.57 + 0.06 1029 B.C. + 65
Note: Lab number prefix ML designates measurements done by MOHLAB; lab number prefix NM identifies measurements done by the Obsidian Hydration Laboratory, New Mexico State Uni- versity.
aEast Grants Ridge obsidian source. All other samples are from the Obsidian Ridge source.
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Table 2 Antiquity of eight-rowed mai7e in the Southwest including Proto-Maiz de Ocho, Maiz de Ocho, and Harinoso de Ocho.
Location
Tornillo Shelter, Dona Ana County, New Mexico
Bat Cave, Catron County, New Mexico
Roller Skate Shelter, Dona Ana County, New Mexico
Site BR-45, Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Boca Negra Cave, Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Davis Site, Cherokee County, Texas
Artificial Leg Site, Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Gechron-GX- 12720 Stevenson 1986 Stevenson 1986 Dick 1965; Arnold and
Libby 1950 Dick 1965; Arnold and
Libby 1950 Stevenson 1986 Upham et al. 1985
Galinat, Reinhart, and Frisbie 1970
Galinat, Reinhart, and Frisbie 1970
Johnson 1951 Griffen and Yarnell
1963 Galinat, Reinhart, and
Frisbie 1970
Cutler 1952
Mangelsdorf and Lister 1956
aEstimates of age based on ceramic cross-dating place the age of these specimens between A.D. 500 and 1000 (Mangelsdorf and Lister 1956:173).
bDate obtained on wood indirectly associated with maize remains. cRadiocarbon determination by the "carbon black" method. This date is now believed to be
unreliable (cf. Griffen and Yarnell 1963).
selection for large kernel types of maize has a correlated response in selection for three other seemingly independent traits: (a) increased rachis diameter, (b) re- duced kernel row number, and (c) earlier flowering (Galinat 1987).7 Of these three, earlier flowering is most important for ex- plaining the origin and subsequent north- ward spread of Maiz de Ocho.
The early flowering of maize in areas with restricted growing seasons is neces- sary because of the increased time neces- sary to fill its larger kernels. Early flow- ering is the chief attribute of Maiz de Ocho that allowed it to spread into north-
ern latitudes where growing seasons are shorter due to temperature limitations. Temperature limitations, however, may not have been initially related to the evo- lution of Maiz de Ocho. Shortened grow- ing seasons can be produced by a number of conditions, low temperatures being only one. Spatial and temporal limita- tions in the distribution of precipitation can also select for the early maturation of maize. We suggest that, initially, early flowering in Proto-Maiz de Ocho was an adaptation to the hot, arid Southwestern deserts. Such selective pressures would stem not from temperature limitations on
414 [89, 1987]
RESEARCH REPORT
Table 3 Provenience, description, and age of key specimens of maize from Roller Skate and Tor- nillo Shelters.
Vertical Av. kernels Av. rachis Av. internodal Index of provenience per row diameter (mm) length condensationa Description Roller Skate Shelter Level 1
Level 2
Level 2
Level 2
Level 3
Level 3
Level 3
Level 3
Level 3
Level 3
Level 3
Level 4
Level 4
Level 5
Level 5
Level 5
Level 5
Level 6
Level 6
Level 6
Level 7
14
8
14
8
14
8
8
8
8
10
14
14
14
14
8
8
8
8
8
14
8
12
8
8
8
12.0
8.0
8.7
6.6
13.0
4.8
8.5
6.0
7.0
9.0
12.2
11.8
7.5
11.0
10.0
5.6
7.3
9.5
10.2
12.7
8.8
12.1
8.4
4.0
4.0
3.0
3.5
2.5
3.8
3.8
3.2
4.4
4.3
3.7
3.6
3.6
7.0
4.5
4.8
3.1
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.0
5.3
4.5
3.2
4.4
3.5
3.6 3.2
4.7 Specimen 181 a Chapalote
2.3 Specimen 131a Proto-Maiz de Ocho
5.6 Specimen 131 c Chapalote
2.1 Specimen 459 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
3.7 Specimen 1094 Chapalote
2.5 Specimen 699 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
1.8 Specimen 1040 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
1.9 Specimen 1398 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
2.2 Specimen 1415 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
3.9 Specimen 1393 Chapalote
3.9 Specimen 1088 Chapalote
2.0 Specimen 1427a Chapalote
3.1 Specimen 462 Chapalote
2.9 Specimen 615 Chapalote
1.7 Specimen 1093 Maiz de Ocho
2.3 Specimen 808 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
2.0 Specimen 1424 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
1.8 Specimen 1489-3 Maiz de Ocho
1.6 Specimen 1489-7 Maiz de Ocho
2.8 Specimen 1489-8 Pima-Papago
1.5 Specimen 1047 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
2.7 Specimen 796 Pima-Papago
2.5 Specimen 1472a Proto-Maiz de Ocho
1.8 Specimen 1047 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
1.8 Specimen 1035a Proto-Maiz de Ocho
2.5 Specimen 1035b Proto-Maiz de Ocho
415
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Table 3 (continued)
Vertical Ave. kernels Av. rachis Av. internodal Index of provenience per row diameter (mm) length condensationa Description
14 11.5 3.5
Tomillo Shelter Zone D
7.6
9.2
7.3
13.2
10.1
6.8
6.8
7.1
4.8
4.6
3.8
5.5
4.5
3.7
N/A
N/A
fragmentary specimen
fragmentary specimen
single kernel fragmentary specimen
fragmentary specimen
11.2 N/A
13.6 N/A
4.0 Specimen 1115 Chapalote
1.6 Specimen 1471b Proto-Maiz de Ocho
3.0 Specimen 1471a Chapalote
2.1 Specimen 1476a Proto-Maiz de Ocho
2.6 Specimen 1476c Chapalote
3.2 Specimen 1476d-1 Chapalote
2.2 Specimen 1402a Proto-Maiz de Ocho
N/A Specimen 7063 Proto-Maiz de Ocho
N/A Specimen 7097 Proto-Maiz de Ocho Specimen 70595 Proto-Maiz de Ocho Specimen 70633 Proto-Maiz de Ocho Specimen 70593 Specimen 70901 Chapalote? Specimen 70718 Chapalote?
N/A Specimen 7067 Chapalote
N/A Specimen 7089 Chapalote
aThe index of condensation is derived by dividing the average kernels per row by the average internodal length.
bThe maize specimens listed above for Tornillo Shelter were used for radiocarbon dating. Additional maize remains, including Proto-Maiz de Ocho and Maiz de Ocho, have been recovered from Levels 1 through 3 at this site but are not reported here.
the length of the growing season, but from spatial and temporal variability in the distribution of rainfall.
The deserts of northern Mexico and the American Southwest are on the northern- most edge of the distribution of the origi- nal eight-rowed maize. Eight-rowed maize was present in Peru and Colombia, the southern edge of the original distri- bution, earlier than in the desert South- west. In these peripheral areas, the prim- itive eight-rowed condition was retained
because the primary evolutionary thrust was on traits other than row number. At the northern edge of the distribution in Maiz de Ocho, and especially in the Northern Flints, adaption to local envi- ronmental conditions selected for earlier flowering and shorter growing seasons. At the southern extreme of the distribu- tion, evolutionary change resulted in in- creased kernel size.
It is clear that the direction of spread of the advanced type of Maiz de Ocho in
Level 7 8
14
Level 9 8
14
14
8
8
8
8
8
10
10
12
14
416 [89, 1987]
RESEARCH REPORT
North America was from southwest to northeast. The type has been recovered at the Medina Site and Pyeatt Site in south- eastern Colorado near the Great Plains and has been dated to A.D. 1140 ? 125 and A.D. 1135 ? 85 (Galinat and Camp- bell 1967). The northeastern extension of advanced Maiz de Ocho is represented by Rhode Island Flint. Specimens of this lat- ter type were collected from members of the Johnny Cake Society whose ancestors in turn received this maize from the Nar- aganset (Galinat 1987). The purity of this form of Maiz de Ocho has been protected in Rhode Island since pre-Columbian times. The data presented here also indi- cate that the thick rachis or advanced type of Maiz de Ocho evolved in the Southwest and that arguments suggest- ing a Guatemalan, Mexican, or South American origin for Maiz de Ocho are in- correct.
As significant as the northward spread of Maiz de Ocho is, the early date for an- cestral forms of this type of maize also suggests that it probably diffused south back into central Mexico and Mesoam- erica. We note this point since the chron- ometric data presented here not only re- quire a rethinking of the maize chronol- ogy in the Southwest, but also necessitate a reevaluation of that chronology in Me- soamerica.
An additional point of interest is that in the 1800s, the early flowering Northeast- ern Flints were repeatedly hybridized with the late white Dent varieties of the southeastern United States. From this blending there eventually emerged the Corn Belt Dents which now dominate temperate zone maize around the world (Wallace and Brown 1956). Introgression from Maiz de Ocho continues to allow Dent corn from southern latitudes to move northward into North America. This adaptation of tropical maize to tem- perate regions greatly increases the germ- plasm base available to hybrid maize breeders.
Conclusion
Because of the archeologically docu- mented spread of Maiz de Ocho to the
northern United States, and ultimately its role as progenitor of the modern Corn Belt Dents of the United States, the origin and evolution of Maiz de Ocho is of great interest. The late second and early first millennia dates for Proto-Maiz de Ocho in southern New Mexico, the earliest chronometric date for this maize type, as well as its hybrids with Chapalote and re- combinations leading to modern Maiz de Ocho in successive strata, indicate that Maiz de Ocho evolved in the arid deserts of the Southwest. The development of this early flowering type along with Chapal- ote and Chapalote introgressed with teo- sinte provided the genetic raw material for subsequent varieties of Southwestern maize and for the northern spread of maize in the United States. Moreover, the maize remains from Tornillo and Roller Skate Shelters, that include Chapalote, Proto-Maiz de Ocho, Maiz de Ocho, and Pima-Papago types, reflect the pheno- typic diversity and genetic variability of early maize in the Southwest.
Notes
'A. H. Simmons (1986) has argued for the presence of maize as early as 2000 B.C. at sites in the San Juan Basin, northern New Mexico, based on radiocarbon dates associated with maize pollen. The indirect nature of this as- sociation as well as the capricious character of maize pollen dispersal render the date prob- lematic. Nevertheless, the data presented in the present paper support Simmons's three re- ported dates of 1730 B.C. + 85, 1725 B.C. + 90, and 1610 B.C. + 95. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine what type of maize (Chapalote, Chapalote introgressed with teo- sinte, or Proto-Maiz de Ocho) produced the pollen.
2W. C. Galinat andJ. H. Gunnerson (1963) have proposed the term Maiz de Ocho as a general name to include the Southwestern type discussed in this paper, Mexican Hari- noso de Ocho, and the Northern Flints.
3The "old wood effect" is particularly pro- nounced in arid environments where the de- cay of wood on the surface is a slow process. Because the radiocarbon method actually dates the death of protoplasm, the potential for error when dating wood or wood charcoal is great. Schiffer has shown how the scaveng- ing of surface snags for use as firewood can re- sult in age estimates as much as 1,500 years in
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AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST
error. When dating maize, however, the real bias of the old wood effect cannot be assessed since the nature of the association is always in- direct and the maize can be either younger or older than the dated wood sample.
4Krueger Enterprises, Inc., Geochron Lab- oratories Division, 24 Blackstone Street, Cam- bridge, MA 02139. Laboratory sample num- ber is GX-12720. The specimens were cleaned of dirt and other foreign material. They were then treated with dilute NaOH to remove car- bonates and organic contaminants. After washing and drying, the specimens were com- busted to carbon dioxide for analysis. The sample was counted for 3,800 minutes.
5Obsidian Hydration Dating Laboratory, Box 5700, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 and MOHLAB, 1188 Smithfield Street, State College, PA 16801.
6The hydration constants and rim measure- ments determined by the Obsidian Hydration Dating Laboratory, New Mexico State Uni- versity, and by MOHLAB are substantially different for the same obsidian sources, yet produce hydration dates that are statistically indistinguishable at the 95% confidence inter- val. Disparities result solely from the different optical methods used by each laboratory to identify the hydration band on archeological and induced specimens. The Obsidian Hydra- tion Dating Laboratory follows the procedure of focusing the microscope on the surface of the thin section prior to measurement. MOH- LAB focuses into the specimen prior to mea- surement in order to enhance the birefring- ence of the hydration rim. The Obsidian Hy- dration Dating Laboratory's rate at 17.05?C for the Obsidian Ridge source is 10.29 um2/ 1,000 years while MOHLAB's rate for the same source is 2.70 um2/1,000 years. The rate for the East Grants Ridge source is 6.61 um2/ 1,000 years and was determined by MOH- LAB.
7The largest kerneled eight-rowed flour maize in North America comes from New York and Ontario. This maize also has the big butt and shank traits that occur in the large- eared Pueblo maize of the Southwest.
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Battling Urban Poverty from Below: A Profile of the Poor in Two Mexican Cities
HENRY A. SELBY Department of Anthropology University of Texas, Austin ARTHUR D. MURPHY Department of Sociology and Anthropology Baylor University IGNACIO CABRERA FERNANDEZ SEDUE Hermossillo, Mexico AIDA CASTANEDA R. C. Centro Nacional de Calculo Instituto Politecnico Nacional Mexico, D.F., Mexico
The struggles and strategies of the poor in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, are discussed in this re- port. It differs from many studies in that we view the urban poor as active partici-
Schiffer, M. B. 1982 Hohokam Chronology: An Essay on
History and Method. In Hohokam and Patayan. R. H. McGuire and M. B. Schiffer, eds. Pp. 299-344. New York: Academic Press.
Simmons, A. H. 1986 New Evidence for the Early Use of
Cultigens in the American Southwest. American Antiquity 51:73-88.
Stevenson, C. 1986 Status Report on the Hydration
Rate Development Study for the Rio Grande Group II Obsidian. Manuscript on file, Obsidian Hydration Dating Lab- oratory. Las Cruces: New Mexico State University.
Upham, S., C. M. Stevenson, R. E. Newton, and M. Johnson
1986 Chronometric Dating of San Pedro Style Projectile Points in Southern New Mexico. In Mogollon Variability. C. Ben- son and S. Upham, eds. Pp. 88-96. Oc- casional Papers of the University Mu- seum No. 15. Las Cruces: New Mexico State University.
Wallace, H. A., and W. L. Brown 1956 Corn and Its Early Fathers. Chi-
cago: Michigan State University Press and Lakeside Press.
Battling Urban Poverty from Below: A Profile of the Poor in Two Mexican Cities
HENRY A. SELBY Department of Anthropology University of Texas, Austin ARTHUR D. MURPHY Department of Sociology and Anthropology Baylor University IGNACIO CABRERA FERNANDEZ SEDUE Hermossillo, Mexico AIDA CASTANEDA R. C. Centro Nacional de Calculo Instituto Politecnico Nacional Mexico, D.F., Mexico
The struggles and strategies of the poor in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, are discussed in this re- port. It differs from many studies in that we view the urban poor as active partici-
