Morphological Observations on Recently Recovered Early Agricultural Period Maize Cob Fragments from Southern Arizona
Michael W. Diehl
Abstract
Metric analyses of recently excavated maize (Zea mays, L.) cupules and cob fragments from Early Agricultural period (2000 B.C.-A.D. 50) sites in southern Arizona indicate that early maize cultivars produced small cobs with small cupules. Although it is risky to generalize about the yield potential of a plant that may have no compelling modern analogues, this work provides further support for the claim that ancient Tucson Basin maize plants provided relatively low yields as compared with more recent varieties.
Resumen
Análisis morfométricos de olotes y fragmentos de carozos de maíz de localidades del período Agrícola Temprano (2000 A.C.-50 D.C.) del Sur de Arizona indican que las variedades de cultivo tempranas producían mazorcas pequeñas con granos de tamaño pequeño. Aunque es arriesgado generalizar sobre rendimientos de una variedad de planta para la que no existen análogos modernos, se sugiere que las antiguas plantas de maíz en la Cuenca de Tucson tenían rendimientos bajos comparadas con variedades más recientes.
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