Guilá Naquitz Cave
Location | Near Yagul Archaeological Ruins, Oaxaca |
---|---|
Region | Mexico |
Coordinates | 16°58′31″N 96°18′32″W / 16.97528°N 96.30889°W |
Guilá Naquitz Cave in
Macrofossil evidence for both crops is present in the cave. However, in the case of maize, pollen studies and geographical distribution of modern maize suggests that maize was domesticated in another region of Mexico.[7]
Location
The cave is 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of
Occupation
While the earliest human evidence in Guilá Naquitz Cave dates to about 10,750 years BP, inhabitation was not continual and was not year-long. Humans ceased living in the cave about 500 BP. Humans lived in the cave six separate timeframes from about 10,750 to 8,900 years BP and again from about 1,300 to 500 years BP. The earlier inhabitants were pre-ceramic hunter-gatherers who lived in the cave only from August to October–December.[10]
Crop domestication
The earliest known evidence of the domestication of Cucurbita, which is native to the Americas, dates back 8,000–10,750 years BP, predating the domestication of other crops such as maize and beans in the region by about 4,000 years.[2][7] This evidence was found in the Guilá Naquitz Cave and four other Mexican caves during a series of excavations in the 1960s, possibly beginning in 1959.[8]
Further excavations at the Guilá Naquitz site were carried out in the 1970s by a team led by
The process to develop the agricultural knowledge of crop domestication took place over 5,000–6,500 years in Mesoamerica. Squash was domesticated first, with maize second and then beans being domesticated, becoming part of the Three Sisters agricultural system of companion planting.[11][12]
References
- ^ PMID 11172083.
- ^ .
- ^ a b "Cucurbitaceae--Fruits for Peons, Pilgrims, and Pharaohs". University of California at Los Angeles. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 0-306-46240-0.
- ^ Harrington, Spencer P. M. (1997). "Earliest Agriculture in the New World". Archaeology. 50 (4). Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
- ^ "Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca". UNESCO. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
- ^ PMID 11172082.
- ^ JSTOR 279589.
- ISBN 978-1-4613-6871-7.
- ^ S2CID 24808649.
- ^ Landon, Amanda J. (2008). "The "How" of the Three Sisters: The Origins of Agriculture in Mesoamerica and the Human Niche". Nebraska Anthropologist. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska-Lincoln: 110–124.
- .