Re: SUNFLOWERS DOMESTICATED IN MEXICO 2000 YEARS AGO


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Listeros,

A new study claims that sunflowers were grown as a domesticated crop
in Mexico more than 2000 years ago. This contradicts the idea that
sunflower farming began in the US East and moved south to Mexico.
Plant remains were found in a cave in Morelos with cultivated large
seeds from 300 BCE.
Sunflower cultivation did take place in the eastern US 4000-5000 years
ago. The new study proves sunflower domestication was also
domesticated in Mexico independently. There is a counter critique to
this claim by others who do not accept the new evidence but the large
size seeds in the Mexican plant make a north to south transfer
unlikely. Linguistic evidence of the word for sunflower among
different indigenous groups today shows that sunflowers have a long
history in Mexico.

The Spanish may have suppressed the further cultivation of the plant
due to its association with the sun god and war.

National Geographic has the story here;
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080428-sunflowers-mexico.html

Here is a tiny URL;
http://tinyurl.com/4hrcjy

Mike Ruggeri


Mike Ruggeri's The Ancient Americas Breaking News
http://web.mac.com/michaelruggeri



The thought that Sunflower might have origined in Mexico isn't new.
"Domesticated sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is one of the world's most
important oilseed crops and is also a major source of confectionery seeds
(Putt 1997). Derived from the common sunflower (also H. annuus),
domesticated sunflower was initially thought to have arisen just once in
what is now the east-central United States (Heiser 1954, 1978). In fact,
Heiser (1954) first hypothesized that the use of wild sunflowers by Native
Americans as a food source resulted in the production of a camp-following
weed that eventually spread eastward and that this weed ultimately served as
the progenitor of domesticated sunflower. However, Heiser (1985) later
discussed the possibility of an additional origin of domestication, perhaps
in Mexico. Until recently (see below), the available archaeological evidence
(Brewer 1973; Ford 1985; Crites 1993) was most consistent with the
single-origin hypothesis, with carbonized achenes (i.e., single-seeded
fruits) from the Hayes site in Middle Tennessee providing the earliest
record of domesticated sunflower (ca. 4300 years before present [YBP];
Crites 1993)."
Ref. http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/97/4/403
from David M. Wills and John M Burke's
Chloroplast DNA Variation Confirms a Single Origin of Domesticated Sunflower
(Helianthus annuus L.) ; Journal of Heredity 2006 97(4) 403-408;

Inger E


.

Relevant Pages

  • The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in Mexico: further evidence for a North American domestication
    ... plant originated in the Ohio Valley or in Central America. ... The seed was not a sunflower but a bottlegourd. ... as a food crop in Mexico prior to European contact. ... North America - Plant domestication ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: SUNFLOWERS DOMESTICATED IN MEXICO 2000 YEARS AGO
    ... A new study claims that sunflowers were grown as a domesticated crop ... sunflower farming began in the US East and moved south to Mexico. ... Sunflower cultivation did take place in the eastern US 4000-5000 years ... The new study proves sunflower domestication was also ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: SUNFLOWERS DOMESTICATED IN MEXICO 2000 YEARS AGO
    ... A new study claims that sunflowers were grown as a domesticated crop ... sunflower farming began in the US East and moved south to Mexico. ... Sunflower cultivation did take place in the eastern US 4000-5000 years ... The new study proves sunflower domestication was also ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • SUNFLOWERS DOMESTICATED IN MEXICO 2000 YEARS AGO
    ... A new study claims that sunflowers were grown as a domesticated crop ... sunflower farming began in the US East and moved south to Mexico. ... Sunflower cultivation did take place in the eastern US 4000-5000 years ... The new study proves sunflower domestication was also ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • SUNFLOWERS DOMESTICATED IN MEXICO 2000 YEARS AGO
    ... A new study claims that sunflowers were grown as a domesticated crop ... sunflower farming began in the US East and moved south to Mexico. ... Sunflower cultivation did take place in the eastern US 4000-5000 years ... The new study proves sunflower domestication was also ...
    (sci.archaeology.mesoamerican)