Re: SUNFLOWERS DOMESTICATED IN MEXICO 2000 YEARS AGO

On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:16:02 +0200, Peter Alaca
<p.alaca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

michaelruggeri@xxxxxxx wrote: on, 29/04/2008 06:25:
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.

I don't understand. Why is a north to south transfer unlikely
if cultivation in the north began 2-3000 years earlier?

I am not familiar with the details in the case here, but (I think I
read this in Diamond's Steel, Gunsn'Germs) it is fairly easy to spread
a plant parallel to a latitude because it remains more or less in its
own climate zone to which it is adapted, whereas nort-to-south
spreading crosses climate zones which takes much longer. Take wheat:
from northern Iraq to Greece wasn't much of a jump, but from Greece to
rainy Holland is.

A source on the first find of sunflower in the Ohio Valley is in
Nature 430, 201, 2004.

Hayabusa

.

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.mesoamerican)
  • 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)