Abstract
Heavy deposits of charcoal and associated Zea pollen recovered from the Aguada Petapilla in the Copán Valley of western Honduras strongly support Hugh lltis’s hypothesis concerning the early domestication and use of maize. Evidence of burning and cultivation appear at approximately 2600–2700 b.c., predating the earliest direct archaeological evidence for human occupation of the region by more than 1,000 years. These Copán data are in close agreement with two other sediment cores from Honduras, and also with maize macrofossils recently recovered from dry deposits in El Gigante Cave.
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Webster, D., Rue, D. & Traverse, A. EarlyZea cultivation in Honduras: Implications for the iltis hypothesis. Econ Bot 59, 101–111 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2005)059[0101:EZCIHI]2.0.CO;2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2005)059[0101:EZCIHI]2.0.CO;2