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The Diffusion of Maize to the Southwestern United States and its Impact


      There have been discoveries of how maize was brought to southwestern United States. Farmers from the speech community of Proto-Uto-Aztecan (PUA) migrated from Mesoamerica to the southern region of the United States and brought maize integrating it into their agriculture. Uto-Aztecans (UA) language community is a subgroup of PUA and it is believed UA played an important role in the diffusion of maize. The earliest maize sites in the Southwest were discovered in New Mexico at Old Corn and Arizona at McEuen Cave, Clearwater, Las Capas, and Three Fir Shelter. “The presence of maize in about half of the features at the Old Corn site, including roasting and storage pits, and the existence of a few pre-2100 cal B.C. maize dates from Old Corn and McEuen Cave raises the possibility that the maize arrived in the southwestern United States before cal. B.C.”(p2). The arrival of the maize in the Southwestern United States also happened at the same time because of moisture in the land, which helped with cultivation and growth of the maize. Foragers who were food gatherers had a better chance of cultivating the maize because it was what they did versus animal hunting. Due to irrigation canals being built, Tucson Basin had the most success in growing maize. 

      This research speaks to the topic of my blog because it is the history of how maize was brought to the United States. The evidence of where maize originated is important because the Spaniards cannot claim it was their discovery or cultivation. It was interesting to learn how the looks, taste, and color of maize has evolved from region to region due to climate. This is the reason why we have yellow, white, and purple corn etc. Corn was brought from a very far distance and flourished in the United States. The maize was so important to the agriculture people because they would carry it with them while migrating to new land. This meant that this was a significant food item for their survival and a productive crop. To this day, the biggest impact of maize is it has become the foundation of many traditional Mexican dishes.



Sources: The diffusion of maize to the southwestern United States and its impact | PNAS

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