Taming Wild Plants: How Hard (or Easy) Can It Be?

Summary

Ancient diets in the Hohokam area of central and southern Arizona included indigenous domesticates. Evidence for domesticated Little Barley (Hordeum pusillum), Mexican crucillo (Condalia warnockii), and amaranth (Amaranthus) rests on morphological changes. Range extensions into higher/lower areas are cited for management of agaves (Agave) and cholla (Opuntia) plants. Here I consider the process of domestication, and suggest that one or more mutations in nature plus one observant human may be all that was needed to domesticate some plants. Recent recognition of domesticated Little Barley grains in a Basketmaker III (A.D. 750) site in southwestern Colorado raises the issue of independent domestication.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Regional to International Collaborations in American Archaeology: The Legacy of Suzanne Fish and Paul Fish

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14461