Maize Pollen but No Hippos: Alan Simmons' Contributions to our understanding of the Adoption of Agriculture in the U.S. Southwest

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Pushing the Envelope, Chasing Stone Age Sailors and Early Agriculture: Papers in Honor of the Career of Alan H. Simmons" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 1984 in a remote portion of northwest New Mexico, maize pollen was recovered from an Archaic-period hearth. Alan Simmons’ recovery of early maize pollen at a dune site in the Chaco region precipitated a controversy that lasted for over a decade. In the end these pollen grains marked a pattern of early maize adoption that has become increasingly clear as more work has been done. In this paper I discuss Alan’s early interpretations of the adoption of agriculture in the Southwest and how they have been supported and enhanced by recent research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Pushing the Envelope, Chasing Stone Age Sailors and Early Agriculture: Papers in Honor of the Career of Alan H. Simmons

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22869