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Earlier this year Douglas J. Kennett, a UC Santa Barbara professor of anthropology, demonstrated that maize, or corn, became a staple crop in the Americas 4,700 years ago. It turns out he was just beginning to tell the story of the world s biggest grain crop.
In a new paper in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Kennett and his co-authors report that by analyzing the genomes of ancient maize they are able to fill in some of the gaps in the 9,000-year-old history of corn, which was first partially domesticated in southwestern Mexico and spread through Central and South America fairly rapidly.
December 14th, 2020, 3:00PM / BY Erin Malsbury
Sequencing entire genomes from ancient tissues helps researchers reveal the evolutionary and domestication histories of species. (Thomas Harper, The Pennsylvania State University)
In the early 2000s, archeologists began excavating a rock shelter in the highlands of southwestern Honduras that stored thousands of maize cobs and other plant remains from up to 11,000 years ago. Scientists use these dried plants to learn about the diets, land-use and trading patterns of ancient communities.
After years of excavations, radiocarbon dating and more traditional archaeological studies, researchers are now turning to ancient DNA to provide more detail to their insights than has ever before been possible.
Ancient DNA Sheds New Light on Corn Domestication | Archaeology, Genetics sci-news.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sci-news.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
New analysis of ancient maize DNA gives insight into how the crop spread through Central and South America. (Photo by Douglas J. Kennett via Courthouse News)
(CN) New archaeological research directly ties a signature American crop to the story of how ancient human populations grew and spread over time.
By studying the genome of maize crops, researchers have discovered new details about how maize moved between Central and South America thousands of years ago.
Maize was first cultivated in southwestern Mexico some 9,000 years ago, derived from an annual grass called teosinte. As domestication continued, it spread into South America around 2,000 years later.
Ancient DNA continues to rewrite corn s 9,000-year society-shaping history 7thspace.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 7thspace.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.