[Aztlan] Three sisters

[Archaeology Institute]

"John F. Schwaller" <schwallr at potsdam.edu> on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 12:06 PM -0800 wrote:
>Is there any evidence in Mesoamerica to support what is called "three 
>sisters" planting up here along the Canadian border?  This refers to the 
>planting of corn, beans, and squash in the same hill.  The corn stalk 
>provides support for the climbing beans; the beans fix nitrogen in the 
>soil for use by the corn and squash, while the broad leaves of the 
>squash protect the soil from both the percussive effects of the rain and 
>the loss of nutrients through solar heat, while directing the moisture 
>to the center of the plant.
>
>-- 
>*****************************
>John F. Schwaller

Dear John,

	In my review of "The Natural History of Maize", I found quite a bit of new information on the broad cultural distributions and cultural impacts of maize on world diet.  At present, maize constitutes the most broadly distributed and consumed
foodstuff in the world...typically found in over one thousand food products in a well stocked super market.  Maize is infinitely mutable, and its genetics may be altered radically over the course of a few generations...while at the same time the
lime processing of maize, which appears earliest at Teotihuacan, constitutes the earliest world evidence for the chemical processing of any foodstuff, anywhere in the world.  See the articles in question by way of the following references:

Mendoza, Ruben G.

	2003d		Maize: The Natural History of Maize. In Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Volume 2: Food Production to Nuts, pp. 417-424. Solomon H. Katz, Editor in Chief, Scribner Library of Daily Life. 
			New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

	2003c		Maize as a Food. In Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Volume 2: Food Production to Nuts, pp. 424-431. Solomon H. Katz, Editor in Chief, Scribner Library of Daily Life. New York: 
			Charles Scribner's Sons. [With Irene Casas, co-author] 

Best Regards,

Ruben G. Mendoza, Ph.D., Director
Institute for Archaeological Science, Technology and Visualization
Social and Behavioral Sciences
California State University Monterey Bay
100 Campus Center
Seaside, California 93955-8001

Email: archaeology.csumb at gmail.edu
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