lend some support to the hypothesis (Mangelsdorf 1974) 
that there may have been an independent domestication 
of maize in South America. [t is in this connection that 
the slender-cobbed Chilean specimens are of particular 
interest. 
Galinat (1972) has recently published a brief descrip- 
tion of the archaeological maize turned up by MacNeish 
in asitein Ayacucho, Peru. He states that some of the 
cobs resemble those of the race Confite Morocho, but 
these are not among the earliest cobs from this. site. 
They are tentatively dated at 8000 B.P. 
Chutucuno Chico 
This race, described by Timothy ef af, appears to be 
represented by one specimen obtained from near the top 
of looters’ backdirt adjacent to the cemetery on site 100. 
~ 
This single cob is 7.6 em. long: its most prominent 
feature is the stiff indurated lower glumes. 
This specimen could be a precursor of cobs with stiff 
indurated lower glumes occurring in lots from. sites 
RAnL 186, 268B, and 290, described briefly below. 
These in turn appear to be related to the living Chilean 
race Chutucuno Chico which is grown at altitudes of 
2260 to 2500 meters. Timothy et al. describe this race 
as a small yellow popcorn with large cobs having 16-22 
or more kernel rows. Both red and white cobs occur in 
the modern as well as the late prehistoric collections. 
Chutucuno is in some respects similar to the fasciated 
form of the Peruvian primitive race Confite Puntiagudo 
described by Grobman ef a/. and illustrated in their fig. 
56. These authors attribute the indurated tissues of the 
rachis and lower glumes to hybridization with corn’s 
relative T'ripsacum. 
Maize Frou LATER Sires 
RAnL 2 
[ 58 | 
