tassel branches are those of matured tassels that have 
shed their pollen and lost their anthers. We can think of 
no use to which they might have been put for food or any 
other purpose except possibly a primitive ceremonial one. 
Chewed Quids 
The refuse contained a large number of chewed quids 
some of which, a total of 151, were identified as those of 
corn. Quids composed of chewed tassels have already 
been mentioned. ‘Two other types were recognized: 
those produced by chewing young ears enclosed in husks 
and those resulting from chewing stalks. Both were 
probably chewed more for their sweetness than for the 
few calories which they added to a none-too-adequate 
diet. After identifying two partly chewed young ears in 
the refuse of La Perra Cave some years ago, we chewed 
their modern counterparts and found them sweet. 
The majority of quids were those of chewed stalks. 
Chewing evidently began at one end of a piece of stalk 
and continued until the entire piece was thoroughly 
masticated and only the fiber remained. The process 
must sometimes have been interrupted for a few of the 
quids had unchewed sections of the stalk still attached 
producing a quid with a stem, a structure somewhat 
reminiscent of a modern lollypop (Plate XIII, D). 
The chewing of both stalks and young ears must have 
been at the expense of subsequent grain production. 
Perhaps in this stage of culture being provident had not 
yet become a virtue and was seldom practiced. 
TEOSINTE 
We identified nine specimens of teosinte and three of 
maize-teosinte hybrids. The earliest specimen, a frag- 
ment of fruit case, occurred in feces in one of the lower 
levels of the Guerra phase dated at 1850-1200 B.C. 
[ 45 ] 
