eight-rowed race generally became older toward the 
Southwest (Galinat and Gunnerson, 1968). A continuity 
in its distribution between the Plains and the Southwest 
was established by the discovery of sites for Maiz de 
Ocho in Chacuaco Canyon in southeastern Colorado 
(Galinat and Campbell, 1967). The date of A.D. 1140 
for this Colorado material leaves unsolved the problem 
on direction of spread because now the slightly older 
dates of A.D. 1040 have been discovered for this race at 
the Blain Site in Ohio (Galinat, 1969) and of A.D. 1125 
+70 at the Miller Site in Ontario (Kenyon, 1968). 
Documentation of the spread of Maiz de Ocho, like 
that of other cultural artifacts, depends upon the dis- 
covery of its oldest possible remains at certain critical 
locations. The present report on the oldest Maiz de Ocho 
yet discovered in North America has, therefore, particu- 
lar significance in revealing the spread of this race of 
maize. 
The radiocarbon dates herein reported were deter- 
mined gratuitously by Dr. Henry F. Nelson of the Re- 
search Laboratory of the Mobil Oil Corporation, Dallas, 
Texas. The date of 18188 B.C. (SM 1021) at the 
BR-45 Site came from an indirect association in debris 
between some wood and the cobs of Maiz de Ocho. The 
shallow and homogeneous nature of this debris seems to 
rule out any significant disparity between the age of the 
cobs and that of the analyzed wood. The more recent 
date of A.D. 870+168 (SM 1018) at Boca Negra Cave 
for this eight-rowed race came from wood which was 
charred in the same hearth with the cobs. At the third 
location for Maiz de Ocho discussed here, the Artificial 
Leg Sites, the dates of A.D. 550 to A.D. 700 for the 
cobs of this race were determined by combining data 
from ceramic analysis, palynology and archaeomagnetism 
(Frisbie, 1957). 
[ 314 | 
