MAIZE— KBMPTON 395 



Although the principle of greatest variation at the center of origin 

 may be discounted, Peru has another claim to the origin of maize in 

 that it had a prehistoric population of exceptionally skilled plant 

 domes ticators. All the evidence points to the Incas and pre-Incas 

 as being very able agriculturists, and these people regularly culti- 

 vated some 70 species of plants. The archeological evidence also 

 points to the origin of pottery in Peru and its dissemination north- 

 ward through Central America into Mexico. With clear evidence 

 that Peruvian pots moved into North America, it would seem logical 

 to conclude that their grain might foUow the same route. 



The real stumbling block to looking upon Peru as the center of 

 origin of maize lies in the unmistakable fact that corn relatives are 

 not now found there. It is difficult to see how corn could have been 



FiotmE 3.— Pottery whistle made by the Maya Indians of Yucatan showing a replica of a well-developed 



ear of com. 



developed without some plant to begin with, so that proponents of 

 the Peruvian origin of maize are forced to adopt the position that the 

 wild ancestor of maize has been completely eradicated. Until all 

 other hypotheses have been exhausted this sterile conclusion should 

 be held in abeyance, though there is undoubted evidence that much 

 of the original flora of Peru has been profoundly altered by human 

 occupation. 



All of the known wild relatives of maize are found in Guatemala 

 and Mexico, and these Republics are second only to Peru in the 

 number of maize varieties. At the present time the largest area 

 covered by the closest wild ancestor of maize is in the Department of 

 Huehuetenango, of northwestern Guatemala. This region is now 

 occupied by descendants of that highly civilized group of agricultural 

 Indians, the Maya, and the area is dotted with the masonry ruins 



