1. Amanda Tetz
Development of Agriculture in Early Mesoamerican Societies
ABSTRACT The development of agriculture is present in almost every culture in the
world. There have been several studies discussing the factors causing these developments
and what the resulting effects are. In this paper I will be looking at some of the earliest
evidence of flora domestication and agricultural strategies in Mesoamerica. The site that I
will be addressing in this study is an Early Archaic site located in the Valley of Oaxacá
which is represented by over 10,000 years of human occupation. By studying early
agricultural strategies we will gain a better insight into the earliest forms of complex
societies that employed this technology and a clearer, more complete history of this
culture.
Thomas (1991) states that most research
that deals with reconstruction of
prehistoric diets address faunal and
floral remains separately, however he
feels that to fully reconstruct past diets
accurately we should take a more
holistic approach. Meaning we need to
not only look at faunal remains or only
at floral remains, instead we should look
at faunal and floral remains together,
side by side, to gain a complete
understanding of the life of prehistoric
people. I would like to go one step
further and state that we should also
analyze current technologies along side
the food remains, by doing so we see the
broader picture instead of just a piece of
it. In this paper I will take a brief look at
the development of cultivation and
domestication in the Valley of Oaxacá
during the Archaic Period.
ECOLOGY OF MESOAMERICA
DURING THE ARCHAIC PERIOD
(c.8,000~2,000 B.C.)
Between 10,000 and 8,000 B.C. Middle
America went through a climate shift
that changed the environment
dramatically. At the time of the shift the
climate was colder and dryer than it is
today. This climate was conducive to a
plains-like environment that is similar to
the North American Plains of Wyoming
and Montana. This type of environment
supported various megafauna, however
because of the climate changes these
megafauna, an important food source for
Paleo-Indian, became extinct. This
extinction and rise in new flora forced
the Indians to begin to intensify their
subsistence strategy from mainly hunting
to foraging more plants foods and
hunting smaller game, such as deer and
rabbits (Flannery, 1986, Thomas, 1991).
The shift from big game hunter to that of
a hunter and gatherer marks the
beginning of the Archaic Period (c.
8,000~2,000 B.C.). As indigenous
people began to forage (harvesting the
native flora) for seeds, nuts, roots and
fruits that were beginning to become
available, they started to also manipulate
the distribution of these plants. This
manipulation is referred to as cultivation
(Flannery, 1973). Due to this shift in
subsistence patterns new tools were
needed and developed. There was an
increase in the production of chipped
stone for tools such as cutting knives,

2. Tetz-Development of Agriculture
drills, axes, scrapers and smaller
projectile points as well as ground stone
tools like mano and metate. There was
also a development and increase of traps,
nets and baskets (Daniel, 1962). Once
cultivation became deliberate there was
a trend toward cooperative seeding and
harvesting among the different bands of
people, however this is believed to a
seasonal cooperation only at this point
(Flannery, 1986). As cultivation became
more prominent the practice of selecting
only the largest seeds and planting them
began to emerge.
CULTIVATION AND
DOMESTICATION
There have been many debates about the
development of domestication, where it
developed first to whether it was a
delightful accident or a purposeful
action. These specific questions,
especially the latter, can not be answered
with any degree of satisfaction due to
lack of hard evidence and numerous
combinations in which it could have
occurred and since there is no left alive
that was witness to this development it is
a best guess on our part. However there
is an abundance of evidence and
information that we do have which helps
us put together the puzzle of the past.
This being said I think it is reasonable to
state that in most areas, especially
Mesoamerica and the Middle East,
domestication was a combination of
experimentation, observation and a
personal knowledge of their
environment. Because realistically to
depend completely on landscape for
your survival gives you a knowledge
about your surroundings, a knowledge
that, if you did not have you would not
be able to perpetuate your DNA and
since there are modern descendants of
these people, it is logically to state that
they had an intimate knowledge of their
surroundings. As an example of that
knowledge and observation is the trifecta
of maize, beans and squash. According
to Flannery (1973) this trifecta was a
natural occurrence that the Indians used
as a model later. Flannery (1973) states
that wild runner beans naturally grew in
between the wild teosinte (grass believed
to be the wild ancestor of modern maize)
thus giving rise to the practice of
interplanting of maize, beans and
squash.
As already define cultivation is the
manipulation of plant distribution where
as domestication is the genetic
modification of plants (Flannery, 1973).
As previously stated teosinte (Zea
mexicana) is the nearest wild relation of
modern maize (Zea mays). Both teosinte
and maize have the exact same number
of chromosomes in addition to other
similarities (Flannery, 1973). Teosinte
grows semiarid, subtropical areas of
Mexico and Guatemala. Teosinte is a
native annual grass that does not like
anymore than 12 hours of warm sunlight
per day. Once the fruit is mature they
scatter naturally, spreading across
disturbed areas. Because of this wide-
range distribution and teosintes’ quick
maturation it makes it almost impossible
for small bands or individuals to harvest
it; instead a large, organized group of
people was needed to do the job
properly. This early effort of cooperation
set the stage for permanent settlements
and eventually complex societies
(Flannery, 1973, Sanders, 1988).
Another wild grass, Tripsacum, was
once considered for the possibility of
being an ancestor of modern maize;
however all of the evidence now
suggests that it is at best a cousin to
maize and has not played an important
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3. Tetz-Development of Agriculture
role in the evolution of maize in
Mesoamerica (Flannery, 1973, 1986;
Mangelsdorf, 1967). Other crops that
were eventually domesticated and
harvested in Mesoamerica are mesquite
(Prosopis juliflora), bottle gourds
(Lagenaria), pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo),
beans (four different species)
(Phaseolus), avocado (Persia
Americana), cacao (Theobroma cacao)
and Chili peppers to list just a few
(Carmack, 1996:45). The cultivation,
domestication and eventually agriculture
developed throughout Mesoamerica
almost uniformly, but I will only be
addressing one area of Mesoamerica –
Guilá Naquitz in the Valley of Oaxacá.
HUMAN OCCUPATION AND
NEGOTIATION OF THE VALLEY
OF OAXACÁ
The Valley of Oaxacá is a large flat
valley, approximately 3400 km3 and is
1550 m above sea level (Matheny and
Gurr, 1983). The Valley has a high water
table, low erosion rate and is a frost-free
area, and because of this it has a higher
capability for agricultural development
(Flannery, 1967). The floor of the Valley
has alluvial soils that bring the water
table within a few meters of the surface
leaving the soil with a higher moisture
index than in other areas. Because of this
higher moisture index combined with
deeper soil levels than elsewhere the
Valley of Oaxacá provided the
environment for higher productivity of
maize cultivation (Sanders and Nichols,
1988). Flannery (1986) has been able to
determine that Guilá Naquitz Cave in the
Valley of Oaxacá had several periods of
human occupation during the Archaic
Period. He came to this conclusion after
conducting a series of analysis on plant
remains and seasonal availability of
various food plants. During the Early
Archaic phase of the Valley the
estimated population was low, believed
to vary between 75-150 people at the
most (Marcus and Flannery, 1996).
According to Evans (2004) the first
human occupation at Guilá Naquitz was
around 8,000 B.C. and that was “at least
six separate occasions” of occupation
between c. 8,000 and 6500 B.C. Guilá
Naquitz Cave along with several other
caves are believed to be part of the
seasonal subsistence trek, settling there
sometime during the summer and
leaving before February. Food remains
and availabilities’ suggest that meals
consisted of acorn pulp, maguey, cactus
leaves, various fruits, as well as
mesquite pods, deer and rabbit meat.
There is also evidence suggesting that
they had technologies such as fire drills,
nets, traps, milling stones and the
obvious obsidian knapping (Evans,
2004). This fluctuation of occupation in
the Valley continued until the Late
Archaic phase when the first permanent
villages appear, around 1700 to 1400
B.C. (Flannery, et al, 1967). The
sedentary lifestyle seems to be possible
due to the increase of agriculture in the
Valley (Flannery, 1986). By the
beginning of the Initial Formative (c.
2,000~1200 B.C.) organized agriculture
had became a way of life in the Valley.
The initial farming technology used was
pot irrigation. This worked by planting
the seed with a stick referred to by the
Aztecs as a cao, deep enough for the
developing root to access the water
table, however supplemental water was
given by digging a swallow well and
bring water to the individual plants
(Evans, 2004). Because of the intensive
work involved in this activity it was
necessary for a large group of people to
cooperate and work together, which in
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4. Tetz-Development of Agriculture
turn created solidarity among the
population (Flannery et al, 1967; Evans
2004). Later hillside terracing, canal
systems and flood water irrigation was
developed (Flannery et al, 1967). As
agriculture became more important for
people, they began to deviate from their
earlier patterns of foraging and hunting
and started to rely solely on what they
could produce. Evans (2004) believes
this is due to the lure of sedentism has
for humans, no longer have to live hand
to month, move all the time, can only
posses items that you can carry on your
back. Sedentism allows for luxury that
they had never had. Unfortunately this
shift in subsistence patterns had a
negative aspect on the health of the
population.
Quality of life with the advancement
of agriculture
According to Larsen (1995) the
development and adoption of agriculture
did not improve the life and health of
humans. Instead it allowed for dental
and physical health problems; such as
malnutrition, dental erosion and
increased inactivity. As a result of these
changes the human stature began to
shrink. The development of agriculture
also provided the ability for the
population to grow. Eventually it created
an overpopulated world.
However agriculture also
provided the time for specialties, such as
weaving, ceramics, elaborate stone
work, to develop. Complex societies also
arose as agriculture began to intensify.
CONCLUSION
The development of
domestication and agriculture was a
necessary step in the process of cultural
evolution, without these developments
we probably would not have the world in
which currently live in. There has been
an abundance of research done on the
development of agriculture and the
descent of domestication; however I feel
that there is much more to learn about
this topic so we have a better, more
complete understanding to the process of
domestication in Early Mesoamerica. By
understanding the past process it might
allow us to develop different techniques
for out current agricultural systems and
flora hybridization programs.
RERFENCE CITED:
Carmack, Robert M., Janine Gasco and
Gary H. Gossen
1996 The Legacy of Mesoamerica:
History and Culture of a Native
American Civilization. University of
Albany: Prentice Hall
Daniel, Glyn, ed.
1962 Ancient Peoples and Places, Vol
29: Mexico. Ediciones Lara, Great
Britain
Evans, Susan Toby
2004 Ancient Mexico and Central
America: Archaeology and Culture
History. Thames and Hudson, London
and New York.
Flannery, Kent V., ed.
1986 Guilá Naquitz: Archaic Foraging
and Early Agriculture in Oaxacá,
Mexico. Orlando, FL: Academic Press
Flannery, Kent V.
1973 The origin of agriculture. Annual
Review of Anthropology 2:271-310
Flannery, Kent V., Anne V. T. Kirkby,
Michael J. Kirkby and Aubrey W.
Williams Jr.
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5. Tetz-Development of Agriculture
1967 Farming Systems and Political
Growth in Ancient Oaxacá:
Physiographic Features and Water-
control Techniques Contributed to the
rise of Zapotec Indian Civilization.
Science 158(3800):445-454
Larsen, Clark Spencer
1995 Biological Changes in Human
Populations with Agriculture. Annual
Review of Anthropology 24:185-213
Mangelsdorf, P.C., R.S. MacNeish and
W.C. Galinat
1967 Prehistoric Wild and cultivated
maize. In Prehistory of the Tehuacán
Valley. D.S. Byers, ed. Pp. 178-200.
Austin: University of Texas Press
Matheny, Ray T. and Deanne L. Gurr
1983 Variation in Prehistoric
Agricultural Systems of the New World.
Annual Review of Anthropology 12:79-
103
Marcus, Joyce and Kent V. Flannery
1996 Zapotec Civilization. Thames and
Hudson, London and New York
Sanders, William T. and Deborah L.
Nichols
1988 Ecological Theory and Cultural
Evolution in the Valley of Oaxacá.
Current Anthropology 29(1):33-80
Thomas, David Hurst
1991 Archaeology: Dawn to Earth.
United States: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich Publishers.
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6. Tetz-Development of Agriculture
1967 Farming Systems and Political
Growth in Ancient Oaxacá:
Physiographic Features and Water-
control Techniques Contributed to the
rise of Zapotec Indian Civilization.
Science 158(3800):445-454
Larsen, Clark Spencer
1995 Biological Changes in Human
Populations with Agriculture. Annual
Review of Anthropology 24:185-213
Mangelsdorf, P.C., R.S. MacNeish and
W.C. Galinat
1967 Prehistoric Wild and cultivated
maize. In Prehistory of the Tehuacán
Valley. D.S. Byers, ed. Pp. 178-200.
Austin: University of Texas Press
Matheny, Ray T. and Deanne L. Gurr
1983 Variation in Prehistoric
Agricultural Systems of the New World.
Annual Review of Anthropology 12:79-
103
Marcus, Joyce and Kent V. Flannery
1996 Zapotec Civilization. Thames and
Hudson, London and New York
Sanders, William T. and Deborah L.
Nichols
1988 Ecological Theory and Cultural
Evolution in the Valley of Oaxacá.
Current Anthropology 29(1):33-80
Thomas, David Hurst
1991 Archaeology: Dawn to Earth.
United States: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich Publishers.
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