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RIO HONDO COLLEGE - DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL & SOCIAL SCIENCES
Humanities 125: Introduction to Mexican Culture (Web & Honors)
Professor Garcia / www.santiagoandresgarcia.com / www.mesofigurineproject.org / [email protected]
Maíz in the Americas: Domestication, Sustenance, and Indigeneity
Rev. August 23, 2015
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (SLO’s): The purpose of the Maíz worksheet aims to allow students a
comprehensive overview of the domestication of maíz and its importance among people of the America’s, past and
present. After completing the Maíz worksheet you should be able to 1) describe where maíz was domesticated, 2)
describe the material culture associated with maíz use, 3) explain what maíz symbolized from a ritual and
ceremonial standpoint, and 4) explain how maíz serves as a model for revitalizing ancestral ways of being.
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DIRECTIONS Search for the following terms in the above word bank, than proceed to define each using your
classroom lecture notes, and the mandated readings (Arnold 2009; Ranere et al. 2009; Taube 1989 [see page 4 of
this handout]).
Mesoamerica –
Teosinte –
Maíz (corn) –
Mano and Metate –
Basalt –
Cucurbita spp. –
Guila Naquitz Cave –
Subsistence –
Central Balas Rivers –
Tamale –
Rock Shelter –
Xihuatoxtla Shelter –
La Joya –
Olmec –
Archaeology –
Formative Period –
Agriculture
Floodplain resources –
Settlement –
Complex society –
Comal –
Epigraphy –
Sustenance –
1
Name: _____________________________
Date:
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Score: _____/40_
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Maíz (corn) along with beans and squash make up the “three sister
crops,” of the Americas. The three provide a well-balanced
nutritional intake of sustenance (food) that could be prepared and
served in a number of arrays. Moreover, maíz served a number of
ritual purposes, and was often manifested in the epigraphy, art,
and architecture of Mesoamerican peoples. Unlike beans and
squash though, maíz was a product of domestication by humans.
Define the following terms in their relation to one another:
Domestication:
Teosinte:
Maíz:
Mano and Metate:
The origin of maíz and its age is often debated among
researchers, yet despite disagreements science and research has
shed some light on places where it has been found and its age. To
answer the questions below please read Ranere et al. 2009.
1. According to Ranere et al. 2009, domesticated maíz in Mexico
dates to what period in calendrical years? ____________________
_____________________________________________________.
2. According to Ranere et al. 2009, the wild ancestor of maíz was
________________________ and was native to ______________
____________________________________________ of Mexico.
3. Once maíz was domesticated in Mexico, it spread to what parts
of the Americas, and during what time? _____________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________.
4. What types of stones found at Xihuatoxtla Shelter indicate that
maíz was being processed? _______________________________
_____________________________________________________.
5. According to Ranere et al. 2009, maíz was planted in what
environmental context? And why? ________________________
_____________________________________________________.
Tamales are just one of the many foods that can be made from
maíz. How many more food products can you list below, made
from maíz:
1.
3.
5.
7.
9.
2.
4.
6.
8.
10.
2
Name: _____________________________
Date:
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How masa for tamales is made
The Maíz Tamale among the Classic Maya
Read Karl A. Taube’s (1998) The Maíz Tamale in Classic Maya
Diet, Epigraphy, and Art and answer the following questions:
1. What’s a tamale? How do you say tamale in Classic Maya
language? Why was it important? _________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________.
2. What evidences does Karl A. Taube (1998) examine to better
understand the tamale in Classic Maya society? _______________
_____________________________________________________.
3. Describe the maíz symbol? What’s it look like? Draw it here!
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
_____________________________________________________.
4. What other meanings does the Maya word for maíz have?
Describe at least three: __________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________.
5. In addition to serving as food, what other uses did the tamale
have? What was it identified with? ________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________.
What is the nutritional value of each
staple food? Describe the morphology
of each plant, and how it grows.
Three staple crops of the Americas
Maíz / Beans / Squash
Maíz: ___________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
________________________________.
Beans: __________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
________________________________.
Squash: _________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
________________________________.
3
Name: _____________________________
Date:
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Score: _____/40_
/
A corn or a fish diet among the Olmec? Read Phillip J. Arnolds’s
Required Maíz Readings
(2009) Settlement and subsistence among the Early Formative Gulf Olmec,
than answer the following questions:
Arnold, Phillip J.
1. According to recent research and Phillip J. Arnold, the primary diet of
Early Formative (1500–900 B.C.) groups (including the Olmec) was: ____
____________________________________________________________.
2009 Settlement and subsistence
among the Early Formative Gulf
Olmec. In Journal of Anthropological
Anthropology, (28), 2009, pp. 397–
411.
2. Phillip Arnold cites the work of Wing (1978). According to Wing
(1978), the Olmec at San Lorenzo ate lots of ______________ for protein.
3. Define the term “agricentrism,” it implies what? __________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.
4. What kind of data/evidence are archaeologists examining to better
understand the diet of Early and Middle Formative people in Mesoamerica:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.
5. List at least ten types of flora and fauna (plants and animals) eaten by
the La Joya Olmec: ____________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.
6. When did the consumption of maíz become an important part of the
Olmec diet? During what period? How did this impact daily Olmec life? __
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.
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Ranere, Anthony J., Dolores R.
Piperno, Irene Holst, Ruth Dickau,
and José Iriarte
2009 T he cultural and chronological
context of early Holocene maíz and
squash domestication in the Central
Balsas River Valley, Mexico. In
PNAS, 106 (13), 2009, pp. 5014–5018.
Taube, Karl A.
1989 T he Maíz Tamale in Classic
Maya Diet, Epigraphy, and Art. In
American Antiquity, 54 (1), 1989, pp.
31–51.
Rodriquez, Roberto Cintli.
2014 Our Sacred Mother is our Maiz
Name: _____________________________
Date:
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Score: _____/40_
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Seven Maíz-Based concepts from the book Our Sacred Maíz Is Our Mother: Indigeneity and Belonging in the
Americas by Roberto Cintli Rodríguez (2014).
Worksheet developed by Santiago Andres Garcia 6/23/2015, Division of Behavioral & Social Sciences, Rio Hondo College, 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier CA, 90601.
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