New Data on the Domestication of Maize

New Data on the Domestication of Maize
According to an international team of scientists who have sequenced the genome of a 5,310-year-old maize cob from the Tehuacan Valley, the maize (Zea mays) grown in central Mexico more than five millennia ago was genetically more similar to modern maize than to its wild counterpart. Scientists have long debated how and why ancient people domesticated maize, in large part because the wild ancestor of maize — a wild grass called teosinte— provides little nutrition. Each teosinte ear produces only 5 to 12 kernels, and each kernel is surrounded by a hard casing that must be removed prior to eating. http://bit.ly/2g7vQdM – Sci News

Archaeology Café (Tucson): Eastern and Western Perspectives on Archaeology and the Past
Dr. Fumi Arakawa (NMSU) joins us for our December 6 café. We meet on the patio of Casa Vicente, 375 S. Stone Ave., Tucson. Enter through the restaurant. Presentations begin after 6:00 p.m. It is best to arrive before 5:30 p.m., as seating is open and unreserved, but limited. http://bit.ly/2g7zVPi – Archaeology Southwest

Early Agricultural Period Figurines as Fertility Symbols
Curious clay figurines that have been found in southern Arizona appear to be fertility symbols used by desert farmers as much as 3,000 years ago, according to new research. Only a few of the figures have been found, primarily at the sites of two pre-contact villages excavated near Tucson. http://bit.ly/2d3uh2j2 – Western Digs

Mesa Verde Luminaria Aficionados May Wish to Head to the Anasazi Heritage Center
Mesa Verde National Park canceled its annual luminaria event, but the show will go on in Dolores on Dec. 8. Mesa Verde Country will host a Luminaria Night celebration at the Anasazi Heritage Center at 27501 Colorado Highway 184, on Thursday, Dec. 8 from 5 to 8 p.m. “We are thrilled to be able to relocate this event that has become such a treasured tradition for locals and visitors alike,” says Kelly Kirkpatrick, Tourism Director at Mesa Verde Country. “The Anasazi Heritage Center is the perfect location for this unforgettable evening of sight and sound, and we invite everyone to bundle up and come out to join us on Dec. 8. http://bit.ly/2g7zFQh – The Cortez Journal

We Are Sorry to Report the Loss of a Favorite Southwestern Café
The café at the Anasazi Inn at Tsegi Canyon burned down early Sunday morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it apparently started inside the building. The fire was reported about 8:30 a.m. “That was a good place to eat,” Bernice Austin Begay said. She grew up in nearby Black Mesa. The Anasazi Inn is a 90-room hotel close to Kayenta. It’s a stopping point for tourists visiting the Navajo National Monument, which features three ancient pueblo villages. http://bit.ly/2fTKouI – Lake Powell Life

Travelogue: Cedar Mesa
Hiking Owl Canyon in southeastern Utah, I reach a dry waterfall too steep to descend, forcing me to explore both sides of the canyon in search of a path down. I find a route that funnels me back into the canyon, which quickly becomes crowded with boulders, blocking my progress again. Anxious to clear the obstacles, I nearly miss the ruins tucked into an alcove to my right. I climb a large rock and hop down about 10 feet, landing in front of the ruins. Around 1,000 years old, the three masonry structures are well preserved. A circular building with a small entryway sits in front of two smaller buildings, one of which has a real-life corn cob on it, suggesting it was a granary. http://bit.ly/2g7sqIc – Arizona Daily Sun

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
On December 15 during Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s 6:00-8:30 p.m. “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner at Karichimaka Mexican Restaurant,5252 S. Mission Road, Tucson, Dr. Sharonah Fredrick presents “Epics of the American Southwest: Hopi, Diné and Hispanic Narratives of Heroes and Heroines in Mythic Literature.” In this program, made possible by Arizona Humanities, she will discuss social and moral messages transmitted in oral and written texts from the Southwest’s treasure trove of native people’s and early settlers’ epic narratives. No entry fee. Guests may purchase their own dinners. Reservations required before 5 p.m. December 14: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Steve Post, Principal Investigator, Zia Consulting and Author, “Ten Thousand Years of Living in Santa Fe,” in History of an Ancient City and is former Deputy Director, Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico, Department of Cultural Affairs who will give a talk on Native American Scouts at the Santa Fe Presidio in the 1700’s on December 5 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Mother Earth Father Sky Lecture Series held to honor The New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Admission is by subscription of $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt tel 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: southwestseminars.org