Maize: Origin, Domestication, and its Role in the Development of Culture

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The Origin of Maize
. . . the question of the origin of maize has had a long history of controversy with vitriolic
barbs still directed at researchers who challenge popular dogma. . . .
Mary E. Eubanks (2001c: 92)
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The origin of maize is an issue that has dragged on for more than a hundred
years, as Iltis (2006: 23) correctly notes, and the debate still rages on, despite
the fact that this issue has already been solved, as far as I am concerned.
In the late 1980s, when Goodman (1988: 197) discussed the origin and
domestication of maize, he made some intelligent comments that are worth
recalling. Goodman claimed that those who have touched on this issue did
so from the standpoint of their own speciality. Thus Weatherwax was a specialist
in morphology, Mangelsdorf in hybridization from a wide standpoint,
Randolph in experimental taxonomy, Beadle and Kato-Yamakake in cytology,
Galinat in specialized sweet corn, Wilkes in plant geography, Iltis in herbarium
taxonomy, and Doebley in experimental systematics. To this list we
should add the names of Pearsall and Piperno, who specialize in pollen and
phytoliths, and the long list of archaeologists, headed by MacNeish, who
have touched on this subject. It is true that opposite perspectives were in
many cases not tolerated or were courteously ignored. But to this day as yet
no serious interdisciplinary work has been undertaken by a group of specialists
who gathered the data in order to prepare a genuine synthesis of this
issue. The major effort in this regard was carried out by Randolph (1976),
but it remained unfinished due to his death (see Anonymous, 1982). This is
a real shame, for Randolph addressed this issue with great seriousness and a
real knowledge of the subject.
Staller, Tykot, and Benz (2006) recently edited a book wholly devoted to
the problematic of maize from the standpoint of different specialities. The
expected goal was unfortunately not attained, for many of the studies are
weak, and the editors were unable to direct this collection toward specific
goals.