O Homem seguiu as plantas ou as plantas seguiram o Homem?

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Subsequently, new distinct types of maize were disseminated in South America, following new tracks, however, and spreading throughout the lowland regions of the continent. This becomes quite clear when we look at figure 2, which only shows those samples collected from indigenous populations and from archaeological specimens. It is interesting to acknowledge the fact that the patterns “highlands” and “lowlands” don’t mix, being limited to their original region of propagation, as can be observed in figures 1 and 2. This isolation is due to restrictions imposed by the genetics of the material and, even more so, to cultural isolation, i. e. more due to isolation in terms of relationships (friendly or not) which the peoples of the past kept up. Other conclusions we can draw from the samples are: 1- The southern region of the continent, between northern Chile / Argentina and Paraguay, shows that the contact east – west was effective, resulting in highland patterns in the low regions (sample E11) and vice versa (G 7). Through this area runs, what the experts call the famous Peabiru track, connecting the two coasts of South America and thus proving how this kind of information can corroborate other evidence; 2- The Amazon region basically possesses the complex types, of the lowlands. This fact becomes important, especially when there are divergent schools of thought as to the influence human populations exercised on the Amazon region. One school affirms that this area was influenced by the Andean type while the other suggests the contrary. In terms of nourishment, more specifically, in terms of maize, Amazonian peoples were practically not affected by the Andean influence; 3- The occurrence of only one sample of the highland type in the state of Acre, in the Amazon region (7), indicates minor Andean influence. This influence, however, may have happened more recently, above all, if we remember that the Acre region at the end of the 19 th /beginning of the 20 th century passed through what is called the rubber cycle, attracting a lot of non-Indian migrants to that area and uprooting many native populations from their original land. Those went to settle down in Peru, at the foot of the Cordilleras and came into contact with the local native populations under the influence of the highland cultures. When the rubber boom ended, many of them went home again and some of them may have taken with them agricultural material, including maize. 4- The region found with the major diversity of genetic types and sub-types lies in the north of Amazonia, in the state of Roraima, near the south of Venezuela (samples 8; 9; 10; 24; 25; 26; 27 and 28), where from 13 types found 9 were haplo-types according to literature. This means that the area can have been an important contact between distinct populations. Possible causes: geographically – in the north of the continent, near the entrance door of maize, to its original center, Mexico; rivers which serve as natural ways of distribution for peoples; the exclusive localization with one type of genetic hybrid, demonstrating the great age of maize. A federal state with recent non-Indian colonization but a high percentage of native populations, great expanses of indigenous conservation areas so that the impact of society on these traditional peoples has been reduced thus permitting the survival not only of cultures/ethnic groups but also of their products. FUMDHAMentos VII - Fábio Freitas et alii 111
Final Considerations In this paper we analyzed data from maize samples, a basic staple crop for human societies of today and vital for many native peoples of the present and of the recent past. We established that this plant has genetic characteristics which are distributed geographically, since the remote past, as shown by archaeological specimens and are principally explained by man’s actions, by the influence of human ways of diffusion starting at the original center, in Mexico / Guatemala. This being the case, the plant serves as a marker / indicator of human passages, of their favourite road and culture networks for South America. These facts also reinforce the theory of two great human cultures, one in the mountains, the other in the lowlands. To judge from their eating habits, they lived rather isolated from each other except for some areas where contact was close, as explained in this paper. As far as Amazonia is concerned, where there is a dispute over its cultural influences, we can affirm that in terms of alimentation, or, more specifically, in terms of maize, those peoples who lived there in the past were much more affected by the lowland culture than by the Andean influence. Finally, this paper stresses the importance of studies which focus plants, and we suggest that the vegetable samples found at the sites be treated with much attention by archaeologists as they can help to complement data from other sources. Acknowledgements We are indebted to Dr. André Prous and his team for lending the archaeological samples necessary for our paper, to Embrapa for offering their collection of maize specimens, to the indigenous peoples of today and yesterday for having developed the varieties of this plant. We are grateful to the “Programa Biodiversidade Brasil-Italia” for their financial help. FUMDHAMentos VII - Fábio Freitas et alii 112
Page 1 and 2: O Homem seguiu as plantas ou as pla
Page 3 and 4: Introdução A colonização das Am
Page 5 and 6: O primeiro tipo de milho a entrar n
Page 7 and 8: Have people followed plants or have
Page 9: Objective We are going to present p
Page 13 and 14: Figura 1/Figure 1 FUMDHAMentos VII
Page 15: Notas - footnotes 1 Embrapa Recurso

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