The South American agricultural frontier: The first direct evidence for maize consumption in San Luis, Argentina

Abstract

The spread of agriculture across the Andes is a topic of intense archaeological debate, particularly the processes driving the adoption of maize (Zea mays) by mobile hunter-gatherer groups of the Central Pampas of Argentina. This paper presents the first direct botanical evidence of maize from the Late Holocene hunter-gatherer sites of El Durazno and La Alborado in the San Luis province- A n area considered climatically unsuited to maize production. These data provide important new information on the production, processing and consumption of maize on a macro-regional scale, and the development of Central Pampas exchange systems.