The Neolithic Demographic Transition in Mesoamerica? Larger Implications of the Strategy of Relative Chronology

Lesure, Richard G.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8539-0_6

Cited by 44 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…485-488). Thus Lesure concludes that the original Formative occupation of Tlaxcala was part of a generalized colonization of the more agriculturally marginal zones of the Central Highlands by expanding farming populations from lower elevations, in agreement with both Grove's and Sanders' views mentioned above (see Lesure 2008).…”

Section: Mother and Sisterssupporting

confidence: 71%

“…These findings, in addition to the increasing presence of Granular White ceramics-imported from or inspired by Guerrero farming communities-at higher elevations in Morelos and the Basin of Mexico throughout the Formative period (Padilla 2009, pp. 107-111), point to north and central Guerrero as one possible source for expanding agricultural groups (Lesure 2008). Future research needs to better integrate Guerrero archaeology into our considerations of Formative beginnings in central Mesoamerica.…”

Section: Mother and Sistersmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Where East Meets West: The Formative in Mexico’s Central Highlands

Plunket

Uruñuela

2011

J Archaeol Res

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Mexico's Central Highlands form one of Mesoamerica's fundamental cultural seams, a point of overlap between two traditions, one to the east and the other to the west. Although this area is usually included in the west, it can be more productively viewed as an interface, the physical space where people, goods, and ideas passed from one side to the other, and thus it holds many keys for our understanding of emerging social complexity in Mesoamerica. In reviewing the last two decades of Formative period (1500 BC-AD 100) research in this crucial territory, we focus on themes that reveal the variation and dynamism of interregional interaction, including the formation of regional traditions, exchange systems, and foreign ''influence,'' and others that help contextualize the events and processes of that time, like household studies and environmental degradation. We stress that this part of Mexico is undergoing relentless development so time is of the essence if we are to broaden our perspectives on social evolution in the Central Highlands. This issue cannot be resolved by rescue and salvage work because it requires long-term, interdisciplinary projects to unravel multifaceted problems.

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Section: Mother and Sisterssupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Mother and Sistersmentioning

confidence: 98%

Where East Meets West: The Formative in Mexico’s Central Highlands

Plunket

Uruñuela

2011

J Archaeol Res

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“…Maize is considered the most important native crop of the Americas [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]. Several lines of evidence indicate that the Mesoamerican village lifestyle began with maize domestication [44,45,[49][50][51]57,58].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…mays) had a single domestication origin from the wild grass teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis) in the Río Balsas region, southwestern Mexico, approximately 6,300-10,000 calendar years before present [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]. Pollen samples taken from sediments in lakes, swamps, and archeological deposits have provided evidence for the presence or absence of Zea (maize and/or teosinte) in the Americas and have been used to estimate the age of maize domestication and dispersion [44].…”

Section: (D) Allele Frequencies Vs Maize Domesticationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary Responses to a Constructed Niche: Ancient Mesoamericans as a Model of Gene-Culture Coevolution

et al. 2012

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Culture and genetics rely on two distinct but not isolated transmission systems. Cultural processes may change the human selective environment and thereby affect which individuals survive and reproduce. Here, we evaluated whether the modes of subsistence in Native American populations and the frequencies of the ABCA1*Arg230Cys polymorphism were correlated. Further, we examined whether the evolutionary consequences of the agriculturally constructed niche in Mesoamerica could be considered as a gene-culture coevolution model. For this purpose, we genotyped 229 individuals affiliated with 19 Native American populations and added data for 41 other Native American groups (n = 1905) to the analysis. In combination with the SNP cluster of a neutral region, this dataset was then used to unravel the scenario involved in 230Cys evolutionary history. The estimated age of 230Cys is compatible with its origin occurring in the American continent. The correlation of its frequencies with the archeological data on Zea pollen in Mesoamerica/Central America, the neutral coalescent simulations, and the FST-based natural selection analysis suggest that maize domestication was the driving force in the increase in the frequencies of 230Cys in this region. These results may represent the first example of a gene-culture coevolution involving an autochthonous American allele.

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“…Previous considerations of the NDT in this region did not involve an effort to assemble the skeletal evidence (Bandy 2005;Lesure 2008). Results suggest that the NDT in Mesoamerica was a gradual process that unfolded over the entire Formative period (1800 BC-AD 200).…”

mentioning

confidence: 86%