Variation in Prehistoric Agricultural Systems of The New World

Abstract

In this paper we present a brief summary of prehistoric agricultural develop­ ments as they are presently understood in the New World. Constraints prevent detailed evaluation of all of the cultural areas defined in the New World. Emphasis is placed, therefore, on Mesoamerica and the Central Andes, where aboriginal high cultures were found. The American Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Eastern Woodlands are not treated even though agriculture was an important part of cultural development in those areas. The fact that many important cultigens now shared by the world came from the Mesoamerican and Central Andean areas places a priority on understanding something about food production of the American past. Within these cultural areas we attempt to show research trends that have occurred over the past two decades. Since more intensive work has been done in Mesoamerica, it receives the greatest attention. The central question for Mesoamerica and the Central Andes has been the relationship of food produc­ tion to the rise and fall of the state ( 15, 57, 73, 108, 1 17). Over the past decade the question has been redefined in terms of a significant increase in information obtained from an extensive amount of fieldwork.