IDENTIFICACIÓN MACRO Y MICROSCÓPICA DE GRANOS DE Zea mays (POACEAE) EN CONTEXTOS PREHISPÁNICOS TEMPRANOS DE LA QUEBRADA DE LOS CORRALES (TUCUMÁN, ARGENTINA)

NURIT OLISZEWSKI; MOLAR ROCÍO; ARREGUEZ GUILLERMO; CARRIZO JULIETA I.; MARTÍNEZ JORGE

Darwiniana

Instituto de Botánica Darwinion

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2019 vol. 7 p. 5 - 15

This work we reports the discovery of charred macrorrests of Zea mays L. grains from early contexts (ca. 3500 years BP) of the archaeological site Taller Puesto Viejo 1, in Quebrada de Los Corrales (Tucumán, northwest Argentina). For the identification, was implemented a combined analysis of both macroscopic diagnostic characters (texture, structure and fracturing pattern) and microscopic characters (starch granules and phytoliths). This methodology allowed the identification of nine carbonized corn fragments that, at the microscopic level, have numerous starch granules and some diagnostic phytoliths of the taxon. We evaluate the implications of this finding in its context of mortuary type and in the general context of evidence of early maize in Argentina and Chile.