News From the Field
Ancient Sunflower Fuels Debate About Agriculture in the Americas

April 29, 2008

David Lentz and his fellow researchers have documented archaeological, linguistic, ethnographic and ethnohistoric data demonstrating that the sunflower entered the repertoire of Mexican domesticates by 2600 B.C.; that its cultivation was widespread in Mexico and extended as far south as El Salvador by the first millennium B.C.; that it was well known to the Aztecs; and that it is still in use by traditional Mesoamerican cultures today. Full Story

Source
University of Cincinnati

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