Prehistoric Cultivation in Southern Arizona

Gathering of wild agave for food and fiber is widely recognized in ethnographic accounts of Southwestern Indians. Historically documented cultivation is limited to small-scale plantings and has not established agave as a significant aboriginal cultigen. The apparent absence of agave as a cultivated staple among peoples of the Sonoran Desert contrasts with pre-Columbian and historic ubiquity of this crop further south. It is a major cultigen throughout the rest of highland Mexico, including areas in Durango and Zacatecas, often considered within the greater Southwestern cultural sphere. Current archaeological evidence suggests that agave figured more prominently in prehistoric Southwestern agriculture than in that of subsequent groups.Desert Plants is published by The University of Arizona for the Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum. For more information about this unique botanical journal, please email the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Publications Office at pubs@cals.arizona.edu