Sweet Beginnings

Elaborating on the recent suggestion by Hugh H. Iltis that the direct ancestor of maize was initially domesticated not for its grain but for its sugary pith or other edible parts, this article proposes that during the initial period of maize domestication the stalk provided a key source of sugar for many uses, including the making of alcoholic beverages, and that the social importance of alcohol production helped precipitate its early and rapid spread. Several lines of evidence are examined to evaluate the merit of this hypothesis, and topics for further archaeological research that might contribute to this effort are suggested.