Migrants from South Carrying Maize Were Early Maya Ancestors
Published:31 Mar.2022 Source:University of New Mexico
New research published this week by University of New Mexico archaeologist Keith Prufer shows that a site in Belize was critical in studying the origins of the ancient Maya people and the spread of maize as a staple food.
According to the paper "South-to-north migration preceded the advent of intensive farming in the Maya region," published this week in Nature Communications and co-led by Prufer, excavations in Belize, along with ancient DNA analysis, indicate a previously unknown migration of people-carrying maize-from an area of South America northward to the Maya region.