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Re: Ad Yurii Gloriam (Was Re: maize in ancient india: strong transpacific links are indicated)

yuku@io.org (Yuri Kuchinsky) wrote:
>Douglas Weller (dweller@ramtops.demon.co.uk) wrote:
>: On 13 Jan 1997 13:37:41 GMT, yuku@io.org (Yuri Kuchinsky) wrote:
>
>: >a) As Johannessen's research indicates that maize was a staple crop in
>: >that area, these cob fossils shouldn't really be that difficult to turn
>up : >in excavations. Is anyone looking for them? 
>
>: Yuri, no one has to look for them, if they are there they will be
>obvious! We : had this discussion before about chicken bones. Whenever
>archaeologists dig : they examine everything they find, and they'd be
>noticed. 
>
>Doug, with all due respect, I find your reasoning hopelessly flawed.
>
>Lets try this. You go to the bookstore to buy a certain book. Would your
>chances of finding this book be better if you were actually looking for it
>in the bookstore? Or -- if you were wandering aimlessly among the isles
>waiting for that book to fall off its shelf into your lap -- by itself?
>
>Think about it and let me know about the outcome of your deliberations...
>
>Regards,
>
>Yuri.


No, its not flawed. Yuri's assertion on maize was that it was well 
established in India and Asia prior to Columbus' invasion of the New 
World. If this were true, maize would have been a part of the diet, and 
the remnants would be readily apparent in the record--middens and 
coprolites, to be more specific. I can think of no archaeologists who 
don't screen through and analyze every piece of the assemblage as they 
excavate a site.

Randy

 

-- 
_______________
Randal Allison, Ph.D.
http://cis.tamu.edu/~ralliso
   --If you can't be happy naturally, be unnaturally happy.