Fish, Suzanne K.; Fish, Paul R.; Miksicek, Charles; Madsen, John - Saved 5/14/2020
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.
