Arizona State Museum - 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.

Saved 5/14/2020

Desert Plants is a unique botanical journal published by The University of Arizona for Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum. This journal is devoted to encouraging the appreciation of indigenous and adapted arid land plants. Desert Plants publishes a variety of manuscripts intended for amateur and professional desert plant enthusiasts. A few of the diverse topics covered include desert horticulture, landscape architecture, desert ecology, and history. First published in 1979, Desert Plants is currently published biannually with issues in June and December. Digital access to this material is made possible by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum, and the University Libraries at the University of Arizona.

Contains the article Prehistoric Cultivation in Southern Arizona about agave cultivation in the Santa Cruz/Tortolita Mountain area.

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.