Maize During The North American Archaic Era

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During the North American Archaic Era, agriculture gradually became the main source of sustenance for most people in Native North America. According to Shultz (2009), "Maize a form of corn, was one key element of this existence. Maize is a highly nutritious cereal, containing more nutrients than wheat, rice, millet, and barley. Its development was a remarkable feat of genetic engineering: some 6000 years ago, Indians in today's southern Mexico cultivated the crop through the careful selection of desirable seeds, ultimately producing corn." (p. 6) In this era, more and more people started farming and hunting. With time, many maize based societies came up throughout America. People who lived near the coasts, also used fishing nets to catch plentiful