The Spread of Maize from Southern Mexico: Genetic and Archaeological Perspectives
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Maize ( Zea mays ), domesticated from its wild ancestor teosinte in southern Mexico around 9 000 years ago, has become one of the most important staple crops globally. This research integrates genetic and archaeological data to trace the domestication, dissemination, and impact of maize. Genetic evidence pinpoints the Balsas River Valley as the center of domestication, with subsequent spread facilitated by genetic diversity and adaptive introgression with local teosinte populations. Archaeological findings corroborate these genetic insights, revealing early cultivation sites and trade routes that enabled maize to adapt to diverse environments across the Americas. The spread of maize significantly influenced ancient agricultural practices, economic structures, and cultural rituals, underlining its role in shaping complex societies. Modern implications emphasize the importance of genetic diversity for breeding resilient maize varieties and the need for interdisciplinary research to address contemporary agricultural challenges. This research highlights the transformative journey of maize from its origin to its current global significance, providing a comprehensive understanding of its past, present, and future.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".