ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the microfossil and macrofossil evidence for the arrival, spread, and cultivation of the genus Zea in El Salvador. It takes a conservative approach to the Zea pollen data from El Salvador. The history of maize cultivation in El Salvador is still only partially understood. Two generations of fossil maize fields have been reported from central El Salvador. These maize milpas represent a dryland farming strategy that was employed by the Pre-Hispanic residents of El Salvador for more than two millennia. It is remarkable that maize fields separated in time by 1500 years retained such similar morphological characteristics. In both cases maize plants were planted on linear ridge features interspersed with furrows. It is hypothesized that milpa dry farming was probably a common food production strategy used throughout Mesoamerica, but that few relicts exist today because of erosion and subsequent land use.
