Corn cultivation spread east and north. By AD 200, cornfields dotted the southern Mississippi River valley. Thereafter, the advance of corn slowed. Farther North, early cold snaps killed existing varieties of the plant. Moreover, corn cultivation in forested regions required unremitting labor, and few Indians were eager to subject themselves to its incessant demands. Fields had to be cleared, usually by burning away the undergrowth. Then the soil was hoed using flat stones, clamshells, or the shoulder blades of large animals. After planting, the fields required constant weeding. Ripened corn had to be shucked and dried. Compared to the thrill of the hunt, the taste of game, and the varied tasks associated with a hunting and gathering, farming held little appeal. Males regarded it as a subsidiary activity, a task best relegated to women.
But over time many Indians learned that the alternative to agricultural labor was starvation. Fields farther north and east were cleared and planted with corn, beans, and squash. Old skeletons provide a precise means of tracking corn’s advance. When corn is chewed, enzymes in the mouth convert its carbohydrates to sugar, a major cause of dental cavities. Radiocarbon dating of skeletons from the vicinity of what is now St. Louis first shows dental cavities around AD 700 and those from southern Wisconsin, around AD 900. By AD 1000 dental cavities can be found in skeletons throughout the Midwest and the East. Corn had become king.
World History
