Old Corn Cobs

[rmartin]

Several years ago I accepted an invite to explore some amazing ruins in the Four Corners on private property. I found these 5 little corn cobs in a PII-PIII cliff dwelling. The kernels of corn dried on the cob. They would be about 700 years old. Would they be "Biofacts"? The smallest is 2 1/2 inches or about the size of your little finger. Ray.

[bassflyer]

Thank goodness Sears catalogs came along.

[kirby]

That's a very cool find! Thank's for sharing.

[DesertWalker]

Nice. thanks for sharing. There is a method of dating those, by counting HOW many rows are on them.

[KEVINSMITH]

Ray talk about getting connected to a ancient culture. Those are an AWESOME finds!!!! Talk about a perishable item Looks like corn has come a long ways in the last 700 years. Did you find any other artifacts or do you have any pictures of the area and site. Thanks for the show!!! Kevin

[rmartin]

Thanks Kevin. Actually it was a guided tour by the land owner and I really didn't pick up any artifacts other than a few shards. Corncobbs were quite plentiful around the ruins. It is incredibly dry there and these were well sheltered. The landowner had at least one five gallon bucket full.

[uniface]

It would be neat beyond words if there were a couple kernels still on them and they grew when you planted them !

[rmartin]

Originally Posted by uniface

It would be neat beyond words if there were a couple kernels still on them and they grew when you planted them !

There is a huge Seed Jar with lid in the Mesa Verde Museum that was full of corn that supposedly some body germinated. I don't know? I was given some "Indian corn" by an old Navajo that he claimed was Heritage corn in NM. Ray.

[arrow719]

Originally Posted by uniface

It would be neat beyond words if there were a couple kernels still on them and they grew when you planted them !

That very thing may of happened with a bean called the Anasazi Bean. There's some controversy with that though. The link tells the story. BTW, Anasazi Beans are delicious.

Bean Information, Everything You Need To Know

[DesertWalker]

Cool, think I'll put some in the garden this year.