CORN, BEANS AND SQUASH - I I
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| Fig.1 - Corn, beans and squash the New World Trinity |
New World Trinity
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| Fig. 2 - A Mayan "milpa", a family plot where corn, beans and squash are interplanted |
This is the third posting devoted to the ancient Native American tradition of inter-planting corn, beans and squash.
a "Mayan milpa", where this tradition originated in Mesoamerica, is still the common method of cultivation in many parts of the New World. These are small family plots that produce the main source of sustenance for a year. They are small enough that the whole family can work on it at different times of the year. In addition to the basic staples, mango and papaya trees surround the planted field in the lowlands, and avocado trees do the same in the highlands. Each family may have more than one plot, in different soil or micro-climatic conditions to reduce risk, and a vegetable garden may surround the place of residence.
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| Fig. 3 - Beans come in many colors |
Beans such as pinto beans, kidney beans, navy beans and black beans are all known scientifically as Phaseolus vulgaris.
They are all referred to as "common beans" probably owing to the fact that they derived from a common bean ancestor that originated in the Andean region of South America. Just as maize traveled south, beans and potatoes traveled north along ancient trading or migrating routes.
From Central America beans were introduced into Europe in the 15th century by Spanish explorers returning from their voyages to the New World. Beans were not alone. Maize, tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, chilies, and cocoa were soon impacting the world economy. Today we think of anything Italian as having tomato sauce, everything Irish as having something to do with potatoes, and chocolate must be Swiss. Is it not? Spanish and Portuguese traders took them to Africa and Asia. The advantage of maize, beans and cocoa over the others is that dried seeds can last many years and remain fertile. Today, the largest commercial producers of dried common beans are India, China, Indonesia, Brazil and the United States.
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| Fig. 4 - Beans in different stages of drying |
As beans are a very inexpensive form of good protein, they have become popular in many cultures throughout the world. Pinto beans are the most highly consumed dried bean in the United States.
Beans have remained a basic staple in many countries. Black beans are popular in the Caribbean and Central America. Pinto and red beans are popular in Mexico and in the U. S. south. White beans were popular in the northern states. They were adopted a long time ago by the U. S. Navy for their sailors.
Beans and maize have a great value in addition to their nutritional and horticultural values. They can preserve well over time. This means that they allow a process of accumulation or savings. In economics this is the source of capital formation. Food security immediately allows other possibilities of human behavior. Food surpluses are one of the primitive forms of wealth and well being. They also allow the group to face hardships, such as drought, destructive storms or floods. Surpluses reduce the time needed to find food, hence allowing time for other creative human activities. But these seeds need a secure place for storage.
Beans and maize also have a great quality. They have visual indicators such as size, shape, color and hardness. This allows human intelligence to select and save the best seeds for future harvests. A process of selection eventually improves plant and fruit size, nutritional value, resistance to plagues or drought, adaptation to soil conditions and type, or any other desirable quality. Over thousands of years, the ancient natives genetically modified these plants and "gifted" them to the world.
Their knowledge has now become science, and genetic manipulation in the laboratory with technology has allowed the process to be shortened, but its essence is the same. We should not be afraid of knowledge.
Beans and maize are also different from other foods. They can not be eaten to their full value raw. They require cooking. A lot of cooking. The ancient Mayas discovered that maize could be cooked in lime. This breaks the protective coat of the grain and softens the kernel. The result is "hominy", "pozole" or "nixtamal". The lime in water boils naturally and with little heat the process is done. The softened maize is easily turned into dough: "masa". This is the origin of tamales, tortillas and atole. Where lime was not available, lye and ash were used with somewhat different results, such as blue bread among the Pueblo people. But, beans are different.
Ancient cooking methods past the "primitive man" grilling, smoking, or toasting by the fire do not work with beans. Boiling bags or boiling baskets do not work either. The process of dropping highly heated rocks on water is effective only if done for a few minutes, such as doing a stew, or a soup. Cooking beans takes many hours of simmering. Even if beans are pre-soaked (re-hydrated), they take more than one hour in a slow boil. This required a new technology. Beans are the mother and father of pottery in the New World.
The ancients must have discovered that there was a physical change in the dirt that surrounded the fires. Some of if got cooked, hardened and changed color. It almost became stone. This allowed the emergence of ceramics, first taking the forms of gourds and baskets, even to the details of their decorative designs. Pottery was born functional to cook beans for a long time in a slow fire with few embers. There must be something magic too in the clay pot. Beans cooked liked the ancients did it, in clay pots, definitely taste different than those cooked in a modern glazed ceramic, cast iron, enameled or glass cookware.
Pottery also solved the problem of storage. Grains and beans have been found in archaeological caches, safely stored inside clay pots dating to 3,000 b. C. They have also been found in tombs as ceremonial or votive containers for use in the underworld or as gifts to the gods. Pots decorated on the outside are not for cooking. Cooking pots may have a few decorations near the top, around the lip, or inside.
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| Fig. 5 - Ancient pre-columbian "olla" for beans Note the line at the waist. Indicates origin of bottom molded inside basket or another pot |
Beans and maize also have a great quality. They have visual indicators such as size, shape, color and hardness. This allows human intelligence to select and save the best seeds for future harvests. A process of selection eventually improves plant and fruit size, nutritional value, resistance to plagues or drought, adaptation to soil conditions and type, or any other desirable quality. Over thousands of years, the ancient natives genetically modified these plants and "gifted" them to the world.
Their knowledge has now become science, and genetic manipulation in the laboratory with technology has allowed the process to be shortened, but its essence is the same. We should not be afraid of knowledge.
Beans and maize are also different from other foods. They can not be eaten to their full value raw. They require cooking. A lot of cooking. The ancient Mayas discovered that maize could be cooked in lime. This breaks the protective coat of the grain and softens the kernel. The result is "hominy", "pozole" or "nixtamal". The lime in water boils naturally and with little heat the process is done. The softened maize is easily turned into dough: "masa". This is the origin of tamales, tortillas and atole. Where lime was not available, lye and ash were used with somewhat different results, such as blue bread among the Pueblo people. But, beans are different.
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| Fig. 6 - Primitive pre-columbian bean pot |
Ancient cooking methods past the "primitive man" grilling, smoking, or toasting by the fire do not work with beans. Boiling bags or boiling baskets do not work either. The process of dropping highly heated rocks on water is effective only if done for a few minutes, such as doing a stew, or a soup. Cooking beans takes many hours of simmering. Even if beans are pre-soaked (re-hydrated), they take more than one hour in a slow boil. This required a new technology. Beans are the mother and father of pottery in the New World.
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| Fig. 7 - Classical Mayan storage vases |
The ancients must have discovered that there was a physical change in the dirt that surrounded the fires. Some of if got cooked, hardened and changed color. It almost became stone. This allowed the emergence of ceramics, first taking the forms of gourds and baskets, even to the details of their decorative designs. Pottery was born functional to cook beans for a long time in a slow fire with few embers. There must be something magic too in the clay pot. Beans cooked liked the ancients did it, in clay pots, definitely taste different than those cooked in a modern glazed ceramic, cast iron, enameled or glass cookware.
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| Fig. 9 - Tripod votive pot for storage |
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| Fig. 8 - Votive "olla" found in tomb with grain |
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| Fig. 10 - Ancestral Pueblo bean pot |
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| Fig. 11 - Modern Pueblo pot |
WATCH THESE VIDEOS
THE HANDS OF MARIA MARTINEZ, POTTER PART 1
MARIA MARTINEZ - FAMOUS PUEBLO POTTER, Part 2
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| Fig. 12 - Modern Pueblo pottery of New Mexico |
With maize, beans and squash - the civilizing force of agriculture- the ancient people of the United States also received the technology of pottery from the Mesoamerican civilizations.
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