The Spanish chroniclers of the same period also collaborate on the importance of corn in Andean culture. During the harvest period there were great celebrations during which corn was brought into homes, while people sang and prayed for the longevity of the plant (Bonavia, 2013, p. 224). They had a three-day ceremony during which they ate, drank, and watched over what they called Mama Zara which translates to Mother of the Corn (Bonavia, 2013, p. 224). The best ears were said to be wrapped in the finest blankets the family owned (Bonavia, 2013, p. 224). According to the analysis conducted by Finucane and some of his colleagues on collagen in human and animal skeletons, it was shown that maize was the main component of the diet of people in the Huari Empire from 550 to 10,000 AD (Finucane, Agurto and Isbell, 2006). This dates corn consumption in the Andean region to pre-ceramic times. He went on to state that maize was the staple food that sustained both urban and rural populations (Finucane, Agurto, & Isbell, 2006). Corn has been a mainstay of Latin American culture and cuisine to this day. Generations have cultivated, cultivated, and used maize for sustenance, rituals, celebrations, and a variety of other practices (Staller, 2010). Maize shares 90% of its genome with its wild ancestor, teosinte. The remaining 10% contain genes vital for the survival of teosinte in nature (Bonavia, 2013, p. 246). However; corn varies substantially from teosinte from a morphological point of view. The main physical differences between the two are as follows:1. The ear of teosinte is brittle and shatters, while that of domestic corn does not shatter.2. Teosinte ears have two rows, while corn ears have multiple rows. Usually four or more.3. In teosinte, only one of the two female spikelets is...... middle of paper......2590106Rice, PM (2007). At the start. In the Origins of the Mayan Calendar: Monuments, Mythology, and the Materialization of Time (pp. 23-28). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. The role of women in the conservation of maize genetic resources. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y3841e/y3841e04.htm#TopOfPageStaller, J. (2010). Cobs and corn crops: History of Zea mays L. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Zea mays (Mielies, Corn). (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/plants/poaceae/zea_mays.htmZea mays Sweet Corn PFAF Plant Database. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2014, from http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Zea+maysZeder, M.A. (2006). Documenting domestication: new genetic and archaeological paradigms. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.