Ancient site · Other
Guilá Naquitz Cave
A small cave in the Oaxaca Valley of southern Mexico used by bands of foragers on short visits. Its dry floor preserved squash seeds and rinds about 10,000 years old, the earliest known evidence for a domesticated crop in the Americas, plus early bottle gourds and beans.
Some of the oldest maize cobs ever found came from here too, though maize itself was probably first domesticated elsewhere in Mexico. The cave is part of the Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla World Heritage Site.
- Dates
- used c. 8800–6900 BCE and again c. 650–1450 CE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 16.98° N, 96.31° W
How we know
No writing existed; dates come from radiocarbon on seeds, rinds and other plant remains from the cave floor.
Nearby sites
- Monte Albán c. 500 BCE – 850 CE
- San José Mogote c. 1500–500 BCE
- San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Olmec centre c. 1400–900 BCE
- La Venta c. 1200–400 BCE (main centre c. 900–400 BCE)
- Cuicuilco c. 1000 BCE – c. 300 CE
- Teotihuacan c. 100 BCE – 550 CE (centre burned); declined to c. 650 CE