Maize, matrilocality, migration, and northern Iroquoian evolution

The co-occurrence of matrilocality and maize-based agriculture among histor ical northern Iroquoian groups of New York and southern Ontario has long be en of interest to anthropologists and archaeologists. The traditional expla nation of the association is that gradual evolution of maize-based agricult ure through female labor enhanced female status in families, which resulted in matrilocality. Dean Snow (1994a) recently challenged this in situ hypot hesis of matrilocality by arguing that the sudden appearance of maize-based agriculture and matrilocality can only be explained by the migration of an cestral Iroquoian agriculturists into areas already inhabited by other peop le. Matrilocality arose because it allowed a focus on external warfare by m en against the hostile original inhabitants. In contrast, and based on a ge neral model of maize agriculture evolution and the effects of postmarital r esidence patterns on that model, I argue that neither in situ development h ypothesis nor Snow's migration hypothesis affect the coevolution of matrilo cality and maize agriculture, and that their 'sudden' appearance cannot be used as evidence in support of either hypothesis. I also show that current archaeological evidence for maize agriculture and matrilocality support a g radual coevolution of maize agriculture and matrilocality rather than the s udden appearance argued by Snow.