PRE-COLUMBIAN MAIZE IN CHINA AND INDIA?

[Fritz Blackwell]

Dear Jibunnessa:
    You're right, up close they don't look like conch shells.  But they
don't look much like corn to me, either.  I have a feeling they are some
kind of stylized icon, but not corn.  A colleague, Richard Williams who
is an ancient historian, mentioned that the Romans had styled pine cones
in some statuary.  Little far south for evergreens, I suppose, and they
don't much look like coconuts, so I guess until a better solution,
carmeled apples will do.  Seriously, I can't imagine corn popping up in
a contextual vacuum.
Regards,
Fritz Blackwell

Jibunnessa wrote:

> Dear Fritz
>
> > They look like beaded conch shells to me.
>
> Perhaps from far they might!  But, if you look
> at a close-up photo from Carl Johannessen's
> pages at University of Oregon, they don't look
> like conch shells at all! ...beaded or othewise.
>
> I do think though, that they look a lot like
> custard apples!
>
> Jibunnessa