MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.N. world heritage committee has designated Mexico’s Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley as a mixed site, meaning it has human and natural features worthy of note and preservation.
The oldest evidence of corn domestication has been found in caves in the Tehuacan valley, in the southern state of Oaxaca.
Researchers have found evidence farmers were domesticating corn ancestor plants about 5,000 years ago.
UNESCO said Monday the region is also “the arid or semi-arid zone with the richest biodiversity in all of North America.”
It is one of main diversification centers for cactus species.
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