From the text... 'Because maize is a plant that requires human cultivation for survival, we can infer from the distribution of maize pollen that sedentary agriculturalists were present at La Selva by 2700 B.P. This interpretation is consistent with archaeological findings, which include artifacts diagnostic of the La Montana phase (Quintanilla 1990; F. Sol, pers. comm.). F. Sol (pers. comm.) has recently delineated a new La Montana phase site (Tolomuco) located <300 m from the Machita swamp. We suspect that the charcoal fragments and maize pollen in the Machita swamp sediments record settlement, forest clearing, and maize cultivation within or very near the watershed of the swamp. This interpretation appears consistent with detailed analyses and dating of soil charcoal in the watershed by Harrell and Sanford (K. Harrell, pers. comm.).' 1996 Association for Tropical Biology, P.O. Box 1897, Lawrence, KS 66044-8897. Reprinted by permission. Email: biotropica@umsl.edu .