Text 1
Many botanists have long asserted that the development of agriculture in Mesoamerica was initiated solely by the domestication of maize. According to this traditional view, the high caloric yield of early maize varieties provided the necessary food surplus that allowed nomadic hunter-gatherers to establish permanent settlements. Consequently, other local plant species are viewed as minor additions that were only domesticated long after maize agriculture was already well established.
Text 2
Archaeologist Dr. Elena Ruiz argues that the focus on maize overlooks the crucial role of squash. Ruiz points out that archaeological remains of domesticated squash seeds in Mesoamerica date back to 8000 BCE, nearly two thousand years before the earliest evidence of domesticated maize. Thus, Ruiz contends that squash domestication, rather than maize, was the initial catalyst for the transition to sedentary agricultural life in the region.
Based on the texts, is the statement that the author of Text 2 agrees with the traditional view presented in Text 1 regarding which plant species initiated Mesoamerican agriculture true or false?
Answer: Answer