Anthropology visiting assistant professor Paula Turkon had a paper on maize utilization in ancient Mexico published in the Journal of Ethnobiology.
Paula Turkon
2006 Morphological Variation of Maize Cupules and Access to High Quality Maize in the Prehispanic Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico. Journal of Ethnobiology 26(1):139-164.
This article describes research that Dr. Turkon has been conducting on maize use in northeast Mexico. Quantitative analyses of maize cupules from the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico suggest that high-status households had access to maize with distinct morphological traits. This study demonstrates that an analysis of morphological variability in maize cobs can contribute to an understanding of social or economic differences both within and among archaeological settlements.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20060915125036330