The Andean region is associated with which development?

• A. Maize domestication
• B. Potato domestication
• C. Irrigation systems
• D. Writing system

Answer: (B)

Potato domestication is the standout development tied to the Andean region. The high Andes provided a perfect environment for cultivating wild potatoes, and over thousands of years people selectively bred them into the many hardy, starch-rich tubers we know today. This crop stores well and tolerates cold, high-altitude conditions, enabling stable food supplies, population growth, and more complex societies in the Andean highlands and surrounding areas.

Maize domestication originated in Mesoamerica, not the Andes, so it isn’t the development most associated with this region. Irrigation systems have many centers of development worldwide and aren’t uniquely linked to the Andes, and while the Andes did use record-keeping methods like quipu, they did not develop a true writing system.