The origins and objectives of the Taliban's domestic policies while in Essay

The origins and objectives of the Taliban's domestic policies while in power in Afghanistan - Essay Example It can sometimes be understood to mean objections to western ideas, coupled with anti-American sentiments. A history of the Taliban in Afghanistan shall first be presented, along with a discussion of their rise to power in Afghanistan. Taliban’s ideologies on anti-modernism shall also be discussed, including the origins and objectives of these domestic policies in Afghanistan. Details on its anti-modernist goals and activities shall also be detailed in this discussion. The Taliban is an Islamic extremist group which took over Afghanistan’s government in 1996 until they were driven out by American forces in 2001 (Marsden, 2002, p. 124). This group has been considered a safe haven to the al-Qaeda terrorist group, assisting leader Osama bin Laden in his terrorist activities. This group has also set forth a rigid stance on Islamic Law while executing criminals and outlawing the education of women (Nolan, 2006, p. 19). The group has been out of Afghanistan for many years now, however it is still considered an influential group in Afghanistan, implementing policies which seek to undermine the US-supported government. Pakistan’s support for the group has limited the international efforts towards controlling these insurgents and ending their activities in Afghanistan (Nolan, 2006, p. 19). The US will eventually fully withdraw from the country by 2014 and since 2010, the US and Afghani government officials have been carrying out discussions o n conflict settlement. However, these talks have not sufficiently settled the Taliban issue in Afghanistan. The Afghan Mujahideen were associated with a group of tribal fighters whose only purpose or goal was to eliminate the Soviets, not so much to establish insurgent activities. The Mujahideen is considered a group of Afghans fighting against the PDPA and the Soviet troops; this group believed that they were involved in a holy war or a

Diversity Hiring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Diversity Hiring - Essay Example " It is irrefutable that current business operations have evolved over time, confounding managers with new issues. The evolution of new business strategies is in response to the changes in the external environment of business organizations. It should be noted that the developments in the market mentioned were beyond the effects of neither the current economic turmoil nor the technological revolution which radically altered the way business is done. The present mode of business is strongly influenced by the emergence of hypercompetitive markets that resulted from the rapid integration of markets brought about by globalization. As businesses are faced with new challenges and opportunities, it is imperative that they also employ a new approach in doing business. They do this by strengthening their core competencies by aligning their respective resources to their various objectives. It is irrefutable that human resource is the indispensable, if not the most important, asset in a business institution. The contribution of human resource in the success and mere survival of a company cannot be overstated. As such, companies are seen to align their workforce in order to fully reap the opportunities present in the market. Diversity hiring is the new trend in choosing the employees to work for an organization. As more and more companies are embracing this new system, more reports and empirical evidences are also reported which support direct hiring. This report will look at direct hiring as an ethical issue in business organizations. The first part will briefly look at the scope of direct hiring in the United States. Discussions on its advantages and ethical considerations will also be set forth. The paper will conclude with the key points tackled. Scope of Diversity Hiring The first step toward creating a more diversified workforce was taken by the President John F. Kennedy with the establishment of The President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. This effort gave way in the formation of workforce which is comprised of people with different nationality. It should be noted that during this period there is a lack of appreciation of the value of diverse teams. In contrast, the program was enacted to create equal opportunity for prospective employees regardless of their ethnicity. However, the present day situation is now different. The importance of having a diverse team working for a business organization is not only done in order to comply with this requirement but due to the perceived value of inclusivity. In fact, a leading proponent of diversity recognized the importance of hiring employees with diverse backgrounds in order to boost the performance of a business organization. Gloria Johnson Goins, the vice president of diversity and inclusiveness for the Home Depot asserted American businesses should willing embrace this new trend in order for them to adapt to the nation's business demographics. According to ASME, workplace diversity is "the variety among people related to such factors as age, culture, education, employee status, family status, function, gender, national origin, physical appearance, race, regional origin, religion, sexual orientation, and thinking style." Thus, diversity embraces the differences among individuals and utilizes them for the utmost benefit of the business organization. As companies come to recognize the contribution of workplace

Organizational Behavior--A Definition Essay Example for Free

Organizational BehaviorA Definition Essay Stephen P. Robbins states in the Organizational Behavior 9/e textbook that Organizational Behavior is a field of study, because many people in the organizational field spend time examining the behavior of people (p.1) . I learned in my prior Organizational Behavior class in undergraduate school, that Organizational Behavior is a fractional field of study because of the various disciplines that it encompasses. There are disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Economics, along with applied fields of study such as Industrial Psychology, Political Science, Labor Relations, Human Resource Management, and Organizational Development. For this reason, it is an Applied Science. Organizations themselves are ever changing, as are the people in them. The organizations adapt to change better than the people do. People are resistant to change, and are comfortable with what they know from past behaviors. Robbins states that, three major aspects of behavior are focused on when examining the behavior of people in work settings. The three aspects are individuals, groups, and structures (p.1). When examining individuals, there are three topics that are researched. These are how personality, attitudes, and motivation affect work (p.1). There is a lot of attention being paid to the behavior of employees of groups, because of the evolution of team formation over the last few years. Robbins states that people work under a certain structure (p. 1). This is where socialization and the organizational culture affect employees. Socialization is where an employee joins an organization, and forms expectations about what the organization will do for them, plus what they will do for the organization. The organizational culture is developed over time, and is a pattern of shared values and beliefs. There should be a fit between culture, people, tasks, strategy, and structure. This is why the research on Organizational Behavior is more of a systematic study than just relying on intuition alone (p. 1). It is believed that Organizational Behavior and Organizational Culture are tied together, and when the two are combined, the outcomes may affect performance. Th e best example that I have of Organizational Behavior, Culture, and Socialization being tied together in a work setting is when I worked for the Nutrition and Food Service (NFS) Department a several years ago. The employees in the medical center kitchen were bonded together by  time in job. Most of the staff had been working together for years. They were not receptive to new employees, and I always loved to work. There were two or three clicks or groups. I was lucky and ended up with the good employees that liked to work. There was one group that were WG-3s and they thought that they were high enough in the organization that they did not have to do anything. I would do all of my work, and two other ladies, Carol, and Geraldine, would all get together and clean stock rooms and walk-in coolers. I had been told to slow down, because I was making the older people look bad to the supervisor. I told them that they were making themselves look bad. When I got a full-time job above some of the part-timers that had been there for years, I was black-balled. I had to tell my husband (married at the time) that they may call and tell him that I was having an affair (their favorite thing to do), and that he just had to ignore them. The old VA culture was one that employees could stand around and do nothing, while a few employees did everything. After a few employees of that service got fired, they learned that it was a right to work agreement and most have started to pick up the pace in recent years. Since I have been out of that job, I see the employees at break, and realize how much all have in common. I am in a wild position at this time. I have just learned that I was qualified for a job as a Supervisor in NFS and am going to be scheduled for an interview. Since I know their past behaviors, I bet some of them are really hoping that I do not get the job, and the ones that told me to slow down, I bet they are really hoping that I do not get the job. References http://guest:[emailprotected]/SCRIPT/Behavior/scripts/student/serve_page?920055142+Chapter1/notes3.htm. Robbins, Stephen P., 2002. Accessed from the Internet on March 5, 2002. Notes from prior Organizational Behavior lecture class from East Tennessee State University, 2000.

Investigate the Effect of Varying Solution Concentration on Osmosis in

Investigate the Effect of Varying Solution Concentration on Osmosis in a Potato Chip Prediction A definition of osmosis is: 'the movement of water molecules from an area of high water concentration to a low water concentration across a semi-permeable membrane' (Oxforddictionary 2000). In a high concentration of water the amount of solute (e.g. sugar) is low. These solutions are usually known as a dilute or weak solution. But in a low concentration of water the amount of solute (e.g. sugar) is high. These solutions are usually known as concentrated or strong solutions. When a weak solution and a strong solution are separated by a partially permeable membrane, the water will move from the area of high concentration to the area of low until both sides are equal. This is osmosis, and is shown in the diagram below. Examples of osmosis can also be seen in living cells. Root hairs on plants take in water from the soil via osmosis. Water continuously moves along the cells of the root and up the xylem to the leaf. Water is moving to areas of lower water concentration all the time. This is shown in the diagram below. Example of Osmosis in a Root Hair Cell When a cell is placed in distilled water which is high water concentration water will move across the semi- permeable membrane into the cell which has lower water concentration by osmosis, making the cell swell in size. The cell is now known as turgid. If a potato cell was placed in the same circumstances the cells would increase in length, volume and mass because of the osmotic effects. If the same potato cells were placed in a solution with a low water concentration, then the effects would be the opposite - water would move out of the cell into the area of lower concentration, the water. Thus, the potato chip will decrease in length, volume and mass. In more extreme cases, the cell membrane would break away from the cell wall and the cell is then known as plasmolysed. The higher the concentration of water in the external solution, the higher the amount of water that enters the cell by osmosis. The smaller the concentration of water in the external solution, the higher the amount of water that leaves the cell. However, there will be a point where the concentrations of water inside and outside the cells are equal. This is known as the isotonic point, and at this point there will be no change in the length, vo... ...nger, this would have enabled me to find the saturation point (when the potato can no longer take in any more water) and dehydration point (when the potato cannot lose any more water)and therefore get a more accurate result. Finally, I could extend the experiment to a more exact level by looking at the potato cylinders under a microscope, and then I would be able to see the cells in greater detail and draw some more observational results. Further investigations that I could carry out in the future are, using a different variety of potato, for example, a 'king Edward' rather than a 'maris piper'. Also I could use a different plant tissue, for example, a carrot or an apple. Then I could find out whether osmosis occurs with the same patterns and trends with any vegetable. Conclusion However despite this, I think that the experiment I carried out, (given the apparatus I was given to carry out the test) was successful, my results were consistent, and I was pleased with the comparison of my results with my previous prediction. I followed the method plan correctly; I believe I gained accurate and sufficient enough results to conclude the experiment, and to prove my initial prediction.

Research Paper on a Tale of Two Cities

Formal Plot Summary Lucie Manette is a central character in the novel. She tends to affect the characters around her in a brightening manor. For instance she mends her father’s psyche through her unconditional love. Because of her ability to affect others in a liberating sense she attracts other characters such as Stryver, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton. She also is able to bring light to the life of family friend Jarvis Lorry. Another way Lucie is central is through her constant placement in â€Å"love triangles† the most obvious being Carton and Darnay. A second triangle she finds herself in is between Dr. Manette and Darnay. Sydney Carton is the protagonist of the novel. He dies by the blade of the guillotine to save Darnay. Carton is introduced in the beginning of the novel as an indifferent, drunkard of a lawyer. He seeks no true meaning to life or find pursuit in attaining any future goals. He is a complex character, because he ends up finding meaning, when he falls in love with Lucie Manette. He works early hours for Stryver while wearing sopping towels. He has thrown away much potential, yet he retains sympathy from people by fulfilling a promise to Lucie. Another dimension to Sydney Carton is that he is a social outcast. He has no place in the English class system. Yet, when Carton goes to Paris he becomes a new person. He finds fulfillment in life and in his death. Charles Darnay plays the role of romantic lead. He becomes the love interest and eventually the husband of Lucie. Darnay’s real name is revealed to Dr. Mannette in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage—his name is revealed to be St. Evremonde. Darnay is a symbol of sacrifice, when he gives up his home in France to pursue a life in England. He gives up his old privileges to become a tutor of the French language. Dr. Manette spent eighteen years in jail. To keep his mind in prison, he developed a skill in shoemaking. Dr. Manette suffers from spells of amnesia. Throughout the novel Dr. Manette grows as a character. He develops strength and confidence that he had lost in solitary confinement. An example of this is his ability to reason with the revolutionaries to keep Darnay alive. Five years later Charles Darnay is introduced on the stand of a court house. He is being tried for treason. Lorry and Lucie testify to save Darnay, but he saved by his Lawyer Stryver. The case that was made to save Darnay was that he could not possibly be spy because of his resemblance to Sydney Carton—an indifferent lawyer. As this is going on, Darnay, proposes to Lucie. They become engaged. Sydney Carton also reveals his love for Lucie. He understand that he cannot have her, so he promises to give his life for anyone sacred to her. While the marriage ceremony is commencing it is told to Dr. Manette that there were hidden papers found in a prison. This event sends Dr. Manette into shock for several days. Earlier in the day Darnay tells Dr. Manette his true name—Charles St. Evremonde. The French Revolution has now broken out, it is 1789. Defarge has lead an attack on the Bastille while his wife controls the revolutionary women. They burn down everything related with the St. Evremonde name. Gabelle, father of the killed child, is imprisoned. Darnay hears of this tragic event and rushes to France. While he is attempting to help Gabelle, Darnay is seized by revolutionaries as an aristocrat. Dr. Manette has much influence because of his time spent in the Bastille, he is able to visit Darnay, but no free him. Fifteen months later Darnay is brought up before the French Tribunal. As a result of Dr Manette and Gabelles’ testimonies he is set free. As Darnay is leaving, he is rearrested due to the efforts of Madame and Monsieur Defarge. Sydney Carton appears and informs Travis Lorry. Sydney Carton forces John Basard (he once testified against Darnay) to cooperate with him, or he’d reveal Basards illegal maneuvers of spying on prisoners. The following day Carton goes to visit Darnay, drugs him, and takes his clothes. Carton planned on fulfilling his promise to Lucie. Barsard rushes Darnay’s unconscious body out of jail to be with his family and flee safely. Madame Defarge goes to Manette’s apartment to kill Lucie, but meets Miss Pross. Miss Pross fights off Defarge who fires the pistol killing herself. Carton meets the guillotine. He is calm and is optimistic of his death. He dies with a face that is at peace. One major conflict in the novel is between Charles Darnay and his uncle. The conflict is external. There is a fight about Darnay selling the old establishment in France. Darnay’s uncle curses him. There is no resolution to this conflict, but Darnay’s uncle meets his demise when he is stabbed to death by Gabelle. One major internal conflict is between Carton and his inability to pursue any goals. He is revealed as a waste. He becomes the saddest story, when he is born with all the potential in the world but does nothing with it. The conflict is finally resolved when he keeps his promise to Lucie, when he takes his life for Darnay. He is able to come to terms and feel at peace. Sacrifice becomes a central theme in the novel. One example is when Darnay gives up his aristocratic lifestyle to pursue life in England. Another example is Carton when he sacrifices his life in order to save Darnay, so that Darnay can flee the country with Lucie. Another obvious them in A Tale of Two Cities is love and hate. An obvious example of love is Miss Pross protecting Lucie’s life by fighting off Madame Defarge. Miss Pross risks her own life to save another. The best example of love is Carton’s promise to Lucie. In order to promise his life to Lucie, he had to love someone more than himself. An example of hate is Madame Defarge’s attempts to kill those who had relations with Darnay. She wanted vengeance, which is a byproduct of hate. Her hate for aristocracy drives her to almost successfully getting Darnay killed by the guillotine. Another major theme which should be mentioned is death. Carton has to die in order for Darnayto live. Throughout the novel there is speak of death and violence. There were multiple descriptions in the novel of death by guillotine and scenes of the bloodshed due to revolutionary violence. One example I was able to clearly recognize was the guillotine. It symbolized death. Such as when it killed Carton. It also symbolized revolutionary violence. Evidence of this was whenever speak of revolutionary actions were shown, the guillotine was mentioned. Another example was Madame Defarge’s knitting. She would knit the names of the people she desired to kill. It was a symbol of their fate. Her knitting was a symbol of fate because every time she knitted someone’s name into her pattern, they would be marked to die. My personal reaction to the book was that it was very complicated to understand. Dickens’ word usage made simple sentences much too complicated to understand. I had to read the book with a dictionary. It took me from anywhere between twenty and thirty minutes to read eight to nine pages. Although I struggled much with the novel, I enjoyed it. My research paper will be concentrated on the complexity of Sydney Carton. He constantly changed my view of him in the novel. At one point I might dislike him, but then in another section I gained understanding for him. I feel that I will be centering my thesis on paralleling the lives and views of both Sydney Carton and Charles Dickens. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. New York: Cassia Press, 1998.

Organisational Behaviour - 1534 Words

â€Å"The study of the structure, functioning and performance of organisations, and the behaviour of groups and individuals within them† Derek Pugh’s (1971) This influential definition of organisational behaviour was by Derek Pugh in 1971. Human behaviour is the way people act and react to situations and circumstances, each individual is different, therefore it is essential for an organisation to study human behaviour in order to understand the workforce. By observing and understanding each individual the organisation would improve performance; organisational behaviour can be considered as the key area of management. Organisations study organisational behaviour within by; investigating individuals, social perception, attitudes and†¦show more content†¦Organisations when recruiting ask questions that provide a better insight into candidates’ personalities in order to select the best candidate for the vacant job, this is very important in the recruiting process because if the chosen candidate’s personality does not suit the given job, the organisation will not get a 100% commitment from the person when recruited, the reason organisations spend a great deal of time, money and effort in the recruitment process to avoid all their efforts going in vain. This could be argued against as one of the contemporary issues with organisational behaviour is regarding the recession. Organisations need to reduce costs on employee wellbeing. Abraham Harold Maslow the famous psychologist changed the whole prospect of psychology leaving a profound impression on society and business through his great theories. Maslow understood human nature, motivation and self-actualisation better than anyone else in his time; he introduced his theory on human needs in a hierarchy with five levels in 1943. Organisations need to acknowledge and make use of Maslow’s work and only then can they successfully motivate employees to work more than their required potential as a result a thriving business. By identifying and acknowledging these levels, we can be motivated to maintain and/or exceed a level to reach self-actualisation therefore to beShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Behaviour What Is Organisational Behaviour?1166 Words   |  5 PagesORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR What is organisational behaviour? The study of human behaviour, attitudes and performance within an organisational setting; drawing on theory, methods and principles from such disciplines as psychology, sociology and cultural anthropology to learn about individual, groups and processes. 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The Domestication History of Cotton (Gossypium)

Cotton (Gossypium sp.) is one of the most important and earliest domesticated non-food crops in the world. Used primarily for its fiber, cotton was domesticated independently in both the Old and New Worlds. The word cotton originated from the Arabic term al qutn, which became in Spanish algodà ³n and cotton in English. Key Takeaways: Domestication of Cotton Cotton is one of the earliest domesticated non-food crops, independently domesticated at least four different times in four different parts of the world.  The first cotton domesticate was from the wild tree form in Pakistan or Madagascar at least 6,000 years ago; the next oldest was domesticated in Mexico about 5,000 years ago.  Cotton processing, taking the cotton bolls and making them into fibers, is a global technique; spinning those fibers into strings for weaving was anciently accomplished by the use of spindle whorls in the New World and spinning wheels in the Old World.   Nearly all the cotton produced in the world today is the New World species Gossypium hirsutum, but before the 19th century, several species were grown on different continents. The four domesticated Gossypium species of the Malvaceae family are G. arboreum L., domesticated in the Indus Valley of Pakistan and India; G. herbaceum L. from Arabia and Syria; G. hirsutum from Mesoamerica; and G. barbadense from South America. All four domestic species and their wild relatives are shrubs or small trees which are traditionally grown as summer crops; domesticated versions are highly drought- and salt-tolerant crops that grow well in marginal, arid environments. Old World cotton has short, coarse, weak fibers that are today primarily used for stuffing and quilt making; New World cotton has higher production demands but provides longer and stronger fibers and higher yields. Making Cotton Wild cotton is photo-period sensitive--in other words, the plant begins to germinate when the day length reaches a certain point. Wild cotton plants are perennial and their form is sprawling. Domestic versions are short, compact annual shrubs which do not respond to changes in day length--thats an advantage if the plant grows in places with cool winters because both wild and domestic kinds of cotton are frost-intolerant. Cotton fruits are capsules or bolls which contain several seeds covered by two kinds of fiber: short ones called fuzz and long ones called lint. Only the lint fibers are useful for making textiles, and the domestic plants have larger seeds covered with comparatively abundant lint. Cotton is traditionally harvested by hand, and then the cotton is ginned--processed to separate the seeds from the fiber. After the ginning process, the cotton fibers are batted with a wooden bow to make them more flexible and carded with a hand comb to separate the fibers before spinning. Spinning twists the individual fibers into a yarn, which can be completed by hand with a spindle and spindle whorl (in the New World) or with a spinning wheel (developed in the Old World). Old World Cotton Cotton was first domesticated in the Old World about 7,000 years ago; the earliest archaeological evidence for cotton use is from the Neolithic occupation of Mehrgarh, in the Kachi Plain of Balochistan, Pakistan, in the sixth millennium BC. Cultivation of G. arboreum began in the Indus Valley of India and Pakistan, and then eventually spread over Africa and Asia, whereas G. herbaceum was first cultivated in Arabia and Syria. The two main species, G. arboreum and G. herbaceum, are genetically very different and probably diverged well before domestication. Specialists agree that the wild progenitor of G. herbaceum was an African species, whereas the ancestor of G. arboreum is still unknown. Regions of the possible origin of the G. arboreum wild progenitor are likely Madagascar or the Indus Valley, where the most ancient evidence for cultivated cotton has been found. Gossypium arboreum Abundant archaeological evidence exists for the initial domestication and use of G. arboreum, by the Harappan (aka Indus Valley) civilization in Pakistan. Mehrgarh, the earliest agricultural village in the Indus Valley, holds multiple lines of evidence of cotton seeds and fibers beginning about 6000 BP. At Mohenjo-Daro, fragments of cloth and cotton textiles have been dated to the fourth millennium BCE, and archaeologists agree that most of the trade that made the city grow was based on cotton exportation. Raw material and finished cloth were exported from South Asia into Dhuweila in eastern Jordan by 6450–5000 years ago, and to Maikop (Majkop or Maykop) in the northern Caucasus by 6000 BP. Cotton fabric has been found at Nimrud in Iraq (8th–7th centuries BCE), Arjan in Iran (late 7th–early 6th centuries BCE) and Kerameikos in Greece (5th century BCE). According to Assyrian records of Sennacherib (705–681 BCE), cotton was grown in the royal botanical gardens at Nineveh, but cool winters there would have made large-scale production impossible. Because G. arboreum is a tropical and subtropical plant, cotton agriculture did not spread outside the Indian subcontinent until thousands of years after its domestication. Cotton cultivation is first seen in the Persian Gulf at Qalat al-Bahrain (ca 600–400 BCE), and in North Africa at Qasr Ibrim, Kellis and al-Zerqa between the 1st and 4th centuries CE. Recent investigations at Karatepe in Uzbekistan have found cotton production dated between ca. 300–500 CE. G. arboreum is thought to have been introduced into China as an ornamental plant about 1,000 years ago. Cotton may have been grown in the Xinjiang (China) province cities of Turfan and Khotan by the 8th century CE. Cotton was finally adapted to grow in more temperate climates by the Islamic Agricultural Revolution, and between 900–1000 CE, a boom in cotton production spread into Persia, Southwest Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. Gossypium herbaceum G. herbaceum is much less well-known than G. arboreum. Traditionally it is known to grow in African open forests and grasslands. Characteristics of its wild species are a taller plant, compared to the domesticated shrubs, smaller fruit, and thicker seed coats. Unfortunately, no clear domesticated remains of G. herbaceum have been recovered from archaeological contexts. However, the distribution of its closest wild progenitor suggests a northward distribution toward North Africa, and the Near East. New World Cotton Among the American species, G. hirsutum was apparently cultivated first in Mexico, and G. barbadense later in Peru. However, a minority of researchers believe, alternatively, that the earliest type of cotton was introduced into Mesoamerica as an already domesticated form of G. barbadense from coastal Ecuador and Peru. Whichever story ends up to be correct, cotton was one of the first non-food plants domesticated by the prehistoric inhabitants of the Americas. In the Central Andes, especially in the north and central coasts of Peru, cotton was part of a fishing economy and a marine-based lifestyle. People used cotton to make fishing nets and other textiles. Cotton remains have been recovered in many sites on the coast especially in residential middens. Gossypium hirsutum (Upland cotton) The oldest evidence of Gossypium hirsutum in Mesoamerica comes from the Tehuacan valley and has been dated between 3400 and 2300 BCE. In different caves of the region, archaeologists affiliated to the project of Richard MacNeish found remains of fully domesticated examples of this cotton. Recent studies have compared bolls and cotton seeds retrieved from excavations in Guila Naquitz Cave, Oaxaca, with living examples of wild and cultivated G. hirsutum punctatum growing along the east coast of Mexico. Additional genetic studies (Coppens dEeckenbrugge and Lacape 2014) support the earlier results, indicating that G. hirsutum was likely originally domesticated in the Yucatà ¡n Peninsula. Another possible center of domestication for G. hirsutum is the Caribbean. In different eras and among different Mesoamerican cultures, cotton was a highly demanded good and a precious exchange item. Maya and Aztec merchants traded cotton for other luxury items, and nobles adorned themselves with woven and dyed mantles of the precious material. Aztec kings often offered cotton products to noble visitors as gifts and to army leaders as payment. Gossypium barbadense (Pima cotton) G. barbadense cultivars are known for their production of high-quality fiber and called variously Pima, Egyptian, or Sea Island cotton. The first clear evidence of domesticated Pima cotton comes from the Ancà ³n-Chillà ³n area of the central coast of Peru. The sites in this area show the domestication process began during the Preceramic period, beginning about 2500 BCE. By 1000 BCE the size and shape of Peruvian cotton bolls were indistinguishable from todays modern cultivars of G. barbadense. Cotton production began on the coasts, but eventually moved inland, facilitated by the construction of canal irrigation. By the Initial Period, sites such as Huaca Prieta contained domestic cotton 1,500 to 1,000 years before pottery and maize cultivation. Unlike in the old world, cotton in Peru was initially part of subsistence practices, used for fishing and hunting nets, as well as textiles, clothing and storage bags. 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