[Aztlan] Mexican meals

[Diehl, Richard]

Boy, is my face red. No sooner do I open my mouth than some archaeologist sticks my foot in it!. I posted my claim of no pre-Columbian chickens early this morning (well, early for me) and then left for the Birmingham Airport, As I waited for my flight to Chicago, I opened the New York Times and lo and behold, some archaeologists just published seemingly solid proof than chickens got to El Arenal, Chile, in pre-Columbian times. What's more, they were chickens from Polynesia. The consensus is that chickens were domesticated in Southeast Asia so it not surprising that they got into the far Pacific. What surprises me is that the evidence for them in South America seems so water-tight. I have spent an entire career denying the existence of any proof for Old World contacts with the Americas, so you imagine I am feeling somewhat chagrined. I have no yet had an opportunity to check the original publication in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences but I will do so at my first opportunity. In any case, one or two chickens on the coast of Chile did not allow Motecuhzoma to enjoy pollo frito. Tonight I am going to Chicago Chop House to eat my shame away.
Dick