[Aztlan] peanuts, cotton, squash and manioc

[Diehl, Richard]

Hola Listeros,

The history of plant domestication finally has re-emerged as a focus of research in the Americas. After a promising start in the 1960s with investigations in highland Mexico and the Andes, it lagged for many years. Recently however, archaeologists began once again to systematically collaborate with their colleagues in botany and genetics. Mike Ruggeri's account yesterday of the latest evidence from Peru for the earliest peanuts, cotton, and squash relates really exciting information about the history of these very important crops. The Science article containing that information also includes two other interesting points. One is a cautionary tale about possible contamination of C14 samples while in transit and storage.

The other is that the investigators also found remains of domesticated manioc. This lowland South American staple is an incredibly rich source of carbohydrates that has spread around the entire tropical world since the 16th century. However its total lack of protein has led to dietary deficiency-related illnesses in many parts of tropical Africa. That was not a problem in the ancient American lowlands where ample supplies of fish and other animal foods provided the necessary protein. The original hearth of manioc domestication is thought to be either the Brazilian highlands or southern Amazonia. While archaeologists have long recognized its importance in South America and lower Central America, many of us have puzzled over its potential role in lowland Mesoamerica. Forty years ago Bennett Bronson and other scholars suggested that manioc was a major cultivar for the Maya , and Olmec specialists have long speculated about its importance to that culture. Now we finally have good evidence that the Classic Maya grew manioc at Joya de Ceren, El Salvador. Last week, laprensagráfica.com (June 23, 2007) reported that Payson Sheets and his University of Colorado team uncovered meter-long manioc roots in an agricultural plot at the famous Classic Maya center buried beneath volcanic ash. In all likelihood, the Maya here and elsewhere consumed manioc as a cooked vegetable rather than processed into the highly specialized manioc flour found in Amazonia. This discovery not only provides hard data about an issue that has vexed many of us for so many years but also shows that we have a great deal to learn about the lives of ordinary Maya farmers. These commoners in their simple wattle and daub houses were the peasants on whose backs rulers such as Pakal and Yax Kuk Mo rested. Good job, Payson and team!

P.S. We can now buy manioc (yuca)in Tuscaloosa, Alabama! Does anyone have a good recipe they wish to share?

Dick Diehl