[Aztlan] CORN A STAPLE FOOD IN SOUTH AMERICA EARLIER THAN THOUGHT

[michael ruggeri]

Listeros,

Corn may have been an important part of the South American diet for  
longer than previously thought according to research at the  
University of Calgary. A new technique for examining ancient cooking  
pots has produced the earliest directly dated examples of  
domesticated corn in South American. Corn had become a vital crop in  
tropical Ecuador 5000 years ago. Microscopic starch grains survived  
in tropical climes and can be used to identify exact species of  
plants and the researchers analyzed charred food residues from  
ancient cooking pots in Ecuador.

Science Daily has the story here;
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080324173538.htm

A tiny URL here;
http://tinyurl.com/3ynz9p

Mike Ruggeri



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