[CH] Chillies domestication
Terry Colvin (fortean1@mindspring.com)
Fri, 16 May 2008 21:27:33 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
Hot chillies were being added to bland food in the New World
long before the Egyptian pyramids were built. Linda Perry
of the Smithsonian Institution found that ancient peppers
could be identified from fossilised grains of starch. Such
grains were then found alongside remnants of corn, yucca,
squash, beans and palm fruit. The oldest were from two
sites in Ecuador dating to 6,100 years ago, but the spicy
fruit soon spread through South and Centra America (evidence
from Peru, Panama, and the Bahamas), before going global
with the Spanish conquistadors. The remains of at least
10 varieties of chilli pepper have been found in two caves
in Mexico and dated to 1,500 years ago.
Science, Independent, 16 Feb; Times, 10 July 2007
Terry W. Colvin
Sierra Vista, Arizona