By Lee Bowman
Scripps Howard News Service
Americans have been serving it up hot and spicy for at least 6,000 years, according to a new study of bits of fossilized chili peppers recovered from ancient grindstones and cookware.
Researchers report today in the journal Science that they found evidence of chilies being used at seven archaeological sites ranging from the Bahamas to Peru as long as 6,000 years ago, making them one of the oldest domesticated food sources in the Americas.
Botanists generally agree that chili peppers originated in Bolivia, but just how and when different species were domesticated and spread remains unclear.
The study was made possible by recent scientific advances that have allowed researchers to recover minute amounts of starches from food-cooking and -processing tools.
Two years ago, researchers at an archaeology conference at the University of Calgary began comparing notes about an unidentified starch recovered at sites around Latin America. Soon after, Linda Perry, a researcher at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, identified the starch as coming from chili peppers.
"It was surprising to find that the chili pepper, which is technically a fruit, left behind evidence of starch, which is more often associated with foods such as maize and root vegetables," said Ruth Dickau, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Calgary and a co-author of the study.
"So much of the research on the origins of agriculture in the region has focused on staple crops, but now here is one of the first condiments we've been able to trace. It's quite interesting."
The oldest chili remains were found at two sites in Ecuador. In some spots, the use of chilies appears to predate the development of ceramic pottery.
Co-author Deborah Pearsall, a professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, noted that "Chili peppers don't preserve well, because when you cook with them, you eat most of them; you don't have husks or shells that are thrown away and preserved. That's why the technique that allows us to analyze microscopic starch grains is important."
Pearsall said they found that the same grinding stones were used for corn, chili peppers and a starchy root called manioc, and that those ingredients were probably combined to make soups or stews
Scripps Howard News Service
Americans have been serving it up hot and spicy for at least 6,000 years, according to a new study of bits of fossilized chili peppers recovered from ancient grindstones and cookware.Researchers report today in the journal Science that they found evidence of chilies being used at seven archaeological sites ranging from the Bahamas to Peru as long as 6,000 years ago, making them one of the oldest domesticated food sources in the Americas.
Botanists generally agree that chili peppers originated in Bolivia, but just how and when different species were domesticated and spread remains unclear.
The study was made possible by recent scientific advances that have allowed researchers to recover minute amounts of starches from food-cooking and -processing tools.
Two years ago, researchers at an archaeology conference at the University of Calgary began comparing notes about an unidentified starch recovered at sites around Latin America. Soon after, Linda Perry, a researcher at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, identified the starch as coming from chili peppers.
"It was surprising to find that the chili pepper, which is technically a fruit, left behind evidence of starch, which is more often associated with foods such as maize and root vegetables," said Ruth Dickau, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Calgary and a co-author of the study.
"So much of the research on the origins of agriculture in the region has focused on staple crops, but now here is one of the first condiments we've been able to trace. It's quite interesting."
The oldest chili remains were found at two sites in Ecuador. In some spots, the use of chilies appears to predate the development of ceramic pottery.
Co-author Deborah Pearsall, a professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, noted that "Chili peppers don't preserve well, because when you cook with them, you eat most of them; you don't have husks or shells that are thrown away and preserved. That's why the technique that allows us to analyze microscopic starch grains is important."
Pearsall said they found that the same grinding stones were used for corn, chili peppers and a starchy root called manioc, and that those ingredients were probably combined to make soups or stews
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