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[Bart]

FSU anthropologist finds earliest evidence of maize farming in Mexico

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- 9-Apr-2007

   A Florida State University anthropologist has new evidence that ancient farmers in Mexico were cultivating an early form of maize, the forerunner of modern corn, about 7,300 years ago - 1,200 years earlier than scholars previously thought.

   Professor Mary Pohl conducted an analysis of sediments in the Gulf Coast of Tabasco, Mexico, and concluded that people were planting crops in the "New World" of the Americas around 5,300 B.C. The analysis extends Pohl's previous work in this area and validates principles of microfossil data collection.

   The results of Pohl's study, which she conducted along with Dolores R. Piperno of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panama, Kevin O. Pope of Geo Arc Research and John G. Jones of Washington State University, will be published in the April 9-13 edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

   "This research expands our knowledge on the transition to agriculture in Mesoamerica," Pohl said. "These are significant new findings that fill out knowledge of the patterns of early farming. It expands on research that demonstrates that maize spread quickly from its hearth of domestication in southwest Mexico to southeast Mexico and other tropical areas in the New World including Panama and South America."

   The shift from foraging to the cultivation of food was a significant change in lifestyle for these ancient people and laid the foundation for the later development of complex society and the rise of the Olmec civilization, Pohl said. The Olmecs predated the better known Mayans by about 1,000 years.

   "Our study shows that these early maize cultivators located themselves on barrier islands between the sea and coastal lagoons, where they could continue to fish as well as grow crops," she said.

   During her field work in Tabasco seven years ago, Pohl found traces of pollen from primitive maize and evidence of forest clearing dating to about 5,100 B.C. Pohl's current study analyzed phytoliths, the silica structure of the plant, which puts the date of the introduction of maize in southeastern Mexico 200 years earlier than her pollen data indicated. It also shows that maize was present at least a couple hundred years before the major onset of forest clearing. Traces of charcoal found in the soil in 2000 indicated the ancient farmers used fire to clear the fields on beach ridges to grow the crops.

   "This significant environmental impact of maize cultivation was surprisingly early," she said. "Scientists are still considering the impact of tropical agriculture and forest clearing, now in connection with global warming."

   The phytolith study also was able to confirm that the plant was, in fact, domesticated maize as opposed to a form of its ancestor, a wild grass known as teosinte. Pohl and her colleagues were unable to make the distinction after the pollen study. Primitive maize was probably domesticated from teosinte and transported to the Gulf Coast lowlands where it was cultivated, according to Pohl.

   The discovery of cultivated maize in Tabasco, a tropical lowland area of Mexico, challenges previously held ideas that Mesoamerican farming originated in the semi-arid highlands of Mexico and shows an early exchange of food plants.

   Pohl's PNAS article also addresses misconceptions about the paleoecological method, which recovers microfossil evidence, such as pollen, starch grains, or phytoliths, as opposed to macrofossils or whole plant parts, such as maize cobs. Pohl and her colleagues argue that contamination of samples through the geological processes of sediment mixing is more likely to occur with macrofossils than microfossils.

   The National Science Foundation and the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies funded the research.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-04/fsu-faf040907.php

[Baja Bush Pilot]

MESOAMERICA
 
Domestication of Maize in the Mesoamerica
The introduction of Agriculture in Mesoamerica caused a change in the way of life for populations in that area.Cultivation of plants allowed for the shift from hunter/gatherer societies to a more sedentary lifestyle. Studies conducted in the last 50 years have shed considerable light on the origins of agriculture in Mesoamerica, especially in relation to the origins of maize cultivation.

ENVIRONMENT OF MESOAMERICA
 
Typically the environments of Mesoamerica fall under three classifcations, (1)extratropical drylands, (2) extratropical highlands and extratropical appendages, and (3) tropical lowlands (Modified from MacNeish 1992 using the Robert West division). The extratropical drylands classification mainly deals with the region of Tamaulipas, Mexico, and consist of ecozones that produce marginal to tropical rainfall. Raindfall is closely associated with the seasonality of the region. Ecozones variability range from coastal deserts, to rain forests in the Sirrea Madres. Extratropical highlands display great diversity, from pine and oak forest, to rain forest at higher elevations. Rainfall is heavy in the summer and fall months, and at some of the higher elevations snow may appear. The tropical lowlands generally consist of coastal lowlands and interior tropical basins. For a more detailed discussion on the environment the reader may wish to consult

The Origins of Agriculture and Settle d Life, (MacNeish 1992).

 
STUDIES ON THE ORIGINS OF MAIZE
George Beadle, a noted botanist, believes teosinte is the direct ancestor to modern corn, originating by human selection sometime between 13,000 and 6000 B.C. Evidence for such a belief comes from the fact that teosinte can "pop" similar to todays popcorn varieties when subjected to heating. Teosinte also shares a similar life cycle with maize and is easily crossbred showing remarkable genetic simularities. (Fagan 1995; Flannery and Marcus 1996: Harlan 1995). There are some hangups with this assumtion, namely the typical or classical ear of corn. Teosinte does not possess anything resembling an ear. The teosinte ear appears in clusters and are usually enclosed in a single husk. Tassles or silks appear as in maize, but the husk on maize are numerous, enclosing a well developed ear of corn, with rows of kernals (Harlan 1995). (for a list of futher differences click here).

Knowledge related to the origins of maize is largely due to the efforts of Richard MacNeish. Working with Paul Mangelsdorf, MacNeish first selected to focused his attention in southwestern Tamaulipas. In 1949 he found some small cobs in cave deposits later dated at around 2500 B.C. The Tamaulipas cobs turned out to be approximately the same age as cobs recovered from Bat Cave in New Mexico. Later excavations in the Chihuahua and Sonora regions produced indications that the origins of maize may lie to the south of those states. This propted MacNeish to move the focus of his research to areas in Honduras and Guatemala. Since he knew that dates for maize were relatively equal between Tamaulipas and Chiapas, MacNeish turned his attention to the Tehuacan Valley an arid region that lie between Tamaulipas and Chiapas. The Tehuacan Valley is situated in the arid highlands of southern Mexico making it idealy suited for the preservation of organic materials. (Byers 1967). There in the Tehuacan Valley he found early forms of maize in Ajuereado Cave, this spured him to mount a larger more extensive excavation of the valley. Later excavations at Coxcatlan rock shelter produced cobs dated by radiocarbon to around 5000 B.C. The Coxcatlan cobs showed intermidiate features in their morphology between wild teosinte and maize and are now held as amoung the earleist specimens of maize ever recovered (Fagan 1995; MacNeish 1992).

The cobs recovered from Coxcatlan were examined by Mangelsdorf and he confirmed that they were the probable ancestor to domesticated corn. Typically remains recovered were well preserved, with many parts of the plant in excellent preservation. Wild varieties as well as domesticated varieities of maize were recovered during excavations from Tehucan Valley in later years. Based upon the evidence gathered in the Tehuacan Valley MacNeish was able to show a gradual shift from hunter/gatherer lifeways to one of cultivation and the utilization of domesticated plant foods. Excavations at Coxcatlan rock shelter proved to be particularly fruitful for understanding those changing lifeways. Occupational levels at Coxcatlan date back to ~10,000 B.C. Using the data collected MacNeish was able to demonstrate that 50-60% of the populations food came from game animals during this period (Ajuereado Phase). By 7000 B.C. this figure had reduced to 30-40% and continued to decline until by 4500 B.C. 90% of food stuffs eaten consisted of wild grasses and cacti. By 3000 B.C. populations in the Tehuacan Valley had domesticated several plant foods, beans, amaranth, gourds amd maize are but a few (Fagan 1995). (see Mesoamerican domesticates list complete listing) Maize was ground and processed into edible food using manos and matates and sometimes morters and pestals. The maize itself was still very similar to teosinte and much smaller than modern forms at this stage. Along with the use of maize there is an increase in sedentary living and large storage facilities enabling the storage of food for probable lean periods (Fagan 1995).

MacNeish clearly showed that the change from hunter/gatherer lifeways to a more sedentary lifestyle was a gradual process that had a direct relation to the use of plant foods. The archeological record documented this change and indicates how this cultural changed may have come about. While maize was not the only cultivated domesticate it soon become a very important one. The inclusion of domesticated plants allowed populations to build more permanate settlements and this proved to be an important step in the overall cultural development of later Mesoamerica.

Mesoamerican Chronology

 
SOUTHWEST
 
We may probable never know the means by which maize was introduced into the Southwestern portion of North America, but what we do know is that it provided the platform for the later emergence of Pueblo cultures. The origins of Southwestern agriculture is rooted in a subsistence strategy of foraging and seasonal transhumerence. Advantages of incorporating domesticated plants into a foraging complex are related to domesticates relative perdictability and ability to store for long periods of time, suppling food stuffs over different seasons. Maize cultivation appears to have been adopted sometime near the end of the second or early first millennium B.C. (Fagan 1995).

Since maize requires more than a casual effort to plant, grow, and process into edible food stuffs it took sometime before it was fully adopted as a serious subsistence method. It is believed that maize remained a supplement to regular foraging for a millennium or so after its initial introduction to the region. The maize to first reach the Southwest was a low yielding form called Chapalote. Dates from the San Jaun Basin in northern New Mexico seem to confirm the arrival of Chapalote into the Southwest as early as the second millennium B.C.(Fagan 1995)

Radiocarbon dates from AMS place the appearence of maize in the Tucson Basin between 800-500 B.C. Dates from Bat Cave are thought to be from 1000 B.C. and pollen grains found at Cienga Creek average around 500 B.C. The consistency of dates lead archaeologist to believe maize entered the Southwest probably between 1500-1000 B.C. Its introduction to the region coincided with a period of wetter climate over the eastern and central portions of the Southwest (Fagan 1995).

Here the picture becomes cloudy, some believe that Chapalote mixed with indigenous teosinte producing a hybrid maize that appears in the remains recovered from archaic sites such as Bat Cave. This hybridization appears to have produced a maize with a greater number of kernals per row and a larger cob size. It was the development of these hybrids that allowed maize to spread across the Southwest. This new maize is referred to as Maize de Ocho Maize de Ocho is highly adapted to arid conditions and produces higher yields than previous varieties of maize. Some archaeologist believe that Maize de Ocho arose from a indigenous Southwestern variety of maize, this assumtion is based upon radiocarbon dates obtained by MacNeish and Steadman Upham of 1225 +/- 240 B.C. from excavtions at Roller Skate and Tornillo rock shelters located in the southern portion of New Mexico (Fagan 1995). Not everyone is comfortable with this assumtion.

 
Maize de Ocho's success was probably due to its thick rachis that better held the kernel to the stalk. It also pocessed a larger kernel of corn, and its relative ease of grinding made it more suitable for daily consumption. With all its advatages maize had little effect on the typical Southwestern lifeways of foraging and transhumerence mobility at its onset. Early forms of maize had low productivity and probably had a yield on par with a stand of wild seed plants in those early stages of introduction. Only later as yields increase and maize adapts to a variety of environmental conditions do we see a decrease in overall population mobility. Southwestern peoples became expert maize horticulturalist and incorporated irrigation technqies to assist in raising production and yields. Only after the development of these techniques and adaptations do we see a more sedentary lifeway emerge. Over the coarse of the next 2000 years from the introduction of maize to European contact we see the establishment of maize agriculture and the abatement of hunter and gatherer patterns. With the establishment of maize agriculture we have the development of Village Life and increased population densities across the Southwest (Fagan 1995).

 
After maize is well established in the Southwest, sometime in the twelth century A.D. Maize de Ocho spread into the Eastern Woodlands of North America. Possibly moving across the Plains as a small cob 12 to 14 rowed ears, referred to as hard flint corn, more commonly called North American pop (Fagan 1995).

There are other speculations on the introduction of maize into the Eastern Woodlands and those ideals will be addressed in the following section.
Southwestern Chronology

 
ANDEAN
Solid dates for the introduction of maize into the Andeas first appear around 3200 B.C., earlier dates have been reported from the Ayacucho region at around 4000 B.C. Earlier dates obtained from phytolith dating would put the appearence of maize at 5000 B.C., but this date is tenative at best (Pearsall 1990). Still, if these early dates of 5000 B.C. hold true it would match the earliest dates taken from Mesoamerica. One must remember that data on maize remains prior to 4000 B.C. is sparse at best. It isn't until the Early Horizon Period (900-200 B.C.) that maize becomes more common in the archaeological record. Dispite this fact Pearsall (1990) holds firm to her beleif that maize was introduced to South America sometime before 5000 B.C. Others are more conservative in their approach advocating an introduction closer to the more solid dates of 3000 B.C. (Bird 1984).

Whether we except the dates of 5000 B.C. or 3000 B.C. we know from the archaeological record that maize remained a rather minor food stuff until ~1000 B.C. This is based upon increased frequencies of maize remains in the archaeological record over this period (Pearsall 1990). The relative late reliance on maize as a staple may speak to the diversity of food stuffs cultivated and consumed in this equatorial region. Peanut (Archis hypogaea), beans (many varieties), potato (Solanum tuberosum), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa ), and chili peppers (Capsicum spp.) are just a few of the more common food stuffs eaten by Andean peoples before the introduction of maize.(see Andean Domesticates for a complete list) Potato, peppers and beans show evidence that early domestication by humans may date back to 7000-8000 B.C. Incredibly we see an increase in plant food diversity during the Initial Period and Early Horizon (1500-200 B.C.) after maize is included in the complex (Harlan 1995: Pearsall 1990). After maize becomes a staple its importance to local cultures is clearly reflected in the achaeological record.

Dr. George Gumerman at the University of Northern Arizona has demonstrate the use of maize in burial rituals as a prevalent practice amoung the Moche peoples. His excavations of burial sites at Pacatnamu shows the importance the Moche placed on maize as a mortuary food. Detailed excavations found maize to be the most common plant food item contained in burials and overall plant food items within the burials were primarily agriculture products. A stricking contrast was found between burial foods and the actual items consumed in the average Moche diet. The predominant staple appeared to be marine in origin, shellfish and varieties of fish for example. Gumerman found that these items were absent from burial offerings, despite the fact they were eaten daily. Further excavation into midden piles have shown a marked difference between the maize eaten and that selected for burial offerings. The burial maize was larger and displayed a greater number of rows per kernal when compaired to the midden maize. These differences reflected in the archaeological record point to the fact that maize and other agricultural produces were the selected chioce of the Moche when chosing burial offerings (Gumerman 1994).


In the mid-1980's the question of the South American influence on the Eastern Woodlands in terms of maize introduction was addressed with interesting results. William F. Keegan (1987), speculated that maize migrated into the Eastern Woodlands via the Antillie's, the string of Caribbean islands between the Florida coast and South America. He builds a convincing case for migration over a sea route rather than thru the Southwest circa the Plains to the Woodlands. Others think the sea route is possible but do not rule out the influx of maize from the Southwest and their possible hybridization forming the maize that would later support the complex cultures that emerge from a Woodlands context (Lathrap 1987). Andean Chronology

 
EASTERN WOODLANDS
The Eastern Woodlands has a rich tradition of plant use, one that saw nearly every human population by 1500 B.C. relying to some extent on wild vegetable foods. Before the arrival of maize Woodland peoples had domesticated several plant species. Species of gourds and squashes were domesticated by ~1000 B.C, sunflowers and other indigenous plants were also common domesticates.(for a more complete list see Eastern Woodlands Domesticates Sunflowers presumably were domesticated as early as 2265 B.C. and were used for its oils and seeds. Other plants included march elder (Iva an nua), its use has been documented at the Koster site as early as 3880 B.C. The use of domesticated plant foods establihed the platform for the inclusion of maize into an already existing agriculture complex. Some of the earliest dates for maize in the American Bottom come from the Holding site, these dates range between 170 B.C. to A.D. 60. Maize has been well documented in the Eastern Woodlands and increased in intensity after about A.D. 700 over much of the area (Fagan 1995). The earliest documented evidence of maize in the Eastern Woodlands region comes from maize pollen recovered in southern Alabama.Zea maize pollen taken from the sediments of Lake Shelby near coastal Alabama has been positively dated at 3500 B.P. (~1550 B.C.). This make it the earliest confirmed reporting of maize in the Woodlands region. Despite this early date for maize, it remained a relatively unimportant crop for Woodlands populations until a 1000 years later. The increase of maize in the diet can be tracked by isotope studies which show the increase of maize in the dietary complex. This apparent lag between introduction and reliance as a staple is probable due to the time period needed to produce strains of maize that were adapted to the Woodlands climate and soils (Fearn and Liu 1995).

 
As cultivation of maize increases so to does population densities. With greater populations there is a need for storage capacityies beyond those preveiously seen. Also to some degree there are changes in the social and political structure of the native peoples. By A.D. 800 to 1000 maize agriculture is widespread, ranging from the western Appalachians, east to the Mississippi Valley. Maize itself is one of the defining charateristics used in classification of one of the best know cultures to emerge in from the Woodlands period, the Mississippian Tradition (Fagan 1995: Pauketat 1994).

Over much of the Southeast around A.D. 900 we have the Mississippian adaptation appearing more-or-less contemporaniously. The Mississippian population tended to gather in river valleys were abundant resources of game, vegetable, and aquatic resources concentrated. River valleys also provided ideal soils, rich in nutrients, for the cultivation of maize (Fagan 1995). The Mississippian Tradition shows great variety in its expression of social complexity. One of the best know examples of the upper end of social complexity can be found at the Cahokia site. Covering nearly 4,000 acres, Cahokia was first inhabited around 700 A.D. growing to a population of nearly 20,000 at its height. By A.D. 1100 Cahokia was the largest settlement in the Americas north of Mexico. Over 120 earthen mounds functioning as civic buildings, residences for the ruling elite and ceromonial centers. The entire complex was situated over five square miles. Sometime around A.D. 1200, Cahokia went into a decline, possible because of deforestation and over explotation of resources, by A.D. 1400 the site was virtually empty (Fiedel 1994: Mehrer 1995: Pauketat 1994).

Cahokia's success was due in no small part to the cultivation of corn. River valleys such as the area where Cahokia is located have been estamatied to be able to produce 22 bushels of corn per acre. Even with such production the risk of crop failure was an ever present threat. Drought, pest infestation, and nutriant depletion of the soils were just a few of the hazards faced by Mississippian farmers. Because of the increased reliance on maize any disruption of maize production might have caused wide spread famine. Since people had become accustom to living in permanent settlements they would have had difficulty moving to more productive areas in search of food. (Fagan 1995).

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/3288/ARCHAEOLOGY.HTM

[Bart]

Earliest-known evidence of peanut, cotton and squash farming found

28-Jun-2007
 
NASHVILLE, Tenn.� Anthropologists working on the slopes of the Andes in northern Peru have discovered the earliest-known evidence of peanut, cotton and squash farming dating back 5,000 to 9,000 years. Their findings provide long-sought-after evidence that some of the early development of agriculture in the New World took place at farming settlements in the Andes.

   The discovery was published in the June 29 issue of Science. The research team made their discovery in the �anchoc Valley, which is approximately 500 meters above sea level on the lower western slopes of the Andes in northern Peru.

   �We believe the development of agriculture by the �anchoc people served as a catalyst for cultural and social changes that eventually led to intensified agriculture, institutionalized political power and new towns in the Andean highlands and along the coast 4,000 to 5,500 years ago,� Tom D. Dillehay, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University and lead author on the publication, said. �Our new findings indicate that agriculture played a broader role in these sweeping developments than was previously understood.�

   Dillehay and his colleagues found wild-type peanuts, squash and cotton as well as a quinoa-like grain, manioc and other tubers and fruits in the floors and hearths of buried preceramic sites, garden plots, irrigation canals, storage structures and on hoes. The researchers used a technique called accelerator mass spectrometry to determine the radiocarbon dates of the materials. Data gleaned from botanists, other archaeological findings and a review of the current plant community in the area suggest the specific strains of the discovered plant remains did not naturally grow in the immediate area.

   �The plants we found in northern Peru did not typically grow in the wild in that area,� Dillehay said. �We believe they must have therefore been domesticated elsewhere first and then brought to this valley by traders or mobile horticulturists.

   �The use of these domesticated plants goes along with broader cultural changes we believe existed at that time in this area, such as people staying in one place, developing irrigation and other water management techniques, creating public ceremonials, building mounds and obtaining and saving exotic artifacts.�

A cotton ball dated to 5500 B.P. discovered in Northern Peru

   The researchers dated the squash from approximately 9,200 years ago, the peanut from 7,600 years ago and the cotton from 5,500 years ago.

A peanut hull discovered in Northern Peru has been dated to 7600 B.P.

[Baja Bush Pilot]

Science Daily � Smithsonian researchers and colleagues report that across the Americas, chili peppers (Capsicum species) were cultivated and traded as early as 6,000 years ago--predating the invention of pottery in some areas of the Americas. The researchers analyzed starch grains to trace the history of chili peppers in the Americas.

When Europeans arrived in the Americas, chili peppers were among the most widespread of the plants domesticated in the New World.

Their findings contribute significantly to the current understanding of ancient agricultural practices in the Americas. The report is published in the Feb. 16 issue of the journal Science.

When Europeans arrived in the Americas, chili peppers were among the most widespread of the plants domesticated in the New World. However, the chronology and precise geography of their origins and early dispersals had been very poorly understood. Tropical environments, where many chili varieties were first domesticated and then incorporated into prehistoric farming systems, degrade most organic archaeological remains, washing away and decomposing all but the most durable evidence of ancient human activities. Lead author Linda Perry, of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and colleagues overcame this obstacle by identifying chili pepper starch grains. The starch microfossils were found at seven sites dating from 6,000 years ago to European contact and ranging from the Bahamas to southern Peru.

The Smithsonian holds the most extensive reference collection of microscopic plant remains available to archaeologists--starch, pollen grains and microfossils called phytoliths. The team of researchers adding to this collection discovered that starch grains from chili peppers, members of the genus Capsicum, are shaped like red blood cells, with a strong, central line or split on the side.

"Sorting through microscopic particles and finding a type that distinguishes such an important plant group is like opening a window to the past," Perry said. "While we once based our understanding of chili peppers on rare sites with exceptionally good preservation, suddenly we are able to gain incredible insight into ancient agriculture, trade and cuisine by making these plants visible nearly everywhere they occurred."

Cultivated chili starch grains are discernible from those of wild chilies. The remains of these domesticated chili peppers were often found with corn, forming part of a major, ancient food complex that predates pottery in some regions.

The oldest Capsicum starch grains were found in southwestern Ecuador at two sites dating to 6,100 years ago. The chili remains were associated with previously identified corn, achira, arrowroot, leren, yuca, squash, beans and palm fruit, adding to the picture of an early, complex agricultural system in that region. Ecuador is not considered to be the center of domestication for any of the five domesticated chili species. A more ancient record of the domestication and spread of chili peppers awaits investigators working in other regions where wild chilies were first brought into cultivation.

In Panama, chilies occurred with corn and domesticated yams that dated 5,600 years before present (ybp). Chilies were found at a site occupied 4,000 ybp in the Peruvian Andes, with microscopic remains of corn, arrowroot and possibly potato. In this case, the chilies were identified as the species C. pubescens. The rocoto pepper, a cultivar of this species, is still a staple in the Peruvian diet. Newer sites in the Bahamas (1,000 ybp) and in Venezuela (500-1,000 ybp) also yielded remains of both corn and chilies.

"It's hard to imagine modern Latin American cuisine without chili peppers," said co-author Dolores Piperno, Smithsonian scientist at the National Museum of Natural History and at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. "We demonstrate that prehistoric people from the Bahamas to Peru were using chilies in a variety of foods a long time ago. The peppers would have enhanced the flavor of early cultivars such as maize and manioc and may have contributed to their rapid spread after they were domesticated."

[Bart]

   Trent University anthropologist reveals lifestyle clues of the ancient Inca of Peru

Tue Nov 06, 2007

   Research undertaken by Trent University assistant anthropology professor Jocelyn Williams into the diets of recently unearthed mummies has revealed fascinating insights into the lives of the ancient Inca of Peru.

   An ancient cemetery containing the remains of 500-year old mummies was discovered underneath the coastal town of Tupac Amaru, located near Lima, Peru. Due to the extreme dryness of this coastal desert, the people buried there were exceptionally well preserved and many still retained their skin, hair, fingernails, eyelashes, and even tattoos.

   Prof. Williams sampled different tissues from the mummies, such as bone, skin, hair, nail, tendon and muscle to test for chemical signatures left behind by the various foods consumed by these people. "Because bone develops very slowly, it records diets for the past 15 years, and hair, which grows at a rate of one centimetre per month, records diets in the weeks before death," explained Prof. Williams.

   By comparing the short- and long-term diets of these Inca remains, Prof. Williams was able to determine the types of foods that were eaten and how this impacted the overall health of the community. Based on carbon isotope data, she noted seasonal fluctuations in diet with corn consumed primarily in the summer and tubers (like potatoes) consumed primarily in the winter. This was somewhat surprising because the Inca were known for their ability to supply their populations with provisions from food stores, however this study demonstrated that people in this valley relied primarily on cultivated foods.

   These data enabled Prof. Williams to conclude that the overall health of this population was precarious since they did not have access to stored food in any quantity food, an important means of surviving crop failures. Her research also revealed that more people died in the summer than the winter. "This was unexpected because we usually see more deaths during the winter when conditions are harsher and there is greater chance of respiratory disease," she said. "Through this research we were able to determine that there were fewer dietary choices during the summer which compromised nutrition and likely made this population more susceptible to summertime diseases."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prof. Williams presented this paper in February 2007 as part of the sixth Mummy Congress that took place in Teguise, Canary Islands.

About Peru

   While Peru inevitably evokes images of Machu Picchu and the Inca empire, the country is also riddled with archaeological sites which are a legacy of even more ancient times, when great civilizations bequeathed a legacy of their art, customs and rituals, their wisdom and skills.The Inca empire was a recent arrival during the process of cultural development in the Andes during the pre-Hispanic era, and the history of the Incas barely accounts for a century within the 20,000 years of human occupation of Peruvian territory.

   Much earlier than the Incas and while civilizations like the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese (3000 and 2000 B.C.) flourished, the city of Caral, located north of the city of Lima, was built; this was the first American expression of a Pre-Ceramic urban settlement with monumental architecture in an area greater than 10 hectares. Later, in the northern highlands, the Chavin (800 - 200 B.C.) achieved significant advances in architecture, engineering, and agriculture.The Chavín civilization (1500-400 BC) achieved considerable prowess in architecture, engineering and agriculture in the northern highlands.

   Along the north coast, the Moche civilization (200 BC-700 AD) is famous for its realistic pottery (portraits carved into pots and gourds) and its pyramid-shaped temples. The same area was later controlled by the Chimú kingdom (900-1450 AD), who built Chan Chan, an immense mud-brick citadel featuring 12-meter-high walls and superb architectural work.

   To the south, the Nazca people (200 BC-900 AD) etched an impressive series of figures etched into the desert floor known as the Nazca Lines, while graves belonging to the Paracas culture (800 BC-600 AD) have unearthed superb weavings which point to the magical and religious vision that governed the lives of this ancient civilization.Centuries later, the Incas (1300-1500 AD) were to make Cuzco the center of their empire, building major constructions such as Sacsayhuaman, Pisac and Koricancha. It is here that myth and history merge, where the Inca roads, the towns, people and traditions are a living example of the Andean spirit, sacred and monumental.

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