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Squash grown 10,000 years ago in Peru
Yahoo ^ | Thu Jun 28, 6:09 PM ET | By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer

Posted on 06/28/2007 6:39:04 PM PDT by Fred Nerks

Squash grown 10,000 years ago in Peru By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer Thu Jun 28, 6:09 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Agriculture was taking root in South America almost as early as the first farmers were breaking ground in the Middle East, new research indicates. Evidence that squash was being grown nearly 10,000 years ago, in what is now Peru, is reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

A team led by anthropologist Tom D. Dillehay of Vanderbilt University also uncovered remains of peanuts from 7,600 years ago and cotton dated to 5,500 years ago in the floors and hearths of sites in the Nanchoc Valley of northern Peru.

"We believe the development of agriculture by the Nanchoc 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," Dillehay said.

Dolores Piperno, curator for archaeobotany and South American archaeology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said the report "adds to the accumulating data for agriculture in the Americas as old or nearly as old as that in the Old World, provides evidence for the domestication of a major species of squash native to South America, and documents ancient peanuts and quinoa."

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: agriculture; ancient; andes; animalhusbandry; cotton; dietandcuisine; domestication; gardening; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; huntergatherers; peanuts; peru; quinoa; squash; tomdillehay
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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.
1 posted on 06/28/2007 6:39:05 PM PDT by Fred Nerks
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To: blam; SunkenCiv

the article reminds me of:

http://www.1421.tv/assets_cm/files/image/pumpkinthumb.jpg

Pumpkins in China?

Reader Carlos Jimenez was puzzled to come across this sculpture of a pumpkin when visiting an exhibition of the famous Xi’’An terracotta warriors from Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi’’s burial complex. The objects in the exhibition are all dated to be from the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) or the Han Dynasty (206BC-220 AD). If, as most encyclopedias will tell you, pumpkins originated in the Americas, how did this sculpture come to be part of this fascinating collection? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.1421.tv/gallery.asp?Section=Stone%20buildings,%20mortar%20and%20carvings#


2 posted on 06/28/2007 6:44:14 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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To: Fred Nerks

They wouldn’t eat it either, huh?


3 posted on 06/28/2007 6:57:38 PM PDT by pabianice
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To: Fred Nerks
Sir, are you implying that zucchini are migratory?
4 posted on 06/28/2007 6:59:40 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: Fred Nerks
How can that be?

The earth itself is only 6,000 years old (/sarcasm).

5 posted on 06/28/2007 7:03:44 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: Grizzled Bear
LOL! I'm not implying anything...

"We believe they must have therefore been domesticated elsewhere first and then brought to this valley by traders or mobile horticulturists.

the question is: from where?

6 posted on 06/28/2007 7:05:37 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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To: Fred Nerks

I have made a note of this.


7 posted on 06/28/2007 7:12:22 PM PDT by Gideon T. Reader (DEMOCRATS: Not quite American. PALESTINIANS: A proud history of mindless violence since 1964.)
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To: Fred Nerks; blam
The "somewhere else", although not dated to this period, seems to have been in the vicinity of Mammoth Cave, KY, and environs to the North of there.

The archaeologist at Indiana University who determined that this area was one of the world's primary points of plant domestication followed up with an invite to France to work on recently discovered caves full of paintings.

Others have continued the work of discovering just how old agriculture is in Kentuckiana (as the TV folks call it). The vast numbers of dry caves in the region give them the opportunity to find ancient seeds.

8 posted on 06/28/2007 7:25:05 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Fred Nerks

That looks more like a big squash than a pumpkin.


9 posted on 06/28/2007 7:53:19 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border then, Introduce an Illegal Immigrant Deportation Bill)
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To: Fred Nerks
Some pictures here of peanuts and cotton found at this site:

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

10 posted on 06/28/2007 7:57:24 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border then, Introduce an Illegal Immigrant Deportation Bill)
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To: blam
That looks more like a big squash than a pumpkin.

it's a pumpkin if you're an aussie!

Aussie Pumpkin - 'Queensland Blue'

11 posted on 06/28/2007 8:05:30 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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To: Fred Nerks

I think they served some of that squash from Peru in the college cafateria.


12 posted on 06/28/2007 8:07:55 PM PDT by Wheee The People (Go FRed)
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To: Fred Nerks
"it's a pumpkin if you're an aussie! "

Okay. That's more like it.

13 posted on 06/28/2007 8:11:15 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border then, Introduce an Illegal Immigrant Deportation Bill)
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To: blam
thanks, your link leads to the original report.

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.

“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.”

so, agriculture in Peru is dated at 10 thousand YO?

14 posted on 06/28/2007 8:27:15 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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To: Fred Nerks

There was a thread this morning about some supposedly Incan bones dating from about 1000 years ago found in Norway. It looks like the Vikings were in search of squash.


15 posted on 06/28/2007 8:28:08 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: blam

IF that 'chinese pumpkin' is really and truly from the source claimed, it does compare well with the Queensland Blue, doesn't it?

16 posted on 06/28/2007 8:32:37 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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To: Verginius Rufus

“...some supposedly Incan bones dating from about 1000 years ago found in Norway...”

I did read that, identified as ‘Inca’ due to a malformation of the neck in the skeleton. Without further information, that’s not a whole lot to base the ID upon. I tried my best to find further info, but not much success:

http://www.uiowa.edu/~anthro/paleopathology/drybones/ch7.html


17 posted on 06/28/2007 9:06:58 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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To: Fred Nerks; blam; FairOpinion; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 24Karet; ...
Thanks Fred. 9200 year old squash? Geez, it must be a huge SOB by now.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
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18 posted on 06/28/2007 9:42:00 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 27, 2007.)
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To: Fred Nerks

Yummy yummy yummy I’ve got squash in my mummy...


19 posted on 06/28/2007 10:46:24 PM PDT by wildbill
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To: wildbill

you funny...!


20 posted on 06/28/2007 10:53:14 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (FAIR DINKUM!)
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