Post by L Roebuck on Jul 10, 2007 11:15:03 GMT -5
Ancient Peppers Reveal Early Taste for Heat
By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer
Shriveled peppers preserved for 1,500 years in two caves in southern Mexico are giving scientists a real taste of pre-Columbian agriculture and the spicy fare it yielded.
The desiccated chilies belong to Capsicum annum, which includes modern-day jalapenos and ancho peppers, and Capsicum frutescens, whose most famous member is the Tabasco pepper. Two of the peppers look similar to today’s Tabasco and cayenne varieties.
The plant remains, described today online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were discovered in Guila Naquiz and Silvia’s Cave, two dry rock shelters in the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. They were so well-preserved that researchers were able to distinguish seven cultivated types from Guila Naquitz and three from Silvia’s Cave.
Full Article
By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer
Shriveled peppers preserved for 1,500 years in two caves in southern Mexico are giving scientists a real taste of pre-Columbian agriculture and the spicy fare it yielded.
The desiccated chilies belong to Capsicum annum, which includes modern-day jalapenos and ancho peppers, and Capsicum frutescens, whose most famous member is the Tabasco pepper. Two of the peppers look similar to today’s Tabasco and cayenne varieties.
The plant remains, described today online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were discovered in Guila Naquiz and Silvia’s Cave, two dry rock shelters in the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. They were so well-preserved that researchers were able to distinguish seven cultivated types from Guila Naquitz and three from Silvia’s Cave.
Full Article