Starch grains on human teeth reveal early broad crop diet in northern Peru.

ABSTRACT: Previous research indicates that the Nanchoc Valley in northern Peru was an important locus of early and middle Holocene human settlement, and that between 9200 and 5500 (14)C yr B.P. the valley inhabitants adopted major crop plants such as squash (Cucurbita moschata), peanuts (Arachis sp.), and cotton (Gossypium barbadense). We report here an examination of starch grains preserved in the calculus of human teeth from these sites that provides direct evidence for the early consumption of cultivated squash and peanuts along with two other major food plants not previously detected. Starch from the seeds of Phaseolus and Inga feuillei, the flesh of Cucurbita moschata fruits, and the nuts of Arachis was routinely present on numerous teeth that date to between 8210 and 6970 (14)C yr B.P. Early p

SUBMITTER: Piperno DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2604935 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature