What The Ancestors Ate: Popcorn!

Photo c. Smithsonian. A) Proto-Confite Morocho race; b) Confite Chavinense maize race; c) Proto-Alazan maize race.

Turns out that your favorite movie snack was probably first enjoyed by ancient Peruvians! According to scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: "ancient inhabitants ate corn several ways, including popcorn and flour corn. However, corn was still not an important part of their diet." So popcorn was a tasty snack enjoyed by Peruvians over 6500 years ago. 

On the serious side, the researchers note that corn was domesticated and eaten before the introduction of pottery. According to Dolores Piperno, curator of New World archaeology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and emeritus staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: “Corn was first domesticated in Mexico nearly 9,000 years ago from a wild grass called teosinte... Our results show that only a few thousand years later corn arrived in South America where its evolution into different varieties that are now common in the Andean region began. This evidence further indicates that in many areas corn arrived before pots did and that early experimentation with corn as a food was not dependent on the presence of pottery."

So the next time you munch on your bucket o' movie corn, remember you are enjoying one of the oldest snack foods in the world. 

Posted in: Archaeology,Corn,Domestication of Plants,Maize,Peru,South American Archaeology,What The Ancestors Ate