6700-Year-Old Popcorn Discovered

A discovery at a couple of archaeological mound sites in northern Peru has scientists believing that the people living there were eating popcorn almost 1000 years earlier than previously reported.

Corncobs, husks and stalks dating from somewhere between 6700BC and 3000BC were discovered at Paredones and Huaca Prieta in the country’s northern region. The research team who made the discovery, composed of scientists from Vanderbilt University and the Academia Nacional de la Historia in Peru, also found corn microfossils including starch grains, leading them to believe that the ancient residents used corn for making flour in addition to a snack for movie night.

The discovery also questions the long-held assumption that pottery was required for corn to be part of a civilisation’s diet, as the corn artefacts found pre-date the arrival of ceramics to Peru. [Physorg]

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