'Unparalleled' discovery of ancient skeletons sheds light on mystery of when people started eating m [View all]
3-JUN-2020
'Unparalleled' discovery of ancient skeletons sheds light on mystery of when people started eating maize
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
The "unparalleled" discovery of remarkably well-preserved ancient skeletons in Central American rock shelters has shed new light on when maize became a key part of people's diet on the continent.
Until now little was known about when humans started eating the crop, now a staple of meals around the globe that shapes agricultural landscapes and ecosystem biodiversity.
The rare human remains, found in the Maya Mountains of Belize, buried during the last 10,000 years, has allowed experts to date when maize became a major part of people's diets in the region for the first time.
Radiocarbon dating of the skeletal samples shows the transition from pre-maize hunter-gatherer diets, where people consumed wild plants and animals, to the introduction and increasing reliance on the crop. Maize made up about a third of people's diets in the area by 4,700 years ago, rising to 70 per cent 700 years later.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/233566.php
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