People living in areas extending from the Bahamas to southern Peru cultivated and consumed chili peppers at least 6,100 years ago, a new study finds. Only after Columbus’ voyages to the New World did the spicy condiments reach other parts of the world, say Linda Perry of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and her colleagues.
Perry’s team identified distinctively shaped microscopic starch grains from domesticated chili peppers on grinding stones, inside charred pots, and in sediment from seven ancient villages in Central and South America, as well as at a Bahamian settlement.
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