The remains of centuries-old chili peppers found in Mexico suggest that tribes living as far back as A.D. 600 had a complex, spicy cuisine that could have been similar to that of the country's modern inhabitants.
Linda Perry, a researcher with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., said her analysis of the chili pepper remains revealed that some of the fruits had been stored fresh while others had been dried.
"The fresh peppers might have been chopped up and used as garnish or salsa," Perry said. "The dried peppers might have been brought from somewhere else and thrown into a stew or ground up into a sauce."
"By finding that there were two different categories of use, that's a good indication that all sorts of different dishes were being seasoned by peppers and spices," Perry said (related wallpaper: download chilies to your desktop).
The remains, which represent at least ten different types of chili peppers, were part of meals that were prepared and eaten by Zapotec Indians between A.D. 600 and 1521.
Perry noted that remains of other plants—including corn, beans, and squash—were found in the same caves.
"All of the components of the [modern] Mexican diet were there," she said. "Whether the food was exactly the same, the main ingredients were there."
Perry and Kent Flannery, curator for zooarchaeology at the University of Michigan's Museum of Anthropology, co-authored a study of the peppers to be published in an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Chili Storage
Flannery originally found the chili remains in 1966 lying in two caves about 1,900 meters (6,200 feet) above sea level near the town of Mitla in the southern state of Oaxaca (see a map of Oaxaca).
Soon after, Flannery said via email, he sent the chilies to Barbara Pickersgill, a scientist in England who is a leader in the research of plant cultivation.
When Pickersgill retired recently, she sent the chili pepper remains to Perry at the Smithsonian.
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