National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Photo: New World Farming Began Around Same Time As Near East's


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Ancient squash seeds (top), peanut shells (bottom left), and cotton balls (bottom right) found in prehistoric huts in Peru show that agriculture had taken root in the New World at nearly the same time as the practice appeared in the Near East.

In a new study describing the finds, researchers say that the discovery shows farming spread rapidly across the Americas as far back as 10,000 years ago.

Photographs courtesy Tom Dillehay