Ancient Humans Left Evidence from the Party that Ended 4,000 Years Ago MU researchers extract starch grains from gourd and squash artifacts and learn about ancient feast July 21, 2009 Story Contact: Kelsey Jackson, (573) 882-8353, JacksonKN@missouri.edu COLUMBIA, Mo. – The party was over more than 4,000 years ago, but the remnants still remain in the gourds and squashes that served as dishware. For the first time, University of Missouri researchers have studied the residues from gourds and squash artifacts that date back to 2200 B.C. and recovered starch grains from manioc, potato, chili pepper, arrowroot and algarrobo. The starches provide clues about the foods consumed at feasts and document the earliest evidence of the consumption of algarrobo and arrowroot in Peru. ‘Archaeological starch grain research allows us to gain a better understanding of how ancient humans used plants, the types of food they ate, and how that food was prepared,’ said Neil Duncan, doctoral student of anthropology in the MU College of Arts and Science and lead author of the study that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) this week. ‘This is the first study to analyze residue […]