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posted by martyb on Friday June 05 2020, @02:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the amaizing-inauguration-of-the-liquid-lunch dept.

UNM researchers document the first use of maize in Mesoamerica:

The research, titled Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas and published by Prufer and his team in the journal Science Advances, reveals new information about when the now-ubiquitous maize became a key part of people’s diets. Until now, little was known about when humans living in the tropics of Central America first started eating corn. But the “unparalleled” discovery of remarkably well-preserved ancient human skeletons in Central American rock shelters has revealed when corn became a key part of people’s diet in the Americas.

[...] Maize was domesticated from teosinte, a wild grass growing in the lower reaches of the Balsas River Valley of Central Mexico, around 9,000 years ago. There is evidence maize was first cultivated in the Maya lowlands around 6,500 years ago, at about the same time that it appears along the Pacific coast of Mexico. But there is no evidence that maize was a staple grain at that time.

The first use of corn may have been for an early form of liquor.

Why eat tortillas when you can make booze?

Journal Reference:
Douglas J. Kennett, Keith M. Prufer, Brendan J. Culleton, et al. Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas [open], Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba3245)


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2020, @03:05AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2020, @03:05AM (#1003534)

    How did they know to distill liquor? I am talking tequila. Was it after the Spanish conquest?

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday June 05 2020, @03:08AM (2 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 05 2020, @03:08AM (#1003535) Journal

    No need to distill beer to get drunk.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2020, @03:14AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2020, @03:14AM (#1003539)

      uhm... how does agave cactus beer taste?

      • (Score: 2) by Arik on Friday June 05 2020, @03:34AM

        by Arik (4543) on Friday June 05 2020, @03:34AM (#1003548) Journal
        It's not awful. Compares to raw mead, which tends to get flavored with whatever is available anyway.
        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2020, @05:14AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2020, @05:14AM (#1004090)

    mayan descendant here, if you ever visit guatemala ask for chicha on a farmer's market or you know, just look it up how to make it. it's easy as hell

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2020, @02:00PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2020, @02:00PM (#1004194)

    Alcohol and fermentation are some of those things that are found across all cultures because they happen by accident quite easily. All of the yeasts required to make alcohol generally live on the fruit/grain already, so if you forget about a container full of something, a couple months later you've got wine or beer.