Avocados are true superfoods: dense, buttery scoops of vitamins, fat and fiber, all in a hand-size package.
We worked for a long time to make them this way. According to a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, people in what we today call Honduras made avocados a part of their diets at least 10,000 years ago and purposefully improved them starting more than 7,500 years ago — first by managing wild trees, and then by selectively planting new ones, to encourage thicker rinds and larger fruit.
This means fruit domestication at this site began thousands of years before the arrival of more commonly studied plants like maize.
“People were domesticating and cultivating their forests” long before they were planting crops in fields, said Amber VanDerwarker, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and an author of the paper.
Avocados first arose in central Mexico about 400,000 years ago. They were originally dispersed by megafauna: Giant ground sloths, elephantine gompotheres and burly toxodons all regularly gulped them down, choking-hazard-size pits and all. By the end of the Pleistocene epoch, around 13,000 years ago, megafauna had spread the oily fruits throughout Central and northern South America, and helped them diversify into at least three different species.
But the mass megafaunal extinction that ended the Pleistocene left the avocados stranded: Without animals big enough to eat them whole and spread their seeds, their range began to shrink. At this point, “humans stepped in,” said Doug Kennett, a professor of environmental archaeology also at the University of California, Santa Barbara and an author of the paper. These humans — who, without the megafauna, now needed new food sources — began cultivating the fruit, “saving avocados,” Dr. Kennett said.
For the new study, researchers focused on a site in western Honduras called El Gigante, an elevated cave that people began frequenting 11,000 years ago. Over generations of living and working there, humans left heaps of discarded squash seeds, maize kernels, agave leaves and much more. Archaeologists have been sifting through it all for about 20 years.
To learn about how people at El Gigante enjoyed avocados, researchers looked at dozens of their seeds found in this “long-term trash pile,” as well as thousands of rind fragments, Dr. VanDerwarker said. They used radiocarbon dating to put these scraps in chronological order, and measured the thicknesses of the rinds and the dimensions of the seeds.
Comparing seed and rind sizes over time allowed the team to trace how humans shaped the fruit. Early on, people were “just picking wild fruits from their trees as they need to,” and the trash was littered with cherry-size seeds and thin bits of rind, Dr. VanDerwarker said.
In layers from about 7,500 years ago, the seeds had become larger and the rinds more robust. This suggests that people were managing existing trees, pruning some branches and new fruits in order to encourage the remaining ones to grow bigger.
In layers from 4,500 years ago, seeds had reached apricot size and rind thickness had pushed beyond the plant’s natural variation — “an indicator that people had started saving seeds and planting their own trees,” Dr. VanDerwarker said. The arborculturalists favored large fruits, as well as hefty skins that helped with preservation and transport.
The study gives “new evidence for 10,000 years plus, probably, of avocado use,” said Tom Dillehay, a research professor at Vanderbilt University who was not involved with this particular study. He said he had found similar signs of longstanding avocado enjoyment in northern Peru; other evidence has been found in Mexico, Colombia and Panama. Dr. Dillehay predicts that as research continues, more sites, and more types of manipulated food plants, will be discovered.
The finding also continues an ongoing shake-up of the notion that food domestication began with animals and cereal grains. That early avocado growers were putting so much effort into their plants is “different than what was imagined even 10 or 15 years ago,” Dr. Dennett said.
While our concepts of plant husbandry come and go, some things are more timeless. One reason to want to cultivate a thick avocado rind is for ease of scooping, said Dr. VanDerwarker, inspiring other tasty imaginings: “I think people have probably been eating guacamole now for a good 10,000 years.”
ADVERTISEMENT:
Hai, sobat pengemar slots Pernah mendengar istilah “slot demo”? Kalau belum, bersiaplah jatuh cinta sama program ini. raja slot merupakan mesin slots yang sering kasih win. Yup, slot-slot ini bisa dibilang sebagai jagoannya tuk bawa pulang cuan. any way, cemana sih caranya jumpain slot gacor yang tepat? Santuy Bro, kita bahas tenang aja di tempat ini
Gaming tergaco saat sekarang satu-satunya di Indonesia hanya di akan memberikan imbal hasil tertinggi
Daftar hanya di :
Informasi mengenai KING SLOT, Segera Daftar Bersama king selot terbaik dan terpercaya no satu di Indonesia. Boleh mendaftar melalui sini king slot serta memberikan hasil kembali yang paling tinggi saat sekarang ini hanyalah KING SLOT atau Raja slot paling gacor, gilak dan gaco saat sekarang di Indonesia melalui program return tinggi di kingselot serta pg king slot
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
situs slot terbaru
situs slot terbaru permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
slot terbaru
slot terbaru permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
soda96 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama soda96.com
sparta88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sparta88.biz
sugesbola88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sugesbola88.org
tektok7777 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tektok7777.com
tektok88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tektok88.biz
toinktoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama toinktoto88.com
tokek888slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tokek888slot.com
topslot888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama topslot888.biz
tuanslot888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tuanslot888.club
uang88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama uang88.biz
uang8888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama uang8888.com
userslot88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama userslot88.info
uus88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama uus88.biz
waslot88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama waslot88.asia
wayantogel88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama wayantogel88.com
zona666 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama zona666.biz
zona88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama zona88.biz
slot96 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama slot96.biz
arjuna69 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama arjuna69.com
hqtoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama hqtoto88.com
bangshun88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama bangshun88.com
btc999 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama btc999.org
supraslot888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama supraslot888.net
sortoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sortoto88.net
logamtoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama logamtoto88.net
goslot777 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama goslot777.info
gebyar88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gebyar88.biz
botak88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama botak88.biz
ibis88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama ibis88.asia
autobot777slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama autobot777slot.com
jwmarriott88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jwmarriott88.com
reddoorz88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama reddoorz88.com
hotelharris88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama hotelharris88.com
novotel88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama novotel88.com
orientalplay88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama orientalplay88.com
oyo88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama oyo88.live
agoda88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama agoda88.asia
tiket88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tiket88.asia
santika88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama santika88.org
grandaston88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama grandaston88.com
booking88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama booking88.org
grandmercure88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama grandmercure88.com
tripadvisor88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tripadvisor88.com
hotelmulia88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama hotelmulia88.com
aryaduta88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama aryaduta88.com
shangrila88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama shangrila88.com
holidayinn88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama holidayinn88.com
antam88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama antam88.info
