Gourd and squash artifacts yield starch grains of feasting foods from preceramic Peru.

In a study of residues from gourd and squash artifacts, we recovered starch grains from manioc (Manihot esculenta), potato (Solanum sp.), chili pepper (Capsicum spp.), arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea), and algarrobo (Prosopis sp.) from feasting contexts at the Buena Vista site, a central Peruvian preceramic site dating to approximately 2200 calendar years B.C. This study has implications for the study of plant food use wherever gourds or squashes are preserved, documents the earliest evidence for the consumption of algarrobo and arrowroot in Peru, and provides insights into foods consumed at feasts.