| Literature DB >> 30374172 |
Sonia Zarrillo1,2, Nilesh Gaikwad3,4, Claire Lanaud5,6, Terry Powis7, Christopher Viot5,6, Isabelle Lesur8,9, Olivier Fouet5,6, Xavier Argout5,6, Erwan Guichoux8, Franck Salin8, Rey Loor Solorzano10, Olivier Bouchez11, Hélène Vignes5,6, Patrick Severts12, Julio Hurtado13, Alexandra Yepez13, Louis Grivetti14, Michael Blake15, Francisco Valdez16.
Abstract
Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is an important economic crop, yet studies of its domestication history and early uses are limited. Traditionally, cacao is thought to have been first domesticated in Mesoamerica. However, genomic research shows that T. cacao's greatest diversity is in the upper Amazon region of northwest South America, pointing to this region as its centre of origin. Here, we report cacao use identified by three independent lines of archaeological evidence-cacao starch grains, absorbed theobromine residues and ancient DNA-dating from approximately 5,300 years ago recovered from the Santa Ana-La Florida (SALF) site in southeast Ecuador. To our knowledge, these findings constitute the earliest evidence of T. cacao use in the Americas and the first unequivocal archaeological example of its pre-Columbian use in South America. They also reveal the upper Amazon region as the oldest centre of cacao domestication yet identified.Entities:
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Year: 2018 PMID： 30374172 DOI： 10.1038/s41559-018-0697-x
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Nat Ecol Evol ISSN： 2397-334X Impact factor: 15.460