Evolution and domestication of seed structure shown to use same genetic mutation

Topic Ancient mutation- For  the first time, scientists have identified a mutation in plants that was  selected twice – during both natural evolution and domestication. The  mutation has been identified as the source of variation in the evolution of  fruit morphology in Brassica plants and it was also the source of key changes during  the [...]

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The History of and the Medicinal and Ritualistic Uses for Chocolate in Mesoamerica

Topic: More on Chocolate           Chocolate finds its way onto even the most simplistic dessert menus today to satisfy the sweetest sweet-tooth.  In ancient Mesoamerica, chocolate was deemed a specialty food, achieving a sacred status.   The Maya and the Aztecs believed that cacao was discovered by the gods in a [...]

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Researchers: Bananas too inbred to fight disease

Topic: Banana’s, Ancient fruit-gone the way of modern man     Bananas have been an important food for humans for at least 7,000 years, but the most popular types are sterile varieties that make farming easy but hold little genetic diversity – a recipe for disaster in the face of plant disease, a paper by [...]

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Texas State students digging into history

Topic: Food finds of prehistoric nomadic tribes. More pictures to view via the link at the bottem of the article. COMSTOCK — Near the end of another brutally hot day in the desert of the  Lower Pecos Canyonlands, there finally was something to cheer about among the  crew digging at the Little Sotol archaeological site, [...]

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Mexico unearths monolith of Aztec God

Topic:Aztec God of rain       Archaeologists in Mexico made a dramatic discovery in the state of Morelos when they uncovered an 8th century monolith featuring an Aztec God weighing 60 tonnes. With agricultural images engraved on its side, the massive stone is believed to have been used by the Aztecs to call on [...]

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The Beer Archaeologist

Topic: Ancient Spirits-Beer and Wine By analyzing ancient pottery, Patrick McGovern is resurrecting the libations that fueled civilization via The Beer Archaeologist. I’m on a short vacation-post next Tuesday on bottling my Blackberry Mead!!!

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Prehistoric BBQ Leftovers Found

Topic Summer is for BBQ-or not Around 8,000 years ago, prehistoric hunters killed an aurochs and their grilling techniques were frozen in time. THE GIST Remains of a butchered and cooked female aurochs (a prehistoric cow) have been identified from a Stone Age Netherlands site. The hunters appear to have cooked the meat over an [...]

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Ancient Chinese Cooled Foods With Ice

Topic Ancient Refrigeration: Dating from 147 A.D, Guangsheng Temple near Huoshan Mountain in China’s Shanxi province is renowned for its 13-story “Flying Rainbow Pagoda” and its murals which portray the local populace propitiating the Water God during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). This month the Chinese state mouthpiece Xinhua reported that a researcher had found evidence [...]

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Iceman’s Stomach Sampled—Filled With Goat Meat

Topic:  Last Supper   Hours before he died, “Ötzi” the Iceman gorged on the fatty meat of a wild goat, according to a new analysis of the famous mummy’s stomach contents. The frozen body of the Copper Age hunter was discovered in 1991 in the Alps of northern Italy, where he died some 5,000 years [...]

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Neanderthals shifted hunting methods

Topic: Ancient hunters Archeologists report that Neanderthals, our vanished cousins who once occupied much of Europe, may have been more versatile hunters than once supposed. Neanderthals (or Neandertals) have long been seen as homebodies who stuck to hunting near their caves, but a Journal of Archaeological Science review of their tools and butchery sites in [...]

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