Source: Smithsonian Date: July 9, 2007 Ancient Americans Liked It Hot: Mexican Cuisine Traced To 1,500 Years Ago Science Daily — One of the world's tastiest and most popular cuisines, Mexican food also may be one of the oldest. These chili peppers from the Guila Naquitz cave in Oaxaca Mexico date to between A.D. 490 and 780, and represent two cultivars or cultivated types. A Smithsonian scientist analyzed the chili pepper remains and determined that Pre-Columbian inhabitants of the region hundreds of years ago enjoyed a spicy fare similar to Mexican cuisine today. (Credit: Linda Perry, Smithsonian Institution) Plant remains...