Posted on 06/28/2007 6:39:04 PM PDT by Fred Nerks
the article reminds me of:
http://www.1421.tv/assets_cm/files/image/pumpkinthumb.jpg
Pumpkins in China?
Reader Carlos Jimenez was puzzled to come across this sculpture of a pumpkin when visiting an exhibition of the famous Xi’’An terracotta warriors from Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi’’s burial complex. The objects in the exhibition are all dated to be from the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) or the Han Dynasty (206BC-220 AD). If, as most encyclopedias will tell you, pumpkins originated in the Americas, how did this sculpture come to be part of this fascinating collection? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
http://www.1421.tv/gallery.asp?Section=Stone%20buildings,%20mortar%20and%20carvings#
They wouldn’t eat it either, huh?
The earth itself is only 6,000 years old (/sarcasm).
"We believe they must have therefore been domesticated elsewhere first and then brought to this valley by traders or mobile horticulturists.
the question is: from where?
I have made a note of this.
The archaeologist at Indiana University who determined that this area was one of the world's primary points of plant domestication followed up with an invite to France to work on recently discovered caves full of paintings.
Others have continued the work of discovering just how old agriculture is in Kentuckiana (as the TV folks call it). The vast numbers of dry caves in the region give them the opportunity to find ancient seeds.
That looks more like a big squash than a pumpkin.
Earliest-known evidence of peanut, cotton and squash farming found
it's a pumpkin if you're an aussie!
Aussie Pumpkin - 'Queensland Blue'
I think they served some of that squash from Peru in the college cafateria.
Okay. That's more like it.
The researchers dated the squash from approximately 9,200 years ago, the peanut from 7,600 years ago and the cotton from 5,500 years ago.
The use of these domesticated plants goes along with broader cultural changes we believe existed at that time in this area, such as people staying in one place, developing irrigation and other water management techniques, creating public ceremonials, building mounds and obtaining and saving exotic artifacts.
so, agriculture in Peru is dated at 10 thousand YO?
There was a thread this morning about some supposedly Incan bones dating from about 1000 years ago found in Norway. It looks like the Vikings were in search of squash.
IF that 'chinese pumpkin' is really and truly from the source claimed, it does compare well with the Queensland Blue, doesn't it?
“...some supposedly Incan bones dating from about 1000 years ago found in Norway...”
I did read that, identified as ‘Inca’ due to a malformation of the neck in the skeleton. Without further information, that’s not a whole lot to base the ID upon. I tried my best to find further info, but not much success:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~anthro/paleopathology/drybones/ch7.html
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Yummy yummy yummy I’ve got squash in my mummy...
you funny...!
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