Cultivation of maize and manioc in Panama dated back to 7,800 years ago

Ancient people living in Panama were processing and eating domesticated species of plants like maize, manioc, and arrowroot at least as far back as 7,800 years ago – much earlier than previously thought – according to new research by a University of Calgary archaeologist.

One of the most hotly debated issues in the discipline of archaeology is how and why certain human societies switched from hunting and gathering to producing their own food through agriculture. Dr. Ruth Dickau, a post-doctoral researcher in the U of C's department of archaeology, has used a new technique called starch grain analysis to recover microscopic residues of plants directly off the stone tools that people were using in Panama 3,000 to 7,800 years ago. "These results add to the growing evidence that the earliest beginnings of farming were not centred in arid highland regions like central Mexico and the Peruvian Andes as once believed, but in the lowland areas and humid forests of the American tropics," Dickau says.

The point here is the food intersection: maize and manioc in a single place like Panama. Maize was the major staple in Mexico, Central America and Western South America while manioc was in Eastern South America. This intersection suggest a interesting point of study around Panama regarding the settlement pattern and path into the Americas (LL).

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-02/uoc-pof021507.php