14 DAY TRIAL // A recent study conducted on artifacts collected from southern Mexico has found that people living in this area have been consuming chilli for more than 2,000 years. This habit was therefore proven to extend more than 1,000 years deeper into the past than researchers first hypothesized.
The work was conducted by experts at the Kennesaw State University, led by scientist Terry Powis. The team studied pottery artifacts, and was able to identify traces of Capiscum, a genus of flowering plants that includes chilli peppers, Chemistry World reports.
The dig site where the pottery was uncovered from lies in the province of Chiapas, and is believed to have been inhabited by Mixe–Zoquean people. The artifacts themselves are between 1,700 and 2,400 years old, the research has uncovered.
“The best and most direct evidence for chilli pepper use in Mesoamerica prior to our study is from Ceren. So our work pushes back this date from circa AD540 to circa 400BC. To be honest, our study is the only one of its kind to show direct evidence of chilli pepper use,” the team leader says.