Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Archaeological manioc (Manihot) from Coastal Peru

  • Published:
Economic Botany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Preserved remains of manioc(Manihot) from 6 archaeological sites in the Casma Valley of Peru are illustrated and described. The combined collections from these sites total 197 pieces of root, 32 bark fragments, 22 pieces of stem, 4 capsules, and 2 leaf twigs. Based on radiocarbon assays, the specimens range in age from 1800 B.C. to A.D. 1532. This collection of sweet manioc is unique for its age, number, and wealth of different plant parts. A theory on the place of origin and time of domestication of these ancient cultivars is given in the conclusions of this paper.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Acosta, P. J. de. 1590. Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias.In Mateos, P. F. 1954. Obras del P. Jose de Acosta. Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles. Ediciones Atlas, Real Academia Espanola, Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, E. 1954. Plants, Man and Life. Andrew Melrose, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, A. S., E. S. Barghoorn, and R. Berger. 1969. Fossil maize from Panama. Science 165: 389–390.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bender, B. 1975. Farming in Prehistory. Baker, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brautlecht, C. A. 1953. Starch: Its Sources, Production and Uses. Reinhold, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronson, B. 1966. Roots and the subsistence of the ancient Maya. Southw. J. Anthropol. 22: 251–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callen, E. O. 1967. Analysis of the Tehuacan coprolites.In D. Byers, ed, Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley. Vol. 1. Univ. Texas Press, Austin, TX.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cieza de León, P. de. 1553. La Crónica General del Perú.In H. H. Urteaga. 1924. Vol. 7. Historiadores Clasicos del Peru, Lima.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobo, B. P. 1653. Historia del Nuevo Mundo.In P. F. Mateos. 1956. Obras del P. Bernabe Cobo. Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles. Ediciones Atlas, Real Academia Espanola, Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cock, J. H. 1982. Cassava: A basic energy source in the tropics. Science 218: 755–762.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, M. N. 1975. Some problems in the quantitative analysis of vegetable refuse illustrated by a Late Horizon site on the Peruvian coast. Ñawpa Pacha 10-12: 49–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1978. Archaeological plant remains from the central coast of Peru. Ñawpa Pacha 16: 23–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutler, H. C. 1954. Food sources in the New World. Agric. Hist. 28: 43–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1968. Origins of agriculture in the Americas. Latin Amer. Res. Rev. 3: 3–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeBoer, W. R. 1975. The archaeological evidence for manioc cultivation: A cautionary note. Amer. Antiquity 40: 419–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Candolle, A. 1885. Origin of Cultivated Plants. Appleton, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dibble, C. E., and A. J. O. Anderson. 1963. Florentine Codex. Monogr. 14, School Amer. Res. Mus. Sante Fe, New Mexico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fornee, N. de. 1586. Descripcion de la tierra del corregimiento de Abancay, de que es corregidor Niculoso de Fornee.In D. M. J. de la Espada. 1965. Relaciones Geograficas de Indias—Peru. Vol. 2. Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles. Ediciones Atlas, Real Academia Espanola, Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, A., and J. H. Trumbull. 1883. Review of De Candolle’s Origin of Cultivated Plants. Amer. Sci. 25: 241–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grieder, T. 1975. A dated sequence of building and pottery at Las Haldas. Ñawpa Pacha 13: 99–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlan, J. R. 1971. Agricultural origins: Centers and noncenters. Science 174: 468–474.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harms, H. 1922. Übersicht der bisher in altperuanischen Gräbern gefundenen Pflanzenreste.In Festschrift Eduard Seler. Walter Lehmann. Stuttgart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heiser, C. B. 1965. Cultivated plants and cultural diffusion in nuclear America. Amer. Anthropol. 67: 930–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrera, F. L. 1942. Etnobotanica: Plantas tropicales cultivades por los antiguos peruanos. Revista Mus. Nac. 11: 179–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster, J. S. Ingram, M. Y. Lim, and D. G. Coursey. 1982. Traditional cassava-based foods: Survey of processing techniques. Econ. Bot. 36: 12–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanning, E. P. 1967. Peru Before the Incas. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lathrap, D. W. 1973. Gifts of the Cayman: Some thoughts on the subsistence basis of Chavin.In D. W. Lathrap and J. Douglas, ed, Variation in Anthropology: Essays in Honor of John C. McGregor. Illinois Archaeol. Survey, Urbana, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart, J. I. 1844. The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernai Díaz del Castillo. Vol. 1 (p. 22), Vol. 2 (p. 265, 267). J. Hatchard and Son, Piccadilly, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackey, C. J., and A. M. U. Klymyshyn. 1981. Construction and labor organization in the Chimu empire. Ñawpa Pacha 19: 99–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacNeish, R. S. 1958. Preliminary archaeological investigations in the Sierra de Tamaulipas, Mexico. Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 48: 1–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 1971. Early man in the Andes. Sci. Amer. 224: 36–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacNutt, F. A. 1908. Fernando Cortes. Vol. 2 (p. 243, 249). Arthur H. Clark, Cleveland, OH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maerz, A., and M. R. Paul. 1950. A Dictionary of Color. McGraw-Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuzawa, T. 1978. The formative site of Las Haldas, Peru: architecture, chronology, and economy. I. Shimada, translator. Amer. Antiquity 43: 652–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNair, J. B. 1965. Studies in Plant Chemistry. Published by author, Los Angeles, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oviedo, G. F. de. 1535. Historia General y Natural de las Indias.In J. P. de Tudela Bueso. 1959. Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo. Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles. Ediciones Atlas, Real Academia Espanola, Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palomino, D. 1549. Letter to the King of Spain.In D.M. J. de la Espada. 1965. Relaciones Geograficas de Indias—Peru. Vol. 3. Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles. Ediciones Atlas, Real Academia Espanola, Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, M. H. 1970. Preceramic subsistence on the Peruvian coast. Amer. Antiquity 35: 292–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pax, F. 1910. Euphorbiaceae-Jatropheae. IV. 147.In A. Engler. 1959. Das Pflanzenreich. Heft 42. Engelmann (Cramer) Weinheim, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pozorski, S., and T. Pozorski. 1979. An early subsistence exchange system in the Moche Valley, Peru. J. Field Archaeol. 6: 413–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purseglove, J. W. 1974. Tropical Crops. Dicotyledons. Longman, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renvoize, B. S. 1972. The area of origin ofManihot esculenta as a crop plant—a review of the evidence. Econ. Bot. 26: 352–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, J. B., III. 1973. The Preceramic sequence and the Pleistocene and Post-Pleistocene climate of Northwest Peru.In D. W. Lathrap and J. Douglas, ed, Variations in Anthropology: Essays in Honor of John McGregor, Braun-Brumfield, Ann Arbor, MI.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1981. Modeling the development of sedentary maritime economies on the coast of Peru. Ann. Carnegie Mus. 50: 139–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, D. J. 1963. Studies ofManihot esculenta Crantz and related species. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club90: 43–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 1965. Some botanical and ethnological considerations ofManihot esculenta. Econ. Bot. 19: 369–377.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, and S. G. Appan. 1973.Manihot, Manihotoides (Euphorbiaceae). Flora Neotropica Monograph No. 13. Hafner Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, and H. S. Fleming. 1973. A monograph ofManihot esculenta with an explanation of the taximetric methods used. Econ Bot. 27: 1–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, and M. Milner. 1963. Amino acid profile of manioc leaf protein in relation to nutritive value. Econ. Bot. 17: 211–216.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sarma, A. V. N. 1974. Holocene paleoecology of south coastal Ecuador. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 118: 93–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sauer, C. O. 1952. Agricultural Origins and Dispersals. Amer. Geogr. Soc., New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sauer, J. D. 1951. Crop plants of ancient Peru modelled in pottery. Missouri Bot. Gard. Bull. 39: 187–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schery, R. W. 1947. Manioc—A tropical staff of life. Econ. Bot. 1: 20–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1972. Plants for Man. 2nd ed. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, B. B. 1975. Pleistocene changes in the flora of the high tropical Andes. Paleobiology 1: 273–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1979. Quaternary biogeography of the high montane regions of South America.In W. E. Duellman, ed, The South American Herpetofauna: Its Origin, Evolution, and Dispersal. Monograph, Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Kansas, No. 7, Lawrence, KS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C. E., Jr. 1968. The New World centers of origin of cultivated plants and the archaeological evidence. Econ. Bot. 22: 253–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Towle, M. A. 1961. The Ethnobotany of Pre-Columbian Peru. Viking Fund Publ. Anthropol., No. 30. Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ugent, D., S. Pozorski, and T. Pozorski. 1981. Prehistoric remains of the sweet potato from the Casma Valley of Peru. Phytologia 49: 401–415.

    Google Scholar 

  • —,—, and —. 1982. Archaeological potato tuber remains from the Casma Valley of Perú. Econ. Bot. 36: 182–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • —,—, and —. 1983. Restos arqueológicos de tubérculos de papas y camotes del Valle de Casma en el Perú. Bol. Lima 25: 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • —,—, and —. 1984. New evidence for ancient cultivation ofCanna edulis in Peru. Econ. Bot. 38: 417–432.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargas, C. 1962. Phytomorphic representations of the ancient Peruvians. Econ. Bot. 16: 106–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vavilov, N. I. 1935. The Origin, Variation, Immunity and Breeding of Cultivated Plants. Transl. from Russian by K. S. Chester, 1951. Chron. Bot. 13: 1–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vuilleumier, B. S. 1971. Pleistocene changes in the fauna and flora of South America. Science 173: 771–780.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whistler, R. L., and E. F. Paschall. 1967. Starch: Chemistry and Technology. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willey, G. R. 1960. New World prehistory. Science 131: 73–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wurzburg, O. B. 1952. Root starches other than those of white and sweet potato. Econ. Bot. 6: 211–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yacovleff, E., and F. L. Herrera. 1934. El mundo vegetal de los antiguos Peruanos. Revista Mus. Nac. 3: 243–321.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southern Illinois University, 62901, Carbondale, IL

    Donald Ugent (Professor of Botany)

  2. Associate Research Professor, University of Denver, 80208, CO

    Shelia Pozorski & Thomas Pozorski

Authors
  1. Donald Ugent
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shelia Pozorski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Thomas Pozorski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ugent, D., Pozorski, S. & Pozorski, T. Archaeological manioc (Manihot) from Coastal Peru. Econ Bot 40, 78–102 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858949

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858949

Keywords

Search

Navigation