Abstract
DURING the excavation of a tomb at the archaeological site of Santa Rosa de Tastil, Argentina (24° 25′ S., 65° 50′ W.), we found a necklace made out of nuts of Juglans australis. Inside each nut was a seed of Canna sp., making a rattle. Samples from bones of cameloids in the upper strata of garbage from the site were taken for carbon-14 analysis by Groningen Laboratories (Holland), and they were dated at about 530 yr (AD 1420). The bones probably belong to the last period of occupation of the city by the Indians. No Incaic elements were found, and the carbon-14 dating implies that the city was developed before AD 1420.
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References
Fox, E., and Miller, C., Plant Physiol., 34, 577 (1959).
Nakayama, F., Rev. Fac. Agric., 42, 1 (1966).
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SIVORI, E., NAKAYAMA, F. & CIGLIANO, E. Germination of Achira Seed (Canna sp.) Approximately 550 Years Old. Nature 219, 1269–1270 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/2191269a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2191269a0
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