3,000-year-old eastern North American quinoa discovered in Ontario
Tuesday, January 15, 2019 - 12:42
in Paleontology & Archaeology
A mass of charred seeds found while clearing a home construction site in Brantford, Ontario, has been identified as ancient, domesticated goosefoot (C. berlandieri spp. jonesianum), a form of quinoa native to Eastern North America. The seeds date back to 900 B.C., and have never previously been found north of Kentucky this early in history, says Professor Gary Crawford of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), who was brought in by Archaeological Services Inc. (ASI), the archaeological consulting firm that excavated the site.