Journal Articles & Book Chapters by Rita Panjarjian
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020
Identification of diagnostic signatures of food processing practices in the starch grain record h... more Identification of diagnostic signatures of food processing practices in the starch grain record has recently revolutionized our ability to understand foodways, particularly in the Old World. In this paper, we build upon extant starch grain research on chuño, a freeze-dried potato product produced in the Andean highlands, to develop criteria for the identification of chuño types in the archaeological record. We analyzed two hundred modern starches from four chuño blanco and chuño negro sources in Peru and Bolivia. Our results reveal differences in morphology and statistically significant (p < 0.0001) discrepancies in size metrics between the two chuño types that can be used to distinguish archaeological starches. This set of criteria has great potential to inform our understandings of the origins of potato domestication, the development and spread of detoxification methods, taste preferences and cuisine, social (ayllu) affiliations, and highland to lowland trade networks in the Andean past.
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Journal Articles & Book Chapters by Rita Panjarjian