The News
Experts chew on chile facts
Research examining 6,100-year-old bowl residue shows fiery pepper pod was oldest spice in use in Americas
By David Brown The Washington Post
Article Last Updated: 02/15/2007 11:21:56 PM MST

Washington - Inhabitants of the New World had chile peppers and the main ingredient for taco chips 6,100 years ago, according to new research that examined the bowl-scrapings of people sprinkled throughout Central America and the Amazon basin. Questions on the research agenda - and this is not a joke - include: Did they have salsa? And when did they get beer? The findings, described today in a report in the journal Science, make chile pepper the oldest spice in use in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world.


The Research
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science.
Read more about this story in the journal Science.