Publications des scientifiques de l'IRD

Zarrillo S., Gaikwad N., Lanaud C., Powis T., Viot C., Lesur I., Fouet O., Argout X., Guichoux E., Salin F., Solorzano R. L., Bouchez O., Vignes H., Severts P., Hurtado J., Yepez A., Grivetti L., Blake M., Valdez Francisco. (2018). The use and domestication of Theobroma cacao during the mid-Holocene in the upper Amazon. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2 (12), p. 1879-1888. ISSN 2397-334X.

Titre du document
The use and domestication of Theobroma cacao during the mid-Holocene in the upper Amazon
Année de publication
2018
Type de document
Article référencé dans le Web of Science WOS:000450904100015
Auteurs
Zarrillo S., Gaikwad N., Lanaud C., Powis T., Viot C., Lesur I., Fouet O., Argout X., Guichoux E., Salin F., Solorzano R. L., Bouchez O., Vignes H., Severts P., Hurtado J., Yepez A., Grivetti L., Blake M., Valdez Francisco
Source
Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2018, 2 (12), p. 1879-1888 ISSN 2397-334X
Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is an important economic crop, yet studies of its domestication history and early uses are limited. Traditionally, cacao is thought to have been first domesticated in Mesoamerica. However, genomic research shows that T. cacao's greatest diversity is in the upper Amazon region of northwest South America, pointing to this region as its centre of origin. Here, we report cacao use identified by three independent lines of archaeological evidence-cacao starch grains, absorbed theobromine residues and ancient DNA-dating from approximately 5,300 years ago recovered from the Santa Ana-La Florida (SALF) site in southeast Ecuador. To our knowledge, these findings constitute the earliest evidence of T. cacao use in the Americas and the first unequivocal archaeological example of its pre-Columbian use in South America. They also reveal the upper Amazon region as the oldest centre of cacao domestication yet identified.
Plan de classement
Sciences fondamentales / Techniques d'analyse et de recherche [020] ; Sciences du monde végétal [076] ; Sociétés, développement culturel [112]
Description Géographique
AMERIQUE DU SUD ; EQUATEUR ; AMAZONIE
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010074745]
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010074745
Contact