Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Scientists look at Mesoamerican Cannibalism, find new recipes.



According to an article in the May 20, 2015 issue of Forbes, archeologist have taken a collection of cooked human remains and subjected them to a variety of chemical tests. The results were a better understanding of not just the herbs and spices used to cook humans, but also the actual cooking methods. The results of the study were originally published in the May 20 issue of the academic journal, Archeometry.

The article was co-authored by A Trujillo-Mederos,   P. Bosch,  C. Pijoan,and J.Mansilla, and entitled, Savoury Recipes and the Colour of the Tlatelcomila Human Bones

Archeometry, the publishing journal, summarized the article as follows:


Keywords:

  • cannibalism;
  • temperature;
  • DRX;
  • AFM;
  • EDS;
  • UV–VIS;
  • SEM;
  • Pre-hispanic;
  • axiote
Bones from Tlatelcomila (Tetelpan, México D.F.) were characterized by several complementary physical and chemical techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy and ultraviolet spectroscopy, to determine whether they were boiled or grilled. The usual correlation between thermal treatment and colour is revisited in terms of microscopic structure, morphology and texture. At temperatures less than 100°C, it is shown that colour depends not only on temperature or diagenesis but also on the cooking procedure; that is, on the presence of spice dyestuffs such as axiote (Bixa orellana) or chilli (Capsicum).

There is no word yet on how people who idealize Native American cultures and indigenous peoples have reacted.





http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/05/20/ancient-mesoamerican-recipe-for-cooking-human-flesh-decoded-by-archaeologists/

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