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A residue on ceramic shards found at an archaeological site on the island of Pulau Ay (Indonesia) shows the nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) was used as a food ingredient 2,000 years earlier than planned.
Lape et al describe the oldest known use of nutmeg as a food ingredient. Image credit: Quique.
The Pulau Ay site was occupied between 2300 and 3500 years ago. Animal bones, terracotta pottery, stone tools and pole molds were found.
The variety of artifacts found reflects changes in the way people have used marine food resources, pottery and pets over time.
During the first 500 years on the site, people switched from mainly fish-based diets to mostly domesticated pigs.
In addition, the pottery was originally a thin-walled vase suitable for storing liquids that could allow people to survive on this water-poor island.
A few hundred years later, thicker-walled pottery, better adapted to cooking, and pork bones appear.
"This site shows us how people have steadily adapted themselves to life on these small tropical islands, from casual uses as fishing camps to permanent occupations," said excavation director Peter Lape, an anthropologist at the University of Ottawa. University of Washington and Curator of Archeology at Burke. Museum.
"It's also fascinating to see such early use of nutmeg, a spice that changed the world a few thousand years later."
A pottery artifact discovered at the Pulau Ay site in Indonesia; it was one of many pieces of pottery containing traces of food, including the oldest use of nutmeg. Image credit: Peter Lape, University of Washington.
It's about pottery that archaeologists have found not only nutmeg, but also the residues of six other plants, including sago and purple yam.
These plants may have been harvested from wild or possibly cultivated plants.
"Pulau Ay is a small island devoid of both native terrestrial mammals and surface water. This would probably not have fueled a permanent human population not benefiting from the technological advantages of domestic animals and water storage, "the scientists explained.
"However, we suggest that the island was regularly visited by people targeting its rich marine reef resources for several thousand years before more permanent populations were established in the early Neolithic, in the end from the stone age. "
"The most likely homeland for these visitors is the nearest big island, Seram, 100 km to the east. Those with sufficient knowledge of Pulau Ay and navigation skills to regularly fly back and forth also appear to be likely candidates for early Neolithic settlers. "
"About 2,300 years ago, the site was largely or totally abandoned, and no other site in the Banda Islands has yet been discovered until that date, there are between 2,300 and 1,500 years old. "
"Future work aims to answer the reasons why these isolated islands, which attracted highly connected inhabitants before and after this period, would have been abandoned for 800 years"
The research is published in the journal Asian Perspectives.
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Peter Lape et al. 2018. New data from a Neolithic site opened in East of Indonesia. Asian Perspectives 57 (2): 222-243; doi: 10.1353 / asi.2018.0015
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