The nutritious crop manioc was cultivated 1,400 years ago by the people of Mayan village. The village was a victim of nature's fury -- volcanic eruption.
volcano preserved early mayan manioc field
A huge volcanic eruption that buried a Mayan village then, interestingly preserved a manioc field -- under 10 feet of ash at the ancient village of Ceren, 15 miles west of San Salvador.
Not just nutritious, the root crop manioc - grown widely in tropical countries produces the greatest tonnage of edible, digestible, pleasant-tasting calories per acre.
The crop amazingly can help answer human starvation as it can grow abundantly on infertile and droughty tropical soils.
This discovery has successfully put an end to the search for the prehistoric Mayan people's perhaps staple diet, besides their being found to have been growing and eating corn and beans.
The crop's hardy nature answers what wondered the experts with Manioc's extraordinary productivity supporting such dense populations! Yes, it straightaway explains how the Classic Maya -- at huge Tikal in Guatemala and Copan in Honduras sites help provide food to the entire populations.
Besides, 12 buildings at Ceren, like homes, storehouses, workshops, kitchens, religious buildings and a community sauna, the freshly planted 1,400 years old manioc field was the most essential find.
The village's surviving strategy against the brazen terrain shows way to the future global warming gifted drought-hit world.
Related Stories
Scientist reveals making of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid
How the workers would have erected the pyramid at Giza outside Cairo lifting 3 million stone blocks weighing 2.5 tons each! - This has not only baffled tourists but also the scientists through decades and have always an issue of discontention for...
Discovery of ancient manioc farm help solve the mystery of Maya diet
Scientists have long been mystified as to how the ancient Maya produced carbohydrate-rich foods that helped in sustaining large cities like Tikal in Guatemala and Copan in Honduras. This bewilderment has been solved with the discovery of ancient...
Early humans experienced 'prolonged childhood': 160,000-year-old child reveals
Modern humans have been separated from the first Homo sapiens and older human species -- Homo erectus by a long childhood. But, a study on a 160,000-year-old early Homo sapiens child might eventually change the age-old thought on -- when and where modern.
350 million-year-old mystery fossil is not an algae, but a giant fungus: Study
After staying evaded from classification for more than a century, the giant, prehistoric fossil - Prototaxites - has eventually been pulled into the 'fungus' category. For decades, the mysterious fossil was mistaken to be a conifer, a lichen or even...
Everything I need to know about atmospheric electricity generator
The impact of atmospheric energy in the form of lightening accompanied by thunders has been probably experienced by all of us during thunderstorms or dust storms. If we can grab even a mere part of this energy, the energy scarcity of the entire world will
