Preserved Potatoes Discovered in Inca Site in Southern Peru - Archaeology Magazine

Preserved Potatoes Discovered in Inca Site in Southern Peru - Archaeology Magazine

Ancient chuño, Acarí Valley, Peru ALBERTA, CANADA—Two freeze-dried potatoes estimated to be 500 years old were discovered in a ceramic jar set into a floor at Tambo Viejo, a coastal Inca site in southern Peru’s arid Acarí Valley, according to a Phys.org report. Lidio Valdez of the University of Calgary said that freeze-dried potatoes, known as chuño, can only be created by exposing whole potatoes to extreme winter night frosts in the mountains, …