Potato an ancient Andean crop: past and future perspectives

CASTRO, VICTORIA; KORSTANJE, MARÍA ALEJANDRA; ARCHILA, SONIA

Congreso; 7 World Archaeologica Congress; 2013

WAC

The great variety of potato (Solanum tuberosum) that exist today in the Southern Andes of South America allow us to suggest that a process of experimentation and domestication of this plant occurred in the region since several thousand of years. Present day traditional knowledge in indigenous communities about this plant and its cultivation from both ideological and biological perspectives is interesting for archaeology because of it could contribute to understand ancient plant management and to think in future perspectives on its agricultural production. This paper includes information on the Andean regions of Chile, Argentina and Colombia.