INVESTIGADORES
CAPPARELLI Aylen
artículos
Título:
Traditional post-harvest processing to make quinoa grains (Chenopodium quinoa var. quinoa) apt for consumption in Northern Lípez (Potosí, Bolivia): ethnoarchaeological and archaeobotanical analyses
Autor/es:
LOPEZ, ML,; CAPPARELLI, A; NIELSEN, A
Revista:
Archaeological and Anthropological Science
Editorial:
Springer_Verlag
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlín; Año: 2011 vol. 3 p. 49 - 70
ISSN:
1866-9557
Resumen:
The aim of this paper is to generate information to assist in the
archaeobotanical recognition of post-harvest processing
activities related with different enhancement and
consumption patterns of quinoa in the Central Andes. Enhancement of the
grains involves what local people call mejorado de los
granos. Their main purpose is to reduce as far as possible the presence
of saponins, a toxic metabolite, in the grain.
Ethnobotanical data were recorded in the village of Villa Candelaria
(Southern
Bolivian highlands) through the application of standard
ethnographic techniques. The types of grain enhancement vary depending
on the meal that people want to prepare. We registered three
different quinoa enhancements based on intended consumption,
(1) as a whole seed, (2) in soups or (3) as pitu (a
kind of toasted refined flour). Laboratory analysis aimed at identifying
distinctive features of grains in different processing
stages, as well as evaluating the effects of charring. For
both desiccated and charred remains, quinoa processed for pitu can be distinguished from that for whole seed/soup. As a case study, archaeological grains of the pre-Inka site of Churupata,
located 3 km from Villa Candelaria, were interpreted as quinoa prepared for consumption as whole seed/soup.