BBC Learning English
Words in the News
Popcorn older than cinema!

23rd January 2012

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2012

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bbclearningenglish.com

A new study suggests that people living along the coast of northern Peru were eating

popcorn 1,000 years earlier than previously thought. Researchers say corncobs found at

an ancient site in Peru suggest that the inhabitants used them for making flour and

popcorn. The BBC's Vanessa Buschschluter

reports.

Maize was first domesticated in Mexico nearly nine-thousand years ago from a wild
grass.

It was assumed it took a good few thousand of years to reach South America, where it
is an important part of today's diet.

But corn cobs found at ancient archaeological sites in northern Peru indicate it was
being eaten by people living there as long as 6,700 years ago.

And, tests carried out on the ancient cobs suggest it was being used in more varied ways
than previously believed: namely for making flour and popcorn!

This would mean that in some areas people were making popcorn even before they had
pottery. How exactly they went about making it, especially if they lacked pottery, is not
clear.

Even less clear is just when they would have eaten it, in an age before movies.

Vanessa Buschschluter

, BBC

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2012

Page 2 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

maize

a tall plant grown for its large yellow grains of corn

domesticated

changed into something suitable for human
consumption

assumed

believed to be true

diet

the food and drink we eat regularly

corn cobs

the long hard parts of the maize plant that the yellow
grains grow on

archaeological sites

places where historical remains of buildings and
objects have been found in the ground

indicate

show it is likely

pottery

pots and dishes made with clay that have been
baked in the oven

lacked

had not enough of

an age

a particular period of history

More on this story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16623473

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/01/120123_witn_popcorn.shtml