9781422283554

The Birth of a Culture

2 The Birth of a Culture

Primitive Peoples T he beginnings of human agriculture in Latin America have been found in Ecuador dating from 6600 bce and in Mexico from 5000 bce onwards. By c.2000 bce many thousands of farming villages existed all over Latin America. The people in these settlements hunted rabbits and deer and relied on plants for shelter, clothes, furniture, food, weapons and containers. Potatoes were the main ingredient of any diet and the first people of the Andes managed to breed different types of potatoes to thrive in different types of soil. Eventually, these farmers found a way of freeze-drying food. The potatoes were left outside in the cold all night and then in the sun all day. Every day, the family would walk over the potatoes to squeeze the water out of them. After about a week the potatoes became very light chunks of food that could be stored for up to six years. These dried potatoes were soaked in water before they were eaten. M odern-day Callawaya Indians (from Amarete) harvest potatoes in much the same way as their ancestors did 4,000 years ago.

S ome of the places where early human remains have been found in Latin America.

8