Archaeologists unearth 3,800-year-old deep-set blackened potato garden in Canada

During a roadwork, a team of archaeologists led by Tanja Hoffmann of Simon Fraser University in Canada has unearthed a primordial garden containing thousands of potatoes, a discovery which can lead the researchers towards a more exciting and secretive chapter of the prehistoric era. The discovered underwater garden is packed with thousands of blackened potato and is believed to be 3,800-years-old. Researchers discovered a total of 3,767 whole and fragmented wapato plants which are also called Sagittaria latifolia or Indian potatoes.

The location from where the garden has been discovered had been drenched for hundreds of decades, which made it safeguarding the plants and wooden tools for centuries. If it was a normal location, the tools and plants could have naturally crumbles over time, but because of its saturated texture, the garden of potatoes remained safe and fruitful. During the research, the scientists also discovered around 150 fire-hardened pieces of wooden machinery, which are giving the hints of ‘digging sticks’ used in that era.

The report published in the December edition of Science Advances suggested that the excavated potato garden on the inherited lands of the Katzie tribe in British Columbia is the first solid proof that, our ancestors knew the art of gardening. The researcher also said that the excavated garden is expected to be designed and harvested by the local hunter-gatherers of the time which date back 3, 800 years. The lead author of the study and project, Tanja Hoffmann and Simon Fraser University after surveying the details of the discovery confirmed that, the residents of the Pacific Northwest had personalized the quagmire to amplify manufacture of the wild food plant like a potato.

During the archaeological mining, the researchers recovered 3,768 wapato tubers, which are known as potatoes in India. As mentioned in the study report, the remaining of the potatoes is unearthed in multiple shades ranging from dark brown to black. Moreover, the discovery also came across the fact that, most of the potatoes only have the external crust or skin while some also had the solemn material inside.

Alongside these discoveries, the archaeologists also found a dry spot which was habitable for the human. The Radiocarbon found on the burnt wood suggests all of those discovered remaining and areas belong to an epoch that dates 3,800-years back.