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Archaeologists excavating the Tambo Viejo site in Peru's Acarí Valley have recovered two freeze-dried potatoes dating back roughly 500 years to the Inca Empire, preserved in ceramic vessels underground in what the lead researcher calls "excellent" condition.
The find, published in the Journal of Field Archaeology, provides direct physical evidence of the Inca state's long-distance food supply network — a logistics operation that fed thousands of workers across the empire.
A State-Controlled Supply Chain Lidio Valdez, an archaeology professor at the University of Calgary who led the excavation, said the significance of the discovery lies in what it reveals about Inca food distribution.
Freeze-dried potatoes, known as chuño, can only be produced at high elevations.
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