Volcano preserved early Mayan manioc field

A volcanic eruption that buried
a Mayan village 1,400 years ago preserved a manioc
field -- the first evidence that the nutritious crop
was cultivated by the ancient people, researchers said
on Monday.

The discovery may help explain how the civilization
prospered, the team at the University of Colorado at
Boulder said. It is the first evidence for cultivation
of the calorie-rich tuber in the New World.

"We have long wondered what else the prehistoric Mayan
people were growing and eating besides corn and beans,
so finding this field was a jackpot of sorts for us,"
anthropologist Payson Sheets, who led the expedition,
said in a statement.

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