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Andean Potato
The Andean potato (Solanum tuberosum), native to the highlands of the Andes in South America, was domesticated by indigenous peoples between roughly …
Timeline
- c. -8000–-3000Highlands around Lake Titicaca · Lake Titicaca regionIndigenous Andean peoples domesticated tuber crops from wild potato relatives, selecting cold- and drought-resistant varieties at elevations of 2,500–4,000 meters and developing diverse local germplasm.
- 1438–1532Inca Empire, Cusco–Urubamba Valley · Inca Empire core regionBy the 1460s CE, potatoes ranked alongside maize and quinoa as staple crops of the Inca Empire; terrace irrigation and cold-storage (qolqa) techniques secured highland food supplies and sustained the empire's administrative and military systems.
- 1532–1800European and Old World agricultural regions · Central EuropeSpanish colonists brought the potato to Europe, where over more than two centuries it became a major food crop, profoundly transforming Old World agricultural structures and patterns of population growth.
Sources
- The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World — Larry Zuckerman (1998)
- Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation — National Research Council (1989) https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1398