BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
CampBripGr, Massacuusetts, Marcu 12, 1952 Voi. 15, No. 6 
THE PRE-COLUMBIAN OCCURRENCE 
OF LAGENARIA SEEDS IN COASTAL PERU 
BY 
MarcGarer AsHLey Towle 
In the light of the recent discussion by Dr. Thomas 
W. Whitaker (Whitaker & Bird, 1949) of the seeds of 
gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) recovered at Huaca Prieta 
on the coast of Peru, the results of a study of gourd seeds 
found at four other archaeological sites on this coast are 
of special interest. 
The site of Huaca Prieta is located on the north coast 
of Peru not far from the mouth of the Chicama River. 
It consists of a large midden and asmaller midden slightly 
to the north of the larger. Both of these were examined 
by Mr. Junius B. Bird in 1946-47 and described by him 
in his preliminary reports (Bird, 1948). The exploration 
of the site proved that the larger mound and the lower 
levels of the smaller mound represent an early primitive 
culture which Bird designates as ‘‘Early Farmers’’ or 
‘*Preceramic agriculture.’’ The time limits of this hori- 
zon are approximately 8000-1200 B.C. according to 
radiocarbon dating (Bird, 1951). The economy of these 
people was based partly upon fishing, and partly upon 
agriculture. Although remains of maize were lacking, 
specimens of a number of other plants were recovered. 
Some of these, such as the cat-tail, were native to the 
area and grew wild, while others, like the cucurbits, in 
all probability were cultivated. 
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