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This is scientific American sixty seconds science, I'm Cynthia Graber, this will just take you a minute.
Tea and coffee are drunk worldwide, far beyond their original ecological1 niches2. Now it looks like another caffeinated beverage3 also gained popularity far from its home.
Archaeologists call it Black Drink—a caffeinated brew4 of toasted leaves and twigs5 of the holly6 plant. It was imbibed7, often ceremonially, in many regions of the Americas. Researchers say they’ve found the earliest trace of Black Drink—in a region that doesn’t grow holly.
They investigated Cahokia, a large pre-Columbian political body. It encompassed8 floodplains and hills near today’s Saint Louis. It’s tough to find plant matter, so scientists searched for traces of theobromine, caffeine and ursolic acid in ceramics9 in the right proportion—a sort of chemical signature for holly. And they were able to date Black Drink back to about the year 1050, almost a thousand years ago. But the nearest holly grows hundreds of miles away.
The findings are in the Proceedings10 of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers say this is the earliest evidence of Black Drink consumption. And that Black Drink was traded for ritual consumption far from where it was grown. Much like our morning cup of joe.
Thanks for the minute for scientific American sixty seconds science. I'm Cynthia Graber.
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1 ecological | |
adj.生态的,生态学的 | |
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2 niches | |
壁龛( niche的名词复数 ); 合适的位置[工作等]; (产品的)商机; 生态位(一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位) | |
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3 beverage | |
n.(水,酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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4 brew | |
v.酿造,调制 | |
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5 twigs | |
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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6 holly | |
n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
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7 imbibed | |
v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 );喝;吸取;吸气 | |
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8 encompassed | |
v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 );包围;包含;包括 | |
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9 ceramics | |
n.制陶业;陶器 | |
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10 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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