The Origins of Curry

FARMANA, INDIA—Archaeologists at the University of Washington at Vancouver have analyzed human teeth and residue found on pots from the site of Farmana—which dates back more than four thousand years ago and is located roughly 100 miles northwest on New Delhi—and found the first evidence of use of turmeric and ginger in cooking. Farmana was part of the Indus civilization, which once ranged from eastern Iran to modern-day Delhi. Archaeology contributing editor Andrew Lawler reports in Slate that the use of these spices at the site likely constitutes the first known instance of curry being part of a people’s diet—making it also, possibly, “the oldest continuously prepared cuisine on the planet.”