Listen to the Story
2:26
Playlist
Download
Embed
Embed<input class="embed-url embed-url-no-touch" readonly value="” />
Close embed overlay <iframe src=”http://www.npr.org/player/embed/463634834/463634851″ width=”100%” height=”290″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” title=”NPR embedded audio player”>
Skunk Bear, NPR
YouTube
Editor’s Note: It’s National Popcorn Day! We’re celebrating by bringing back this tale, first published in 2014, on the history of the beloved snack.
Popcorn is a truly ancient snack. Archaeologists have uncovered popcorn kernels that are 4,000 years old. They were so well-preserved, they could still pop.
Dolores Piperno, a paleobotanist with the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Insitute, says corn, and specifically popcorn, helped lay the foundations for the Aztec empire.
“When you have a very highly productive crop like corn, that makes the rise of high civilizations possible,” she says.
…