Chili seeds in Tehuacan Valley caves, redated with maize remains to 3,600 BCE

November 01, 2026MexicoGeneralShare

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Key facts

• The caves of the Tehuacan Valley in Puebla, Mexico, were excavated by Richard MacNeish in the 1960s and are famous for early domesticated maize cobs.
• Capsicum seeds were also recovered from the early deposits at these caves, originally dated to roughly 6,000 BCE.
• Recent redating of the maize remains from those early deposits yielded a younger age of 3,600 BCE.
• The Ocampo caves in Tamaulipas also have pepper remains dating to 4,000 BCE.
• The capsicum seeds themselves have not been directly dated; they are likely of similar age to the dated botanical remains from the same deposits.
• The earliest remains of Capsicum annuum come from the Tehuacan Valley and Ocampo caves, likely dating to between 4,000 and 3,600 BCE.

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