Most foods, with the exception of honey and Twinkies, have
expiration dates. Natural foods, like fruits and vegetables, slowly rot away
over time, but what about their seeds? Surely those have an expiration date,
right?
Students from Winnipeg, Canada recently discovered a stash
of 800-year-old seeds while on anarchaeological dig. The mysterious seeds, once
planted, grew into a rare species of squash that has been extinct for hundreds
of years. While we don't know if the seeds themselves were safe to eat, the
squash that they harvested was absolutely delicious. Check out the images below
to see the rare gourd for yourself and learn more about this discovery.
Students discovered the seeds buried in a clay pot on
Wisconsin's Menemonee Reservation.
When they opened it up, they were met with a pile of strange
seeds that they determined were over 800 years old. Is it just me, or do these
seeds look like tiny, oval-shaped pancakes?
While not all of the seeds produced fruit, some grew this
once-extinct squash.
Imagine seeing these at your local farmer's market. The
students named the squash "gete-okosomin," or "really cool old
squash."
There won't be any shortage of seeds moving forward.
Each squash appears to be roughly the size of a Chipotle
burrito.
These students put in a lot of hard work, and it's finally
time for them to enjoy the fruits of their labor. After all, it isn't often
that archaeologists get to eat their discoveries.
