Open Question
Some archaeological studies, including archaeomagnetic dating of stills at sites in Mexico, have been read as evidence that agave distillation was practiced in Mesoamerica before the Spanish arrived, and one line of research has suggested distillation-related technology may be traceable in the region for as much as twenty five centuries. These claims remain contested, and the dominant scholarly account still credits the Spanish colonial period with introducing true distillation to Mexico, drawing on techniques the Spanish themselves had learned from Moorish alchemical tradition.
What would resolve this A dated residue analysis directly confirming ethanol distillation, rather than a still-shaped vessel used for another purpose, from a securely stratified pre-contact Mesoamerican context, matched against equivalent confirmed evidence from the early colonial period for comparison.
OpenArchaeology and archaeometry, specifically residue and materials analysis of excavated still-like vessels.Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
Cross-Tradition Connections
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